Abstract

The specific design knowledge and the build-up of economic factors draw on the skills and know-how of multiple teams and experts. Today many organizations, even those that already apply simulation and design optimization, still approach product-development tasks as a handful of disconnected iterations that are not aligned with the broader business strategy. Among the answers to boost performances, reduce time-to-market and slash the whole product-development costs there is a holistic approach that includes collaboration, data sharing and the pervasive use of multidisciplinary frameworks, advanced simulation technologies, parametric analysis, artificial intelligence and automatic Multidisciplinary Design Optimization techniques. We have learned that supplying the right software tools and the related technical training is only a minor part of the journey of meshing state-of-the-art ideal practices into existing engineering processes, data platforms, and tool-chains. Indeed, organizational and cultural aspects are fundamental to maximize the outcomes of an IT investment as you basically need to bring together people and technology. Structured procedures are mandatory to exploit simulation capabilities and design process integration, and ensure the safeguards of data and the respect of security levels and Intellectual Properties. This implies that peculiarities of each specific industrial sector and each single organization have to be identified and understood. If teams are not ready, processes and culture must be the first focus of intervention. Lessons learned on the field suggest that the first steps should be to identify and then ensure the correct flow of data across different departments and with external stakeholders. In doing so, our aim is also to provide a clear and transparent vision on assumptions, capabilities and limitations of various models. Our experience with companies from multiple industries and countries, of various sizes and with heterogeneous readiness levels will be presented, focusing on dos and don?ts that we have learned along our way.