Tips for Getting Model-Based Definition Underway in a Large Company

We used to see it a lot when companies went from 2D to 3D CAD, or when someone rolled out a PLM system. Everyone benefits from the hot new implementation, but they don’t always buy in right away. Ken Abbott, Global CAD Tools Leader – Drilling & Surface for GE, found himself in a similar position when his group decided to adopt model-based definition.  His leadership team aimed to cut engineering time and costs by 30-50% using MBD, and Abbott’s job was to help bring that vision to life. “MBD is my number one priority right now,” he said when we spoke a few months ago.

Ken Abbott, Global CAD Tools Leader – Drilling & Surface for GE

What Is Model-Based Definition?

If you’re not familiar with MBD, it’s the practice of using 3D models within CAD software to define individual components and product assemblies. So the model may include details such as geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T), assembly level bills of materials, design intent, etc. 

“Historically, [specification] information was captured on a piece of paper and hand drawn,” explains Purdue University in this video on PTC Creo and MBD. “As CAD systems have evolved, the automation of creating these drawings became commonplace and a model centric approach was used. But, as we look at where we are today, an MBD approach means that the 3D digital data set may contain enough information to be able to manufacture or inspect the part without a need for 2D drawings.” 

In short, MBD in some cases is cutting out the 2D drawing step in product development, as models go straight from 3D to manufacturing.

 

Bringing MBD in House

What’s all that mean to Abbott? “For the last two years, I have been involved with helping to drive my company to a full digital platform using a virtual environment from concept to end of life,” he says. When we spoke to him, the company was making progress, but they thought they could do better. 

“We have several areas where we see room for improvement, including increasing the fidelity of our solid models so that they can reliably be used downstream as the basis for building the product,” he said. “We also want to improve our ability to train our people and monitor and validate our models to ensure that they are all created in a standard format so that, for example, we are able to automatically perform interference checks.”

 

Tips from Fellow Engineers

It turns out Raytheon has been implementing MBD too. Best of all, by last June, some of its technologists were willing to share what they had learned. At PTC Live Global (now LiveWorx), the Raytheon team presented this session called “Transition to a MBD Culture.” 

Click the link to see Raytheon's full presentation. For Abbot, the most insightful takeaway from Raytheon was their approach to rolling out MBD. They encouraged attendees to start small.

[Ed. This post has been updated]