In the history of the development of industrial production systems , events occurred that created the prerequisites for a revolutionary leap in technology. And the fact of their existence led to a change in the appearance not only of enterprises where innovative processes were carried out, but also of the whole world. The creation of the first steam engine was the initial impetus for the emergence of technological machines and mechanisms, which a hundred years later turned into modern equipment for the manufacture of products. The discovery of electromagnetic induction became the basis of a new elemental base, from the construction of the first batteries to modern computers, telephones and the electrical part of various devices. The introduction of the first conveyors for automobile assembly by Henry Ford outlined the development trends of large enterprises for many decades to come. Toyota’s lean manufacturing methods and concepts have enabled the creation of flexible, custom-made systems with minimal resource consumption and maximum product quality. In fact, we are talking about industrial revolutions in the production and provision of services.
The intensive development of information technologies in the fields of communication and communication, the design of complex systems and the development of new information management technologies has created the prerequisites for the appearance of the following innovations - these are CALS technologies.
Relevance of use
To date, there are almost no types of human activity without using the results of information development. Medicine, light and heavy industry, game industry, scientific and innovative activity - various software products facilitate processes, and are often their critical element.
Further deepening the informatization of the areas of activity of industrial enterprises today is an important condition for the successful development of the economy. Intelligent engineering processes, automated processes for managing the enterprise’s production activities, together with its technical re-equipment and the creation of innovative computerized technological processes, make it possible to significantly form production-optimal production facilities with full disclosure of industrial potential.
The progressive methods and approaches to production management that have appeared in recent decades are usually referred to as logistics technologies. This is due to the fact that logistics explores and forms various flows in production and organizational activities, which include material, financial and information structures. Therefore, it is more correct to talk about CALS-technologies in logistics.
The main difference between this approach is the creation of a management system that does not automate certain types of work, functions and tasks, but allows us to formalize all the processes of the enterprise - design, production, supply, marketing, after-sales service.
History of creation
In general, CALS-technology is the process of creating a single information space in a single system for ensuring the product life cycle. With the development of production systems, the need arose to develop mechanisms and procedures for the rapid exchange of data between various subjects of production relations at different stages of the use of products.
Initially, this concept was implemented in the U.S. armed forces to reduce paperwork, increase the efficiency of feedback between customers and suppliers of weapons and ammunition, increase the manageability of the system and reduce the overall cost of the information area. The abbreviation CALS itself refers to "computer support for deliveries."
Having reasonable efficiency (according to experimental data, labor productivity has significantly increased and operating losses have decreased), over time, CALS-technologies and CALS-systems have significantly expanded their field of activity. Various branches of mechanical engineering, construction and transport sectors, the field of development of projects of high-tech industries. Moreover, if initially the application was limited to production and operation, now the concept acted on all stages of the product life cycle - from market analysis to the disposal process due to physical or moral wear and tear.
Today, the application of CALS-technologies has become a transnational strategy for paperless electronic process control at various levels of the product life cycle. There are several dozen organizations coordinating the development aspects of these systems at the level of various states and unions (for example, the North Atlantic Alliance).
Briefly about the essence
The basic principles of CALS-technologies are based on the control and organization of the stages of product existence. These include:
- providing system management (use of special information spaces);
- cost minimization at all stages;
- use of standard mechanisms for describing managed objects (integration of information flows);
- differentiation of software elements based on the use of common standards (data and access interfaces) and the use of platforms on a commercial basis;
- presentation of information on a paperless basis with the priority of using electronic signatures;
- concomitant engineering of all processes;
- continuous adjustment and improvement in order to create an optimal management model.
Creating an information plane involves solving the problem at two levels:
- automation of individual production elements and the formation of related data management information flows;
- composition of various information blocks (which, in addition to obtaining a homogeneous information environment, guarantees the composition of the overall strategy of the enterprise).
Timely and continuous development of CALS-technologies is a prerequisite for the technical development of the production system.
The benefits of an integrated environment include:
- data protection over time (ensuring integrity);
- providing access to information for all project participants, regardless of their position in space;
- minimization of data loss;
- flexibility of the system response to the changes made (changes are available almost instantly throughout the system);
- increased data throughput;
- wide possibilities of various design and support platforms.
Advantages of CALS technology in mechanical engineering
Prospects for the application of CALS in industrial enterprises are the formation of a specialized organizational and information environment that allows:
- significantly increase the level of cooperation of various industries due to uniform information processing standards;
- reduce the influence of the territorial location of enterprises and thereby limit the effect of distances on the effectiveness of interaction;
- create virtual elements of production, allowing to control the processes of design, production and operation of products at the level of individual practical tasks;
- protect work results based on the continuity of work results at all stages of the product life cycle;
- to optimize costs by reducing the paper components of the workflow;
- use the "transparency" of management and control processes through the development of integrated models;
- create powerful information support for all stages of the production cycle;
- create a common system for standardizing product information;
- provide the required level of product quality.
The application of the fundamentals of CALS-technologies is extremely important to match the level of development of the enterprise with modern trends in the international industrial arena.
General approaches to creating information infrastructure
The main mechanism for the design and subsequent adaptation of products to mass production is the technical preparation of production. As a rule, it is implemented in three main stages - development of the design and preparation of graphic documentation, development of technology and preparation of the production system, as well as the selection of optimal design and technology options in terms of economic efficiency. This procedure, from the moment it was used at defense enterprises of the USSR in the mid-60s, has become familiar to civilian systems. Thanks to its use, the time for designing and preparing for operation of new structures was significantly reduced, and the level of reliability of products more than doubled. At the same time, tangible results were achieved in the field of quality assurance.
