Taking flight in 3D [aerospace design]

In the aerospace industry, Saab Aerostructure's work with the development of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner was an opportunity to extend the capabilities of 3D design simulation for the assembly of the aircraft's doors. We have developed and manufactured seven doors and hatches for the 787, primarily cargo doors. We had been using Delmia tools for several years, and we also conducted our own research. We decided to take the use of 3D design simulation all the way to the manufacturing shopfloor. Saab went from 2D to 3D because we wanted to move towards a complete integration of product data between ourselves and the client, in the process implementing new enterprise resource planning systems. We started to do our first trials with 3D assembly simulation in 1996. The following year we moved on to digital mock-up (DMU), and in 1999 we developed assembly simulation work instructions.