4-page Case Study - Posted 9/24/2007

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Aviation Technology Group

Aviation Company Uses PLM Suite to Improve Collaboration and Internal Operations

Aviation Technology Group (ATG) leads the way in the production of aircraft that provides the power and in-flight functionality of a military fighter jet. ATG focuses on developing high-performance executive jets and derivatives for government markets. ATG expects first deliveries of the latest Javelin aircraft for commercial use in 2010. To pave the way and to plan for future successes, ATG sought to enhance its collaborative process with global partners and suppliers, and improve internal operations. ATG selected the UGS Teamcenter suite, supported by Microsoft® SQL Server™ and the Windows® platform and applications, which delivers integrated, cost-effective solutions from design, to development, to product release. The UGS PLM Software-Microsoft partnership has shortened ATG development time and reduced its total cost of ownership by minimizing IT support training and staff expenses.

Situation

Inspired by a rough sketch made by its founder, George Bye, Aviation Technology Group incorporated in June 2000 to continue developing and refining its high-performance executive aircraft. Colorado-based ATG has since grown into a company of more than 100 employees dedicated to the design, development, and production of executive jets and derivatives for government markets, including the Javelin Military Trainer.

With the top engineering talent in the aviation industry, ATG has led the way in the production of executive aircraft built to precision standards that provide the power and in-flight functionality of a military fighter jet. Under the watchful eyes of an experienced team, the Javelin developmental prototype first took flight in September 2005. FAA certification and first deliveries of the latest Javelin aircraft for commercial use is projected for 2010.

During the past six years, the design, development, and refinement of ATG’s high-quality jet aircraft and prototypes has been accomplished on state-of-the-art systems. Like others in the aviation industry, ATG utilizes sophisticated computer-aided (CAD) applications in its design and development efforts. To ensure the highest quality product, portions of the Javelin project are developed by premier partners and suppliers with specialized expertise who have negotiated design-build contracts.

Aviation Technology Group is the manufacturer of the Javelin, which will be the most technology-advanced airplane in the civil aviation market. … We’re going to stay ahead of technology well into the future and continue to come up with innovative, new, and exciting products. Charlie Johnson President, Aviation Technology Group

Further, the system for sharing information did not accommodate both internal and external user requirements or provide a central location to exchange technical drawings and specifications, component and supply order details, as well as financial data and operational information. Because the personnel at ATG, its partners and suppliers could include CAD designers, senior engineer managers, supply chain representatives, contract officers, quality assurance personnel and those in other roles, the ATG information exchange process needed to accommodate sharing the same information in a different format and for a different purpose.

When any phase of a project is completed, it is subject to review by the FAA, the certifying authority. Toward that objective, ATG required a system that enabled all aspects of a project phase to be evaluated and, if a modification was needed, to implement it precisely and quickly whether it involved coordinating the efforts with one or several global suppliers and partners. Following this, an efficient sign-off process for each project facet was required as a key component of ATG’s quality assurance program.

Solution

To preserve its competitive advantage, ensure that it continued to attain the industry’s highest quality standards, and remain cost-effective during the development and certification process, ATG management determined it needed to enhance its collaborative process with its global partner and supplier base as well as address internal operational challenges.

“The technology we communicate with is very, very critical. Having the engineering capabilities, being able to talk to our manufacturing supply chain, bringing in the financial and marketing segment, and being able to integrate and have everybody understand the baseline we’re operating from, is vital to our operations. Technology gives us that capability in real-time,” notes Charlie Johnson, ATG President.

Pioneer aviation manufacturers originally depended on UNIX infrastructures to bolster the massive system requirements needed to run first-generation CAD applications and, at first, ATG followed the pack. But from the beginning, ATG’s internal operations relied on the Windows® platform and Microsoft’s suite of business applications. As it planned for the future, ATG management recognized the business value of adopting a single platform that supported the array of its information technology needs—design, development, supply and manufacturing–related applications as well as those for its internal business operations.

“We are driven by the technology of integrating all of our processes, engineering, and manufacturing, which gives us a major leg up over any potential competition that might come into this market segment,” Johnson says.

Enter UGS PLM Software, a division of Siemens Automation and Drives (A&D) and a Microsoft strategic partner.

ATG management selected UGS PLM Software to develop and deploy a custom solution addressing ATG’s current and anticipated future needs in all aspects of the company’s operations.

