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The configuration process assumes the end product is consists of functional modules. It is necessary to divide the product range into functional, reusable components that can be combined to create bespoke products. Customisation therefore becomes a matter of default.
Electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic and software are usually different departments that use different applications, data formats and systems. It’s almost impossible to automatically exchange data between these departments and there isn’t a control mechanism to detect mistakes. Engineers from different departments need to start cooperating more if they want to transition from engineering to configuration.
Mechatronic
You can only divide these components into reusable modules if they are multidisciplinary. In other words, if they are completely mechanical and control engineering combined. This is referred to as mechatronic (multidisciplinary) engineering. This means that engineers within all of the affected fields (mechanical, electrical, software) must speak about functions in the same way. This transformation process is essential and requires a lot of attention from the management.
The division into mechatronic or multidisciplinary components based on the function.
Parametric and Intelligent
The second requirement is that these components are flexible and can be adapted to the requirements of the customer. You can construct the components by choosing the correct parameters. Most of the customers’ requirements can be fulfilled with these parametric components.
This brings us to the third requirement: the engineering rules and dependencies. This ensures the stored components connect to one another.
Functional Breakdown
Dividing the products into reusable, intelligent components is also known as functional breakdown. A well thought out division makes adapting your project approach to a functional, multidisciplinary one a success. But don’t fall into the trap of being either too generic or too detailed. A complex parameter set can be counter-productive. Interpreting a practical, functional breakdown is a specialism that can really benefit from having an external specialist take a fresh look at it.
Read more about functional design
Functional breakdown allows us to take customised engineering and make it into standard components, which makes it easier to configure the customers’ requirements. This requires another change in the engineering process: one central, digital and collaborative platform for all of the engineering disciplines. Read more about this in my next blog. Stay tuned!
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