hclt whitepaper: plm for embedded product development - challenges, experiences and solution

8/10/2019 HCLT Whitepaper: PLM for Embedded Product Development - Challenges, Experiences and Solution

1/12

PLM Center of Excellence

M a y 2 0 0 9

PLM for EmbeddedProduct Development -Challenges, Experiencesand Solution


2/12

2 2009, HCL Technologies. Reproduction Prohibited. This document is protected under Copyright by the Author, all rights reserved.

PLM Center of Excellence | May 2009

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract 3

Introduction 4

Embedded product development life cycle 4

Typical challenges in Embedded ProductDevelopment Life Cycle 5

What is PLM? 6

How PLM can help in addressing the challengesin Embedded Product Development? 7

What are the benets with PLM? 9

About HCL 12


3/12



Abstract

In Todays scenario, Manufacturers across all industries have increasinglyincorporated electronics and software into their mechanical products in order todeliver features that customers want at a competitive price. However, embeddedproduct development has set of challenges in integrating multi-disciplinarydesign teams into a coherent, synchronized product lifecycle.

Product Life Cycle Management Solutions provides the enterprises a richenvironment for the collaborative development of mechanical, electrical,electronic and embedded software technologies in a single source of productand process knowledge. Enterprises have increasingly realized the need for PLMsystems and have also implemented them to address the challenges during theproduct development life cycle.

This white paper attempts to detail out the typical set of challenges in embeddedproduct development life cycle and how Product Life Cycle Management (PLM)can be leveraged to address those challenges.


4/12



Introduction

Todays products have many advanced features enabled through the use ofsoftware-driven electronics. Automobiles have advanced safety features, automaticcontrols and service diagnostics. Home appliances have software-poweredcontrols designed to provide automated features and energy saving controls.

In order to compete, Manufacturers need to be able to synchronize all aspects ofcomplex product and process design, pushing all systems engineering and designissues to the front of the process whenever possible. They must optimize productperformance, integration and quality by unifying interdependent mechanical,electrical and software subsystems many of which may be designed and builtby suppliers.

Developing these embedded products involves a set of challenges in coordinatingthe disparate engineering disciplines on a single design.

All the above results in products with complex multi-disciplinary design, increasedproduct data and information to be managed and shared in an organized,centralized and real-time manner across an extended enterprise.

Hence organizations are in need for a system that can address the rising complexityof products, need to collaborate real-time, manage product information in acentralized location and yet make it available to different functional groups ofusers across the geography.

Product lifecycle management, or PLM, solutions can provide an idealframework for implementing enterprise-wide new product development goals.

Organizations have increasingly realized the need for PLM systems and have alsoimplemented them.

Embedded product development life cycle

New product development life cycle for embedded products typically involvesthe following important phases Concept, Requirement, Design, Embeddedsoftware development, Mechanical development, Hardware schematics/boardlayout, Prototyping, Hardware & Software integration, Veri cation and Validation(V&V), Electronic packaging and may be system integration, Compliancepre-scanning, System testing, Manufacturing transition, Production andSupport/ retire.

Following diagram represents the typical new product development cycle and keyfunctional areas for a typical embedded product


5/12



New product development cycle and key functional areas for a typicalembedded product

Typical challenges in Embedded ProductDevelopment Life Cycle

Embedded product development is a dif cult proposition: bring together multiplehighly complicated disciplines with little understanding or visibility into theircompanion areas. Following listing provides the list of some of the challenges inthe embedded product development life cycle.

Product complexity: Developing embedded software is complex as it involvesinterfacing with various sub-system with real time requirements and with minimalresources to accomplish the same. Ensuring all design requirements are met inthe nal system requires close track of requirements across various disciplines.In addition, it is very dif cult to understand the impact of design change acrossdisciplines.

Isolated functional teams: Software development teams are not integrated with electronic and mechanical design teams. Early identi cation of system levelproblems is very dif cult because of the isolated teams.

Too many product variants: Products are increasingly differentiated on thebasis of their embedded software features.

Distributed design groups: It is dif cult to manage the growing number ofdistributed design setups. Geographically distributed design teams often faceissues in accessing right information during the product development.

Compatibility: Development teams nd it hard to identify which hardware/software modules are compatible. It is very dif cult to identify and manage hugenumber of software enhancements/upgrades over a period of time in the case oflonger product life cycles, typically medical, automotive, aerospace and defence.


6/12



Unavailability of experienced system engineers: Dif culty in nding andhiring experienced system engineers/lack of cross functional knowledge

Dif culty predicting product behaviour: Dif culty predicting / modelling

system product behaviour until physical prototypes exists. Understanding theinterdependencies of the software design with other cross functional designs isoften late-stage process conducted only after the software is uploaded to the rstprototype.

