Digital Product Simulation
daratechDPS2004

Top Priorities

• Integrating CAE with Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
• Simulation-based design
• Multi-domain integration
• Automating complex work processes
• Enterprise-level drivers for wider CAE deployment
• Long-term role and outlook for physical test
• Simulation data & process management: collaborating, archiving, re-use
• Advances in analytical-to-physical correlation
• Multi-disciplinary and multi-objective optimization
• Design for Six Sigma strategies
• Organizational & cultural challenges: management best practices
• Strategies for simulation of multi-domain systems: electronics, mechanics, hydraulics, controls
• Supercomputing, HPC, grid computing, clustering, 64-bit: maximizing performance
• Management strategies for regulatory compliance
• Strategies for managing and integrating in-house product development with outsourced product development

Background & Purpose

Accelerating Product Development, Driving Down Cost

Technologists worldwide know that CAE offers an unprecedented opportunity to revolutionize product development, yet at most manufacturers, it’s not to be found on top management’s radar. Why? Today, CAE is promising much more than increased productivity. It promises faster times-to-money, lower warranty costs and above all, products that outperform, work better, are safer and fail less often. True, at a few forward-thinking manufacturing organizations, CAE is a priority, and is finding its way into the mainstream of product creation. But for the vast majority of manufacturers, CAE is on the backburner, or no burner at all. In fact, it’s business as usual.

The trickle to broad CAE adoption has its roots in a failure on the part of CAE suppliers to engage top management and make them aware that CAE has created for its adopters a tsunami of competitive advantage in terms of product market dominance and the cost of doing business. However, with top-management disengaged, middle managers remain nervous about injecting CAE into mainstream product development processes because of the initial disruptions it may cause. Naturally, the adoption of any new technology means the accepted way of doing things must change, and this poses risks: How do we know that our people will correctly interpret the results? How can it be more reliable than our true and tried ways of developing new product? Can it take the place of physical test? Has our workforce got the skills and education to use CAE? Will the workforce accept new roles? All good questions. Of course, at some companies, many of these questions have already been answered by successful CAE implementations and resultant killer product launches. And this is what daratechDPS2004 is all about. Truth is, that product development is going digital and those that don’t get it, will get it—one way or another.

Once upon a time, 35 years ago, Computer-Aided Design or CAD was touted by the National Science Foundation as having the greatest potential to improve productivity since the advent of electricity. The visionary executives of the day pushed through the adoption of this emerging technology against enormous odds because they recognized and believed in CAD’s potential. People with no familiarity of computers were asked to change their ways and set aside a lifetime of training. A highly unionized work force was persuaded to adopt technologies that promised to eliminate jobs. And a re-education was necessary that did not get people up to full speed for approximately a year. Nonetheless, top management was sold on the big picture and this made it easy for people in the middle to take on challenges inherent in any revolutionary changes. This is not yet happening with CAE, but it will.

Actually, the electronics industry went through a similar enlightenment. The first commercial uses of CAD were for the design of printed circuit board layouts. But as CAD technology evolved, basic CAD took a back seat to products that provided not only physical layout, but also simulation and analysis. Today, CAE rules the electronics industry, with CAD in the background, although it is tightly integrated with CAE. It is not unreasonable to expect that one day the same will be true in the mechanical engineering domain.

At daratechDPS2004 we’ll be looking to ignite a movement towards more widespread implementation of CAE in manufacturing. You’ll hear high-level executive voices talk about the benefits and challenges of more widespread deployment and utilization of CAE, and how this has already raised new products to an unprecedented level of performance, quality and competitive advantage.

Our studies show investment in CAE technologies will top $2.1 billion in 2004, an increase of 12% over last year. When one considers spending on product lifecycle management is forecast to top $8.6 billion in 2004 and grow 8% each year through 2008, a clearer market picture of CAE’s importance begins to emerge: approximately 25% of PLM investments will come from digital simulation in 2004. Over the next five years, digital simulation will be the growth engine of PLM, rising 12% annually over that time. Likewise, digital simulation is poised to become the engine of PLM technology. The knowledge that resides inside the CAE model contains the DNA of the product, and that’s what really counts.

For years, data drawn from digital simulation was viewed with skepticism but the long-held axiom that the physical test results are the data of record is starting to erode. Manufacturers are gaining more confidence in analysis software as their experience and understanding of CAE results grows. Too, the software has become easier to use and implement in conjunction with physical test, enabling practitioners to obtain the maximum amount of information permissible. Indeed, the steady maturation of analysis software coincides with the availability and affordability of high performance computing architectures. Analyses that used to take a week to run can now be run overnight. Analyses that would take two shifts to run can now be run over a lunch break.

daratechDPS2004 will update product development, test and engineering executives on the changing role of digital prototyping and simulation and how this evolving technology fits into the PLM infrastructure. What are executives working to realize digital simulation's full potential doing to overcome the daunting business, organizational and technological challenges involved? Many are finding the greatest obstacles are not technological but managerial, cultural and psychological—preconceived notions, organizational inertia, internal and external politics, budgets. How can the new technologies and methods be cost-justified? What are the organizational challenges of better interfacing digital modeling & simulation departments and physical test organizations? Likewise, how can the domains of analysis and product design be brought closer to one another? What integrated design/analysis tools and processes are yielding big returns at manufacturers? How are manufacturers deploying and managing digital modeling & simulation across globally dispersed enterprises and supply chains and implementing simulation-based procurement? Above all, how can digital modeling & simulation be deployed throughout product development to have the greatest impact on cost, schedule, performance and quality?

