SAP VISUAL ENTERPRISE INTEGRATION FOR A LARGE EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER
Zircoo helped underground technology and utility construction equipment companies to streamline their end to end processes.
SAP VISUAL Enterprise Integration For A Large Equipment Manufacturer
Customer:
Manufacturer of underground technology and utility construction equipment in the United States.
Challenge:
The company aimed to enhance the organization and sharing of CAD data stored in their non-SAP system. They sought assistance in integrating their non-SAP PLM system, containing all their 3D product CAD data, into SAP.
Solution:
We implemented SAP Visual Enterprise into their existing environment, serving as a bridge between their non-SAP PLM system and their SAP engineering and manufacturing environments. This integration facilitated seamless access to 3D product CAD data within SAP, enhancing collaboration and streamlining processes across the organization’s engineering and manufacturing operations.
Products and Services
- SAP Product Lifecycle Management (SAP PLM)
- SAP Implementation
- SAP Engineering Control Center (SAP ECTR)
Business Problem:
The underground construction equipment manufacturing company faced challenges in organizing and sharing engineering CAD data stored in a non-SAP PLM system. The company’s CAD product data was fragmented across different geographic locations, resulting in data silos that hindered effective collaboration and manufacturing processes. The inability to view or share 3D product data between acquired entities posed significant operational hurdles. The company recognized the need to integrate their non-SAP PLM system, containing essential 3D product CAD data, into SAP to streamline product data management and enable the creation of 3D visual work instructions for the manufacturing shop floor. They aimed to establish lightweight digital twins of their CAD engineering data within SAP to facilitate downstream utilization across their enterprise and digital supply chain.
Business Solution:
To address their business challenge, we integrated SAP Visual Enterprise into their existing environment, serving as a bridge between their non-SAP PLM system and their SAP engineering and manufacturing environments. This integration introduced several key functionalities:
1. Visual Asset Management: Enabling efficient management and visualization of assets within the organization.
2. Visual Plant Maintenance and Service: Facilitating visualizations for maintenance and service activities, enhancing operational efficiency.
3. Virtual Design Simulation and Construction: Allowing for virtual simulations and construction planning, reducing costs and improving accuracy.
4. Visual Manufacturing Planning: Enhancing manufacturing planning processes through visualizations, leading to improved productivity.
5. Visual Sales and Marketing: Supporting sales and marketing efforts with visualizations of products and services, enhancing customer engagement.
Additionally, we implemented SAP Engineering Control Center, serving as a web portal to display and securely share lightweight digital twin data and 3D visual assembly instructions. This enabled seamless communication and collaboration across manufacturing shop floors, improving efficiency and accuracy in assembly processes.
Results:
The company has significantly improved its efficiency by enabling the exposure of 3D product data across its extended enterprise and supply chain. Following the integration, the merged entities now operate with a unified source of truth, ensuring alignment between the two companies. Furthermore, they have implemented lightweight 3D digital twin visualization files, akin to PDF files, which can be securely shared throughout the enterprise.
A pivotal aspect of the project was the successful implementation of 3D visual work instructions on the manufacturing shop floor. These interactive 3D videos provide step-by-step guidance on product assembly and required tools, facilitating ease and efficiency for employees during the manufacturing process.
With everyone across the enterprise and supply chain leveraging these digital twins and lightweight 3D files, the company has experienced enhanced productivity, enabling faster and more streamlined product development and manufacturing processes.
