Abstract:
The manufacturing industry has put into practice a methodology that embraces Design for Manufacturing and Globalization. Competition in the global manufacturing industry demands greater forethought in new product development. Products must transition through the development lifecycle faster, provide flexibility to transfer manufacturing operations to other countries, facilitate cost reduction and augment strategic market objectives. To achieve these goals at Bell Helicopter, the new Bell 525 Relentless has made extensive use of Engineering Digital Product Definition (DPD) and Interactive Work Instructions (IWI). A cultural change achieved the end result of a design that contains a new product structure capable of leveraging global technology resources, with creative delivery of work instructions for manufacturing.