'Virtual Factory' Enabled GM To Save Time And Costs In Design Of Lansing Grand River Assembly
FOR RELEASE: January 9, 2002'Virtual Factory' Enabled GM To Save Time And Costs In Design Of Lansing Grand River Assembly
Lansing, Mich. - Before the first brick was laid for the Lansing Grand River Assembly plant, General Motors manufacturing engineers could "see" how the plant would operate. Using 3-D math modeling to create a "Virtual Factory" allowed GM to create a safer and more ergonomically-friendly environment, save time in the design and validation process and save costs by eliminating mistakes.
"Math-based technology is fundamentally changing manufacturing," said Gary Cowger, president of GM North America. "Designing Lansing Grand River in math data helped ensure that our equipment and processes would support our people as well as the product we're building." The new plant is producing the all-new Cadillac CTS luxury sport sedan and will add other luxury vehicles in the future.
Because vehicles are also designed in math data, GM has a single source of master data that can be used throughout every stage from product engineering to tooling to manufacturing. The same mathematical coordinates that determine a single point on the vehicle is used to develop tools for the body shop, or to program assembly and paint robots.
Time and cost savings
In the past, GM couldn't validate the integration of equipment, tools, fixtures and machinery until everything reached the plant floor during startup. Mistakes were costly and time consuming to correct. At LGR, the Virtual Factory process saved time in the design and validation process, and reduced costs by making it easier to identify and resolve problems upfront. The virtual factory helped GM build LGR in only 21 months from the start of construction.
Designing in math allowed LGR planners to build standards right into the software - for example, safety rules regulating how far a control panel needs to be from an aisle.
Three-dimensional factory modeling also allowed GM to visualize the interfaces between people, machinery and material, and to analyze operational issues and investigate alternatives. For example, LGR designers were able to examine the interactions of conveyors, relationships between machinery and utility lines, and the clearances needed to maintain machinery.
Through the 3-D simulated factory, extensive testing and validation were done to ensure production could begin with no lost production or quality defects. Designers and engineers studied assembly simulations such as body to chassis marriage, installation of the instrument panel, doors, glass, seats and front-end alignment processes - all before installing one piece of machinery or tooling.
In General Assembly, computer simulations helped determine the best way to assemble parts, and the appropriate tooling and tooling fit needed to put parts together while identifying ergonomic and potential safety issues that could arise. In the Body Shop, computer technology allowed development of the most efficient ways to use robots to weld the metal body components together.
Work cell simulation
Work cell simulation allowed manufacturing engineers to understand the environment from the operator's point of view, providing a 360-degree view of the work cell in order to evaluate real life issues such as safety and ergonomics.
Digital modeling also provides a significant ongoing benefit because accumulated knowledge can be easily transferred through the GM organization. "Proven math models are our source for what we know works. We can build on our technical memory as we go forward for the next project," Cowger said.
"Virtual Factory technology adds speed and flexibility to our manufacturing process, and it allows our people to focus on what they do best - build quality vehicles, instead of spending time and energy de-bugging systems and processes. The Virtual Factory strategy is a key to helping GM ultimately create and deliver great vehicles to our customers."
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