Digital manufacturing software specialist Lattice Technology has released Chapters 11 and 12 of its Lean manufacturing book, which is available free of charge. Improving Lean Manufacturing Through 3D Data, by Dr Hiroshi Toriya, majors on case studies that show how the Japan Space Agency, JAXA, uses XVL for operations on the international space station and how 3D User manuals have taken hold at Digital Soken
First published in Japan late in 2008, this book is billed as being targeted at manufacturing executives and educators trying to work out new strategies to build greater productivity and efficiencies into existing manufacturing processes.
It covers a wide range of case studies from leading Japanese manufacturers, along with survey data to build understanding of how manufacturing can be enhanced using 3D data in downstream processes.
It also explains the evolution of 3D and IT in industry, and shows how it can be harnessed in other areas of production still locked in traditional processes.
Chapter 11 shows how Digital Soken, a division of Digital General Printing in Japan, delivers services and consulting to manufacturers who want to cut costs and streamline global operations through 3D technical documentation.
This company delivers services such as creating illustrations directly from customers' 3D data, delivering 3D assembly instructions to a manufacturer's global operations long before products are launched, through to advising manufacturers on how to improve their 3D design data for downstream use.
JAXA, the Japanese Space Agency, is then featured in Chapter 12 as an example of how XVL delivers critical information, easily, to dispersed groups.
Japan's Kibo experiment platform is now operational on the International Space Station, and will provide the base for zero-gravity experiments over the next 10 years. The experimental platform has more than 2 million parts, all designed in 3D CAD.
Having transferred the CAD data to XVL, and implemented the data in a 3D search database, operations staff and engineers on the ground can quickly identify faulty parts, see them in 3D, view operational data, and assist astronauts with repairs, while continuing to add critical maintenance and operations information.
The book is available free from Lattice Technology, with two chapters being released per month to registered recipients.
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