Debugging software problems and issues are not easy in a realtime environment

Hardware resources like memory (RAM, ROM), processor bandwidth etc re-quired to accomplish the product development are not abundant and have toaccomplish product with less RAM/ROM. This is not the case in a PC basedsoftware development

Since the target platform where the embedded software executes is different,than in software that executes on a PC, debugging is dif cult and requires useof good debugging tools

When an issue/problem surfaces, generally it is very dif cult to nd ifit is due to hardware or software etc or is it combinational? This posesgreat challenges

Embedded product generally requires interfacing with multiple systems andthese systems are not readily available during development requiring use ofsimulated environment during early phases. If these environments are notexactly identical to the nal environment, considerable challenges faced during nal testing

Software development is often outsourced, but system integration is still theresponsibility of the OEM engineering group

Software lifecycle issues increase todays service and repair costs

What is PLM?

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is a strategic business approach thatapplies a set of business solutions in support of the collaborative creation,management, dissemination, and use of product records across the extendedenterprise spanning from product concept to end of life.

Product Life Cycle Management Solutions provides the enterprises with arich environment for the collaborative development of mechanical, electrical,electronic and embedded software technologies in a single source of productand process knowledge. PLM helps to establish a common data model across theengineering domains facilitating individual development teams can retain theirmechanical, electrical, electronic or software focus, while working in-context and


7/12



together to meet the overall development goals. Following diagram depicts thetypical set of functionalities during the collaborative product development aresupported by PLM.

PLM enables Collaborative Product Development

How PLM can help in addressing the chal-lenges in Embedded Product Development?

The following processes or features help in collaborative design across multiplefunctional teams geographically distributed and right product at rst time duringthe new product development life cycle.

Single source of product and process knowledge

PLM solutions combine existing business systems (Enterprise Resource Planning,Computer Aided Design, Supply Chain Management, Document ManagementSystems, etc.), providing a single source for product information including Billof Material (BOM) and supporting collaboration and communication within aproject environment.

It integrates multi-seat and multi-disciplinary design workgroups into a singleenvironment. It allows concurrent design and design re-use as well as product

visualisation for the entire enterprise.

BOM Spec

BOM ChangesDesign SpecsDesign Feedback

ModelsDrawingsSimulations

Product ConceptProduct RequirementsMarket RequirementsBrochuresData Sheets

ProposalsCustomer Requirements

Service Parts CatalogService ManualsTraining ManualsIssue Reports

Conformance SpecsConformance Reporting

E-BOM -> MBOMManufacturing FeedbackProcess Configurations/ RecipesWork InstructionsManufacturing RoutesOperator Training SpecsConsumable SpecsPackaging/Labeling SpecsTooling Designs

Preferred Parts Approved Vendors

Design to Manufacture with PLM as core IT strategy

Sales

Engineering Regulatory

Design Partners

Manufacturing

Distributed Mfg

Procurement

Suppliers

Customers

ServiceMarketing

CollaborativeProduct

Development


8/12



PLM offers vaulting, versioning control, check-in/check-out and securityprotection capabilities enable the enterprise to manage and control this aggregateknowledge in PLM global repository.

Global Collaborative platform

PLM provides a framework enables associative product development acrossmultiple functional teams. It also provide seamless collaborative designenvironment in case of geographically distributed design groups.

PLM also enables product teams to work with their suppliers, allied partnersand trusted customers in a real-time environment that facilitates the rapidformation of sourcing teams, concept studies, program reviews, design reviewsand engineering change processes.

Manage software binaries as parts

PLM provides integration with software development tools, e.g. IBM ClearCase,Rational Rose, etc, ability to manage software binaries/builds as parts and theappropriate links to the mechanical and electronic component con guration are established.

Changes to software (and the associated electronic and mechanical equipment)under con guration control must be approved before being incorporated. Thisenables designers, developers, manufacturing, and service personnel to access theproduct information and see the complete de nition at any point in time. It alsoensures that they work with (and dont violate) the correct con guration of the

version upon which they are working.

Workow and CMII compliant Change Management

CMII (Con guration Management II) is a revolutionary business model, whichhas replaced traditional change management strategies all over the world. CMIIprovides a business process infrastructure that enables Project Management andQuality Assurance to perform their tasks reliably and ef ciently.

PLM tools provide work ow capabilities that enable review and release processesfor enterprise data like parts, documents etc.

PLM enables the organizations to implement change management at an enterprise

level and also ensures that downstream agencies, internal and external partnersand suppliers are fully integrated in this process.

Efcient Product Congurations Management

PLM provides the product structure, BOM views, alternates and substitutes,effectivities and con guration management functionalities. In addition, it enablesthe product development teams to integrate information generated by multipleapplications and create higher level product representations (such as productmodels, product de nitions, product con gurations, and virtual prototypes).


9/12



Systems Engineering and Requirement Management

PLM provides System Engineering and Requirements management capabilities.Systems Engineering enables product teams to optimize the tradeoffs made at

multiple stages in a decision-intensive product lifecycle.Requirements management capabilities allow an enterprise to de ne, capture,engineer, manage and leverage product requirements and compliance regulationson a repeatable and rigorous basis.

Leading PLM tools offers integration with requirement management toolslike DOOR.