Senior-level engineering and product development executives from the world's top automotive, off-highway, aerospace, defense, consumer products and industrial equipment manufacturers and their suppliers will convene to reveal how they are implementing these technologies to survive and prosper.

Top executives share what works
If you plan to attend just one industry event in the next 12 months, make it daratechDPS2004. In the management track, roundtable and technical sessions, breakouts and corridor conversations you’ll discover what works and what doesn’t, what the risks are, and strategies for success. Attendees will leave this conference energized with new strategies and action plans that can be put into practice right away.

daratechDPS2004 offers a balance of business strategy and technology assessment you won’t find at user-group meetings or association conferences, all in a vendor-neutral setting tailored for senior practitioners and decision-makers. In addition, the networking at this conference is invaluable—you’ll meet and share lessons of experience with the right people from across the automotive, off-highway, aerospace, defense, consumer products and industrial equipment industries.

This time-efficient conference is also the place to meet the CEOs, CTOs and other top executives and technologists of the world’s leading digital product simulation solution providers. The highly interactive program is specifically designed to give individuals ample opportunity to meet informally one-on-one, or in the context of the many topical sessions and technical colloquia.

Of course, daratechDPS2004 Co-Sponsors—the world’s leading providers of digital product simulation solutions—will be on hand, most represented by their CEOs and CTOs, to conduct breakout sessions, showcase new solutions, and share their vision and strategies. Featured will be presentations of technical philosophy and direction, live demonstrations, and an opportunity to meet and chat with the CEOs and CTOs of the world’s leading developers.

Who Should Attend

Chief engineers, vice presidents and directors overseeing product development, product managers, program managers, platform managers, engineering and CAE department heads and managers, technical directors, test-and-measurement and test-and-analysis department heads and managers, managers of crash, durability and NVH, product development managers and engineering process development managers in automotive, off-highway, aerospace, defense, consumer products and industrial equipment manufacturers and their suppliers.

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Hear from Industry Leaders

Chris P. Theodore
Vice President, Advanced Product Creation
Ford Motor Company

Mark Chernoby
Vice President, Advance Vehicle Engineering
DaimlerChrysler Corporation

Dr. Paul M. Bevilaqua
Chief Engineer, Advanced Development Projects
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company

Jean Mallebay-Vacqueur
Director, Environmental Emissions Testing Labs
DaimlerChrysler Corporation

Clifford J. Hutton
Manager, Simulation Based Design
Whirlpool Corporation

Dr. Terry Penney
Technology Manager, FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies
National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Thomas D. Chimner
Design/CAE Manager, Truck Technology Team
Eaton Corporation

Paul Pollock
Chief Engineer, Advanced Products, Commercial Vehicle Technology
Dana Corporation

Jack Dawson
Engineering Director, Technology Development
Dana Corporation

Evan Jacobson
Collaborative Product & Process Development Black Belt, NTEC (New Technologies) Mechatronics
Caterpillar, Inc.

Bob Trecapelli
Director of Global C3PNG Methods and Development
Ford Motor Company

Jagmohan Kohli
Program Manager, CAE Integration
General Motors

Richard Sun
Senior Manager, Aero/Thermal Center of Competence and Core CFD Group
DaimlerChrysler Corporation

David Halt
Technical Fellow, Simulation-based Design
Visteon Corp.

Arvind Padgaonkar
Senior Manager, CAD/CAE
Visteon Corp.

Jon Jarrett
Manager, Scientific and Engineering Systems
ATK Thiokol Inc.

Michael Tiller
Technical Expert, Powertrain System Modeling
Ford Motor Company

Subhasish Roychoudhury
Manager, CAE Systems
Ford Motor Company

Steve C. Hess
CAD Engineering Manager
Teradyne, Inc.

James M. DeMercurio
KBE Architect
General Motors Corporation

Dr. Subhash Kelkar
Technical Leader
Ford Motor Company

Atherton Carty
Rapid Conceptual Design Project Lead, Advanced Development Projects
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company

Dr. Khurshid A. Qureshi
Powertrain KBE Methods Technical Specialist
Ford Motor Company

Mark Kuhn
Director, Design Engineering
Ricardo, Inc.

Dr. Andreas Vlahinos
Principal
Advanced Engineering Solutions LLC

Daratech's Recently Published Digital Simulation Best Practices

• Digital Simulation to Meet Today's Product Development Challenges
• The Value of High-Performance Technical Computing Reference Architecture for Advanced Digital Simulation in the Aerospace Industry: The Airbus UK Story

Industry Review & Outlook

"The top-level (at the manufacturers) need to recognize the massive under-utilization of simulation. Simulation is the heart and soul of PLM. It's about making things that work and last. Sure you can create geometry and move files around, but building products that perform is far more important."

Charles Foundyller, CEO & Founder, Daratech, Inc. will share Daratech's latest research and forecasts on today's unprecedented opportunities to revolutionize product development, through mainstream, in-line deployment of simulation and testing techniques, technologies and processes within the context of PLM and digital manufacturing. With PLM initiatives now underway at many manufacturing OEMs and suppliers and given their interest in digital manufacturing, the moment seems right for simulation and test to become fully integrated with mainstream product creation processes. This presentation will examine why this deployment is not happening as quickly as it might, and the challenges and obstacles — cultural, organizational and technological — facing those that are working towards greater deployment and integration of simulation and test technologies into the mainstream of product creation. This session will also examine the main suppliers to this market, and their vision for the future, and their outlook for success, stability and growth.