Modern computer facilities own tools and approaches that allow you to consolidate all production data and present them in the form of an electronic model. This facilitates engineering analysis, the creation of various design (technological) specifications, the development of technical manuals and catalogs of ready-made technical solutions. CALS, IPI technologies of informatization are a general trend in the development of production design systems.
Research Areas
Examples of CALS technologies are digital production design methods that support Product Lifecycle Management — the so-called PLM systems.
These include the following classes of systems:
- CAD - (Computer Aided Design) - solving the problems of designing products and elements; modeling of objects on the plane (2D model) and in space (3D model); means of obtaining drawings; archives of data on structural elements and the creation of document templates.
- CAE - (Computer Aided Engineering) - study of the properties of objects (in the manufacture and operation); creation of test systems for analyzing an object according to the developed model; optimization of object parameters according to given conditions and restrictions.
- CAM - (Computer Aided Manufacturing) - programming CNC machine controllers; research of tool path options using machined surface algorithms; geometric conflict analysis; fitting to equipment.
- PDM - (Product Data Management) - data storage and documentation control; creating an archive of samples; providing access to information and its protection.
Enterprise Resource Management
Another important function of computational methods is the management of various resources and flows of the enterprise in real time - material, technical, financial, warehousing processes, personnel, planning and marketing of products. Systems that implement the above tasks relate to ERP-systems (Enterprise Resource Planning - enterprise resource management).
Such systems represent a new methodology for managing CALS technologies, which implements the required functionality based on a special information infrastructure.
Typical functions of this class of software products include:
- creation and control of various specifications (allow you to determine the final product, take into account all the necessary resources for production);
- product sales management (product sales forecast based on sales plans);
- analysis of the need for materials (determination of batch size and delivery times, specific groups of raw materials and components);
- organization of procurement activities (formation of supply contracts, optimization of warehouse activities of the enterprise);
- capacity utilization planning (at the level of the entire enterprise, as well as individual workshops or jobs);
- control of financial resources (accounting and audit of finances).
Note that the presented CALS-technologies are a conceptual basis of information support for the life cycle of the creation and operation of products. Which shows its maximum efficiency when merging both systems (PLM and ERP).
System use
CALS-technologies are, first of all, a technique of information support of business processes, which has found its application in various areas of production activity. The effectiveness of its distribution and use is based on the systematic development of an appropriate information environment. To achieve this goal, a necessary condition is the use of special compositional approaches to the formation of new support systems.
An example of such a company in the Russian market is the SIC CALS-technology “Applied Logistics”. The main objectives of the company lie in the plane of progressive platforms and standards for their use. The main activities are: operational monitoring of various design data and minimizing product losses.
SIC CALS-technologies - developer of several well-known authoring platforms. Let's review them briefly.
PDM Application Class
Represents a data source based on models that are formalized by special international ISO standards.
The most common features include:
- control of information about the main properties of structures;
- device research for subsequent system changes;
- analysis of compliance with logistics principles;
- data collection on the parameters of the quality component of products;
- control of arrays of operations;
- ensuring the interaction of elemental sets (CAD-CAM and others).
As you can see, the use of CALS-technology provides complete control of the product at the level of the element base of the design.
Additional features:
- operation and control of lists of classifiers (reference data banks);
- production data management ;
- real-time product parameter management;
- development of tree diagrams of the variable structure of products;
- work with patterns of structures according to the previous options;
- analysis of the characteristics of elements according to various indicators;
- product layout with documentation: models, drawings, text information, data tables;
- work with archives;
- formation of specifications and statements;
- data management of technological processes, equipment, equipment;
- detailing of manufacturing technology (routes, operations, transitions);
- analysis of the interaction of technology stages with the structural element base;
- determination of consumption rates of various resources in the system;
- visualization of the elements of the tool production technology;
- change control by processing methods;
- operation management;
- providing access to data;
- approval of electronic signature data;
- quality control;
- ensuring the functioning of the intelligent search mechanism;
- variability of display types, etc.
As you can see, the number and content of functions is sufficient to obtain comprehensive information for a complete analysis of the process under consideration.
Technical Guide Builder
Work with documentation regarding the operation of complex systems. Based on international requirements that govern the logistics of product support. The key idea of the standard is to work with a set of information units. The basic concept is documentation modularity. Information is fragmented using special codes. Scope - any means of transport, military equipment, equipment.
Flexible adaptation to changing conditions is provided. The complex is suitable for both parent companies and related companies (manufacturers of materials, components).
LSA Suite
It is a set of procedures that implement in time the logistical support of production systems. It allows you to solve a number of problems, such as determining the reliability of the criticality of failures, creating a functional model of maintenance, determining the required number of spare parts.
ATLAS
A specialized platform designed specifically for processing data on the operation of technical aviation systems. The specified security is ensured by constant monitoring of the condition. The analysis and subsequent upgrades make it possible to significantly reduce costs.
Examples of using
CALS-technologies in Russia are used at many domestic enterprises, both civil and military sectors. Electronic documentation is used for many products. For example, in aviation for airplanes, helicopters, aircraft engines and components. In addition, navigation systems, telephone and radio communications, and control systems are being developed. They are used in the design and development of automotive equipment. , "", "", " " . , CALS- .
Conclusion
CALS- , . . CALS, , , .
, . ( CALS-) , , , .