Acquisition extends 3DEXPERIENCE platform with AR in manufacturing and operations
Dassault Systèmes has acquired Diota, a developer of digital manufacturing solutions focused on assembly assistance and quality control. Diota joins the list of companies acquired by Dassault to bolster their 3DEXPERIENCE platform. Diota solutions are used by companies worldwide, including Dassault Aviation.
Who is Diota?
Diota supplies “cutting-edge digital field solutions for industry 4.0” according to their website.
Diota is a French company that started in 2009. Diota helps companies transition to the new era of digital transformation by providing innovative technologies.
As we are in the throes of industry 4.0, companies recognize the need to modernize their production. Although digital solutions for design and simulation have long been used in the engineering offices, the use of industry 4.0 technologies like interconnectivity, automation, machine learning and real-time data in the operational areas are still not widely adopted.
This is where Diota comes in. Their technologies bring gains in productivity, quality and efficiency of operations in an industrial context. The return on investment (ROI) is reduction of cycle times, right-the-first time, reduced levels of non-conformities, reduction in costs due to defects detected too late in the process, improved traceability, and even an increase in competence and comfort of work for operators.
Diota’s tools include interactive 3D, augmented reality, computer vision, artificial intelligence, and deep learning. By digitally connecting engineering with onsite manufacturing operations (like production and maintenance), companies can increase their productivity, improve the quality of their products, and improve the safety and direction of their workers.
This digital connection is a virtual twin linked to data from the real world. While using the solution, you complete complicated tasks accurately the first time and use the virtual twin to digitally mock-up usage. Then, you apply continuous improvement techniques and enhance the traceability.
Why Purchase Diota?
Dassault’s 3DEXPERIENCE is a web-based product development platform. With it, users can design and validate designs collaboratively and then prepare the designs for manufacture. Its goal is to provide all aspects of engineering and business processes in one connected environment.
3DEXPERIENCE is a collection of cloud-based applications. This includes DELMIA, which “enables manufacturers to create digital models that virtually simulate products, processes, and factory operations.” Using the DELMIA 3DEXPERIENCE, engineering, manufacturing and production collaborate virtually on 3D models to optimize and carry out manufacturing, supply chains, logistics, and services.
You can already see where this is going.
Dassault plans to integrate Diota’s solutions into its DELMIA applications. This will add augmented reality (AR) technology to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. By adding AR, it enhances the digital manufacturing increasing efficiency with new levels of intelligence and decision-making. The actionable virtual twin experiences push the 3DEXPERIENCE platform into new areas.
A common business challenge is communication. How do you connect everyone on your team?
The uses can be as simple a physically projecting the masking regions onto the surfaces prior to painting to guide the operator when positioning the masking tape.
Think about assembly assistance, one of Diota’s strengths. How can operators be led through tasks like preparation and assembly so that they get it right the first time? With increasingly complex equipment, the risk of errors caused by interpreting paper (and 3D model) documentation is high. In today’s market, skill ramp-up is a barrier and it is hard to get new operators up to speed with the skills they need.
By implementing 3DEXPERIENCE (with Diota) the 3D digital mock-up (DMU) with the assembly instructions become available in the field, projected directly onto the equipment, or presented on a screen (like a tablet). The assembly stages, with precise location and references digitally overlay on the real-world item to help the operator step by step. This results in a reduction or preparation time, a reduction in errors, increased production, and an acceleration in skill development and operator confidence.
How can product compliance be efficiently controlled while maintaining a high level of traceability? By implementing AR in the control stages and using a tablet, remote camera, or even a HoloLens the operator can see where the control points are and note any potential non-conformities. Then using the 3D model, document flaws.
How can you discover suppliers’ defective parts before reaching the assembly line? The operator follows step-by-step instructions on a tablet, comparing the as manufactured to the as designed to ensure the incoming parts or equipment are in line with what was planned.
To summarize, users of Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE platform, now with Diota, can push the boundaries of creativity, learning, and manufacturing. This platform provides a collaborative environment, fostering development and now producing a virtual twin experiences of the actual world.