“We chose Microsoft products because of the easy administration, market compatibility, and ease of implementation. Most of our platforms run on Microsoft and it was a logical choice to choose the UGS Teamcenter version that runs on Microsoft SQL Server,” explains Chris Ray, IT Director at ATG, adding: “The UGS PLM Software-Microsoft partnership allows us to extend functionality and integrate other enterprise systems because it provides a common platform that our business runs on. It has allowed us to reduce our cost of implementation, shorten our development timeline, as well as minimize the training that the IT staff needed to support a new application.”

The  Teamcenter suite of product lifecycle management (PLM) products provides an integrated, information-driven strategy from design inception to testing and certification, supply management and other business operations, manufacturing, support, and beyond.

ATG deployed its first solution component, Teamcenter’s for engineering process management, in 2005 and has since rolled out Teamcenter’s community collaboration capabilities and companion components to enhance various aspects of its operational process.

The Teamcenter suite maximizes the inherent benefits of the Windows platform including functionality, flexibility, as well as ease of configuration, deployment, and administration. Various Teamcenter components utilize Microsoft product solutions including Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005, Windows SharePoint® Services 2003, and Microsoft Dynamics™ GP, which is the core of ATG’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.

ATG currently dedicates one Windows server to file storage and for running applications. Microsoft Office SharePoint Server runs the community site, which enables efficient real-time communication and collaboration with suppliers and partners across the globe. Microsoft SQL Server manages all of the databases. “Microsoft SQL Server provides an excellent administration interface and lots of tools that we can utilize for not just the Teamcenter applications, but all of our enterprise applications,” Ray says.

Beyond enhancing and streamlining ATG’s internal business operations, a key strength of Teamcenter revolves around its collaboration features.

“Collaboration is probably the biggest tool that we really need to have here. We collaborate with our suppliers all the time, every day, and we need up-to-date data for our design work, whether it is for a flight control component coming in from one of our suppliers that need to integrate into our aircraft design structure, or specifications about an individual product,” notes Bruce Seiler, PLM Administrator at ATG.

By definition, collaboration is working together to achieve something. For ATG, this involves exchanging details with partners and suppliers on virtually every facet of its projects. Real-time access to this information is critical.  Teamcenter allows ATG to link its Engineering data with data from external file systems into its Microsoft SQL Server–based Web front end that suppliers and partners can access externally.

“The process that we follow to collaborate with suppliers is that we come up with specifications that we provide to the suppliers and they can come back with their proposal. We then evaluate those products and select the proper supplier and integrate those products into the Javelin aircraft,” Chris Herzog, VP of Supply Chain Management at ATG explains.

Since very detailed technical illustrations and specifications are inherent in aircraft design efforts, ATG’s collaboration solution needed to ensure that its partners and suppliers could access and review this material.

“Teamcenter products allow our suppliers, partners, and others involved in our processes, to use their existing Web browser to access our information without any additional software. This system allows, for example, a CAD designer located across the globe to upload and download CAD files locally. The data is synchronized across to our central location so that everyone has the necessary software available to review the files,” Ray notes.

Through deployment of Teamcenter, ATG has embraced the new, CAD-neutral JT format. It allows ATG to work with multiple CAD systems in the same design. Plus, ATG suppliers, partners, and those involved in certification aspects are now enabled to review complex technical illustrations and data online, as well as be part of a secure, electronic sign-off process that is time and cost-efficient.

“People can actually, through these tools, not have to worry about a CAD system through the Internet and through Internet Explorer®. They can actually see the real 3-D model and rotate it and have a real good idea of what that model looks like and also the assemblies that are put together,” Seiler says, adding: “Not having the right information is costly. So knowing that you have the right information, the right revision to work on, is very, very important.”

Benefits

While achieving its goals of improving communication and collaboration among its partners and suppliers, as well as enhancing internal business operations, ATG has also realized several additional benefits.

Partner and Supplier Access to Centrally Located Portal Ensures Real-time Collaboration
ATG is now able to exchange technical illustrations, specifications, and information through a centrally located portal that provides real-time, 24 hours a day/7 days a week access. This is a crucial business component for any organization that interfaces with a worldwide supplier or partner network and can be hampered by version control and global time zone issues.

“The Teamcenter application allows us to centralize all design data related to the product. We are able to electronically approve and route work flows, and secure all of our data in one centralized location,” Ray says, adding: “We can digitally sign and distribute that data and allow collaboration with remote parties around the world.”

“The benefit is our suppliers and partners always have access to real-time data, up-to-date data. Everybody’s working with the same basis and that way, when we finish the project, all the pieces fit together,” Herzog explains.

