Visualization of the Advanced Digital Enterpris
Authors: Esser Wayne , Anderson Roger N. 
Published: October 2008

The developments in the deepwater triangle of the Gulf of Gulf of Mexico, Brazil and West Africa are setting new standards for the design of all aspects of the "oil field of the future". Such new projects could provide "green-field" opportunities to implement integrated design/build/support processimprovements from the aerospace industry. Boeing terms their new manufacturing paradigm an "advanced digital enterprise", of which visualization is a key component. Implementation of advanced tools and processes used by Boeing for the design and construction of offshore facilities might lead to revolutionary cost and cycle-time savings for the energy industry.

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to look at how visualization is used in modern aerospace manufacturing, and at the prospect of enough commonality for it to be exportable to the energy business. Based on what we have seen of visualization technology in the energy industry, it is clear that the issue is not one of technology. The energy industry is clearly on the leading edge of visualization technology. For example, there have been significant advances in discovery and delineation of new oil and gas reservoirs through the use of 3D visualization to characterize subsurface geometries. This paper will look at the next step, or how visualization technology can be integrated into the total life cycle of upstream processes to increase the performance of the overall enterprise.

Energy and Aerospace

At first glance, the similarities between energy and aerospace seem few and far between. However, looking at the big picture, there are a several similar attributes:Both deal with large complex capital projectsBoth end products have long life spans and operate in hostile environmentsFailure at anytime can be catastrophic, both economically and in loss of life?Economic success is dependent on keeping to cost and time schedules

Given this commonality, we hope that interaction of people and technologies between these different worlds can produce common benefit through the use of advanced tools and processes.

The Advanced Digital Enterprise

For many years there has been promise of the paperless manufacturing environment and the many productivity benefits such will bring. We have seen evolutionary benefit in many industries over the past ten years, but seldom do we see a truly revolutionary benefit, as has been discovered in aerospace. This is primarily because of the large scale and scope of the impact on the overall organization required to "going completely digital."

To this end, Boeing implemented a program called the "Lean Engineering Thrust" specifically targeting the design, build and support of its large, complex military and commercial aircraft systems. The idea was not to take our paper world and digitize it, but to re-look at all our processes and determine what they would look like, and if they were even needed in a digital environment. Then, if they were, how could they be improved within the overall digital process? Out of this exercise came a proprietary product called the Digital Manufacturing and Production System (DMAPS).