Process Engineering

This Business Scenario Map is designed for all discrete industries. It shows how process engineers work closely together with product engineers and production planners over the entire ramp-up phase of a new product. The Map illustrates the benefits of process engineering as part of SAP Product Lifecycle Management (SAP PLM). As soon as an initial version of the product structure is set up, the process engineers start to set up an initial routing. This concurrent engineering reduces the time needed for new product introduction. Phased release mechanisms ensure that production is based on released data. As soon as production can be started, documents which are assigned to the product and process structure are provided, and even digital mockup (DMU) viewing can be used in production orders. The result is collaborative processes during the ramp-up phase of a new product, which provides significant value potential due to the reduced time to market and time to volume.

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Value Potentials	Business Benefits
Up to 30% reduced design cycle times*	Product structures are immediately available for process enineering - no information islands
Up to 50% more precise procurement of components*	Assignment of components to specific operations in the routing for advanced scheduling capabilities
Up to 20% reduced time for routing creation*	Advanced processing via graphical browsers, e.g. copying of existing operations or component assignment via Drag&Drop
	Processing of multiple product and process structures supported, only edited parts are locked to allow simultaneous processing of huge structures
	Digital Mock-Up (DMU) viewing files and product structure, e.g. for process engineering and production

Product Engineering

Process Engineering

Production

Modify product structure / release for production

Convert drawings in neutral format

Create product structure / release for process engineering

Trigger optimization via ECR

Adopt routing / release for production

Create routing and assign components

Check product structure and use Digitial Mock Up viewing

Provide feedback to engineering via redlining

Start production and use DMU viewing in production order

Source:
* Discussions with Customers

The value potentials shown in this table have been reported by selected SAP customers or independent third parties as referenced herein. However, there is no guarantee that such value potentials can be realized in any particular customer-specific business processes, and SAP does not make any representations and disclaims any liability as to the appropriateness of the referenced value potentials for any specific customer situation.
©SAP AG 2008

Business Benefits	Value Potentials
Advanced environment for concurrent engineering of product and process strucures in one workbench
Mass processes such as mass change of work center or storage location supported
Phased release of product structures supported, e.g. first process engineering then production


Process Engineering When the new product development process is in its final phase, in which the product structure is set up, a fast transition to production is essential for successful ramp up and product introduction. Efficient process engineering is key at this time, and this requires tight collaboration between process engineering and production. Process engineering is supported by the engineering workbench, which allows the parallel processing of several bills of material and routings. The tight integration of these structures allows digital mockup (DMU) viewing of the mechanical assemblies (after conversion of native CAD files into neutral viewing files) during the initial set up of routings. Graphical controls allow the copying of existing operations into a new routing, using Drag&Drop. The assignment of components to specific operations in the routing is supported in the same way. These mechanisms, together with advanced mass processing capabilities, such as the replacement of a work center in hundreds of preselected operations within a few seconds, speed up the work of the process engineer. Later on, the assignment of components to specific operations allows precise procurement, especially if the production or assembly process takes several days or even weeks. Due to the tight integration of engineering into other business processes, SAP PLM can support a phased release concept for both product and process structures. For example, the product structure can be released first for process engineering, then for product costing, and finally for material requirements planning and production. This ensures fast but secure processes. Production is started as soon as product structures and process structures are released for production, after which all relevant documents can be transferred into the production order as well. The people in production have direct access to all documents needed to produce and assemble the product. For the product structure, they can utilize digital mockup (DMU) viewing of the mechanical assemblies, in the same way as the process engineers in the engineering workbench. With access to these documents, production can easily provide feedback if things need to optimized or changed to improve production processes. For example, the redlining capabilities of the integrated viewer allow the creation of electronic comments on the viewing files. This input then can be used by engineering to trigger engineering change management (ECM). With ECM, all objects affected by a change can be modified in one controlled process. So product structures, process structures, and documents can be changed all together, resulting in a new, consistent change status of the product, which can be used for ongoing production. This means that collaboration is supported for continuous improvement as well as for new product introduction.