The system has proven to be easy to utilize by ATG and its global partner and supplier network, so communication and collaboration is more effective.

“When we put our Teamcenter site out for suppliers to access, most of them have already used SharePoint Server a lot and they say, ‘Hey, I can handle that. You know, that’s easy for me to learn, so show me some ways to get around and just tell me where things are.’ They’re good to go. That makes collaboration really easy. I can say it’s ‘not complex’ for them to get to the information they need to,” Seiler notes.

Efficiencies in Design, Development, and Review Realized with 3-D Representations
ATG now has the ability to make any needed modifications during the design and development process more quickly and accurately. Through its deployment of Teamcenter, ATG has embraced the CAD-neutral JT data format that offers 3-D model rotation. Enabling supplier and partners to view components and assemblies in this manner has helped shorten the development timeline.

“The Teamcenter product allows us to really improve our processes so that we can use the 3-D data properly and maintain control of that data,” Herzog explains, adding: “This system allows us to use multiple CAD systems in the same design with a lot of our suppliers. They use different CAD systems and we can bring them together properly in the design.”

The evaluation and review process, too, is more efficient and accurate through utilization of 3-D data modeling, and especially when compared with earlier paper-based review methods that were once the industry standard.

Utilization of the JT data format on the Teamcenter’s community collaboration site that runs on Windows SharePoint Services 2003 allows more precise and accurate electronic sign-offs. Since each phase of ATG’s aircraft development efforts needs to be reviewed and evaluated by the FAA, this is another area where ATG has achieved improved operational efficiency.

“Our Teamcenter collaboration site, which is Microsoft SharePoint Server integrated with our engineering database, makes it handy in that aspect. I actually had one FAA official go, “Hey, this looks like Microsoft SharePoint Server.” He said, ‘I know how to use that. It’s really easy,’ ” Seiler says.
 
Operational Efficiencies Provide Time and Cost Savings
The result of these improvements is a bottom-line, operational efficiency issue for ATG.

“We want to make our aircraft as cost-efficiently as possible. So the more re-work we put into it, the more it costs us and profit starts to slide down. That’s where all this collaboration and all this real-time data that we’re using comes into play,” Seiler says.

In short, improved communication and collaboration shorten the development timeline and help ensure the aircraft is completed as cost-efficiently as possible.

The new system began delivering cost savings from the start.

“By utilizing the Microsoft SQL Server version of UGS Teamcenter, we actually saved approximately $20,000 in hardware and software costs during our initial implementation. We also reduced our total cost of ownership by minimizing the amount of IT training and staff that we need to support multiple database platforms,” Ray explains, adding: “The cost of the solution was much less than some of the competitors and the tools allowed us to quickly adapt to the system and be able to support it in production. The enhanced functionality and features available in Microsoft products allowed us to do more with less, which is important to a company like ours.”

Plus, as Herzog notes: “Employees benefit because they can focus on ‘real’ activities, which is design of the aircraft. They don’t have to work on organizing files and managing the data. That’s done for them.”

Over two years ago the Javelin took its first test flight. “The exciting part about working at ATG is that we have all the technologies in place. So, going to the next step of manufacturing the plane is really an exciting time for us. We’re all just waiting for the day when the Javelin takes off into the sky on its inaugural flight,” Seiler says.  

Johnson adds: “Aviation Technology Group is the manufacturer of the Javelin, which will be the most technology-advanced airplane in the general aviation market. When we start certifying and delivering the aircraft, as our name implies, we’re not just going to build the Javelin, we’re going to stay ahead of technology well into the future and continue to come up with innovative, new, and exciting products.”

Microsoft Server Product Portfolio
For more information about the Microsoft server product portfolio, go to:
www.microsoft.com/servers/default.mspx

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 is comprehensive, integrated data management and analysis software that enables organizations to reliably manage mission-critical information and confidently run today’s increasingly complex business applications. By providing high availability, security enhancements, and embedded reporting and data analysis tools, SQL Server 2005 helps companies gain greater insight from their business information and achieve faster results for a competitive advantage. And, because it’s part of Windows Server System, SQL Server 2005 is designed to integrate seamlessly with your other server infrastructure investments.

For more information about SQL Server 2005, go to:
www.microsoft.com/sqlserver

For More Information

For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:
www.microsoft.com 

For more information about UGS PLM Software products and services, call (972) 987-3000 or visit the Web site at:
www.ugs.com

For more information about Aviation Technology Group products and services, call (303) 799-4197 or visit the Web site at:
www.AvTechGroup.com