Program and Project Management

PLM tools provide program and project management capabilities that product

teams can leverage to plan and manage lifecycle projects on a real-time basis.It offers resource management, project schedules, WBS, tracking and reportingcapabilitiesetc. It also provides integration capabilities with other ProjectManagement tools, like MS Project etc.

In addition, PLM offers the following capabilities.

Product Visualization

Document Management

Component Classi cation Management

Quality and Regulatory Compliance

Integration with design and development tools, legacy/custom applications,ERP, MES etc

Supply Chain Management

What are the benets with PLM?

PLM offers the following typical bene ts:

Reduction of product development costs and design cycle time through

design automationEliminate rework while maximizing design and knowledge reuse from oneproject to another

Integrated visualization and collaboration capabilities enable widely dispersedproduct team members to view, mark up and exchange these higher-levelproduct representations

Reduction of cost overruns by quantitatively estimating costs during the designprocess using trade-off analysis programs or sophisticated cost models


10/12



Build the products right the rst time by designing multi-disciplinarycomponents in a single digital product de nition and by evaluate many moredesign alternatives

Integration of work ow processes that can be executed more rapidly by reducingor eliminating manual work and/or increasing engineering productivity

Collaborate ef ciently across the Supply Chain and increase Inventory Turnsand Visibility

Ef cient global product development by facilitating collaborative design indistributed design environment

Reduction of hardware investments through more ef cient workloaddistribution, effective use of legacy systems or implementation of moreef cient technology

Improvement in product quality by applying quality engineering throughoutthe entire design processfrom conceptual and preliminary design through

nal detailed design

Reduction of warranty costs by applying design for quality methods to ensuremore reliable and robust products are delivered to the market.

Effective Requirement Management and Systems Engineering

Standard Engineering processes across the enterprise

Regulatory Compliance compliance management throughout the productlife cycle

Improve change process ef ciency by using a single source of mechanical,electronic and software design information


11/12



About the Authors

Murthy is a senior PLM consultant in the HCL PLM Centre ofExcellence. He has extensive experience in PLM Consulting, Solution

Architecting and PLM implementation across various industry domains.He can be reached on [email protected] for further queries.

Manohar S Senior Project Manager, [email protected] working with HCLEmbedded System Group of HCL for more than 10 years and have worked inexecuting embedded projects in Industrial, Automotive and Medical Domain.

About HCLs PLM Practice

HCL is bringing 10 years of PLM domain expertise for developing, enhancingand supporting PLM engagements for large clients in Automotive, Aerospace &Defence, Manufacturing, Electrical, Retail and Med-devices space etc with leadingPLM tools like Siemens PLM Teamcenter, PTC Windchill, Enovia MatrixOne,Smarteam, Oracle Agile and SAP PLM.

For any queries on PLM, please contact Atul Tiwari, Head of PLMon [email protected]


12/12

CUSTOM APPLICATIONSERVICES

ENGINEERING ANDR&D SERVICES

ENTERPRISE APPLICATIONSERVICES

ENTERPRISETRANSFORMATIONSERVICES

IT INFRASTRUCTUREMANAGEMENT

BUSINESS PROCESSOUTSOURCING

HCL Enterprise

HCL is a $5 billion leading global Technology and IT Enterprise that comprisestwo companies listed in India - HCL Technologies & HCL Infosystems.Founded in 1976, HCL is one of Indias original IT garage start-ups, a pioneerof modern computing, and a global transformational enterprise today. Its rangeof offerings spans Product Engineering, Custom & Package Applications, BPO,IT Infrastructure Services, IT Hardware, Systems Integration, and distributionof ICT products across a wide range of focused industry verticals. The HCLteam comprises over 60,000 professionals of diverse nationalities, who operatefrom 23 countries including over 500 points of presence in India. HCL has globalpartnerships with several leading Fortune 1000 rms, including leading IT and

Technology rms. For more information, please visit www.hcl.in

ABOUT HCL

HCL Technologies

HCL Technologies is a leading global IT services company, working with clients inthe areas that impact and rede ne the core of their businesses. Since its inceptioninto the global landscape after its IPO in 1999, HCL focuses on transformationaloutsourcing, underlined by innovation and value creation, and offers integratedportfolio of services including software-led IT solutions, remote infrastructuremanagement, engineering and R&D services and BPO. HCL leverages its extensive

global offshore infrastructure and network of of ces in 20 countries to provideholistic, multi-service delivery in key industry verticals including Financial Services,Manufacturing, Aerospace & Defense, Telecom, Retail & CPG, Life Sciences& Healthcare, Media & Entertainment, Travel, Transportation & Logistics,

Automotive, Government, Energy & Utilities. HCL takes pride in its philosophyof Employee First which empowers our 54,026 transformers to create a real valuefor the customers. HCL Technologies, along with its subsidiaries, had consolidatedrevenues of US$ 2.0 billion (Rs. 9,842 crores), as on 31st March 2009. For moreinformation, please visit www.hcltech.com

hclt whitepaper: plm for embedded product development - challenges, experiences and solution

Documents