BLDC Hub Motor Teardown & Zero Based Costing
Coating Benchmarking
Body in White (BIW) Benchmarking
Teardown Benchmarking + Body Engineering = Body In White Benchmarking With the expertise in teardown benchmarking and the experience in body engineering Advanced Structures’ supports OEMs’, Body In White teams in development, weight reduction, value engineering and more with our BIW benchmarking solution.
*All data/graphs/trends/images presented on this page are dummy/heavily masked/edited to remove specific details. They are intended only to showcase sample outcomes of such activities.
Our BIW Benchmarking Solution Includes
- CAD Engineering
- Bill of Material (BOM) Generation
- Data Analytics and Inferences
- Part Level Thickness Mapping
- Weld Mapping
- Material Mapping
- Mounting Details
- CAE Meshing
- 360° views of BIW interior and exterior
CAD Engineering
Our BIW CAD engineering helps in understanding weight/material distribution philosophy, performing CAE analysis, check section modules, study yield and cut sections to see profile, packaging and thickness. The major deliverables are
- 3D CAD Data
- 2D Sections
It includes all the categorized outputs or deliverables in digital format (CATIA/NX/Solid Edge/Solid Works) achieved through automotive reverse engineering that can be readily accessible to design engineers during design process. For more detailed information regarding our Body In White (BIW) CAD engineering.
Teardown & Bill of Materials (BOM) Generation
After the CAD engineering we tear down the BIW by dis-assembling all the child assemblies and child components from their parent assembly in a strategic manner. Along the process, we map all the critical information and provide:
- Consolidated BOM including all the parameters on one sheet with all parts, sub-assemblies and assemblies. The list of parameters can vary from 10 to 100 based on the depth of analysis & data mapping required. To know the list of parameters collected during our teardown process.
- Hierarchy wise Individual Input Sheet and High-Quality view images on grid sheet.
- 2D CAD with thickness and profile details of the all the required sections.
The outputs from this activity are utilized for following purposes:
- Should costing
- Input for design engineer
- Supply chain complexity study
- Production engineering inputs
- Reference for focused automotive cost reduction projects (VA/VE)
What all can be studied from BiW of a competitor?
Before we jump on to the details of the alternate approach to benchmark BiW in least time at least cost, shown below is the list of individual studies that can be conducted on Body In White to extract information that can be used as engineering intelligence to answer key questions.
1. Energy management study
In order to study the load path for different load case scenarios (Frontal, Offset, Side Impact), energy flow diagram on the BiW is created to identify the critical sections which are the key contributors for meeting crash norms. In the end of this activity, multiple flow diagrams for different load cases with critical sections (>120 areas) are identified for further detailed study.
2. Critical sections preparation
Based on sections identified, 1:1 CAD files of the sections are prepared after physically cutting them from the BiW assembly. This data mapping exercise is required to reinforce the energy management study with additional key information such as profile shape, panel thickness, coating layer details & section modulus. On overlapping the flow diagram of the competition vehicle with the 2D sections in place the deviations and gaps can provide insights on the competitor philosophy of either transfer of energy or absorbing it at that zone.
3. Raw Material Analysis
Raw material distribution along with physical properties (Tensile Strength, Vickers hardness, % elongation and ultimate strength), chemical properties & thickness film analysis to understand the various layer of coating (paint, ED & Galvanisation). Based on the test lab results the data is triangulated with the standard material library to assess the exact grade of materials, in case of grades that are not matching with the existing grades are assigned specific special grade and material cards are generated. This data helps in understanding the strength of the regions/modules within the BiW, overall engineering philosophy & material library to benchmark.
4. Assembly sequence & process mapping
5. Sealant & Adhesive details
6. Welding information
7. Bill of material
The bill of material contains >35 parameters mapped per part with hierarchy mapped as it is on the Body In White. These parameters mapped here help in understanding the weight distribution, quantity, purpose, coating types & thickness, part’s box size & joinery types etc… Basically, all parameters that either impact cost or the function of the part is mapped and later utilized for VA-VE activity, directional costing & engineering inputs.
8. Thickness Map
In order to understand the thinning percentage, thickness is mapped for all the parts that are formed during stamping process. Thinning reduces the strength of the local region; hence it is critically planned while simulating the formability of steels. Parts should thin in the non-safety or non-strength critical areas only.
9. Full Reverse Engineering
10. Mounting Philosophy
11. Directional Costing
12. Data Analytics
Once all the data is mapped, analysis is the next step. Based on the list of parameters that are mapped, analysis can be customised to answer questions specific to either cost saving, weight saving, parts standardisation, commonisation & others. Our xcPEP tool supports here in writing analysis algorithms quickly and executing them on the data mapped for the activity.
Few outputs of the data analytics activity are
- Weight analysis
- Material distribution analysis
- Manufacturing Process analysis
- Complexity analysis and more
Material Mapping
In our BIW benchmarking solution we also provide the details about material usage in the form of
- Material Distribution Sheet
- Chemical Composition
- Physical Properties
These data help in understanding the industry trendline in Body In White design, optimizing material usage and for generating weight reduction ideas.
Part Mounting Details
We also provide details like mounting method for parts mounted on Body In White, location and complexity of mounts which can be used by design engineers for generating mounting method ideas and for space utilization and part integration philosophy
Apart from the above we also perform Part level Thickness Mapping and Weld mapping
BiW Benchmarking – CAD
Automotive industry is pushing limits to shorten their launch to launch cycle time & target very competitive cost of their products. With the increase in the strictness of the safety norms, NCAP ratings & customer needs, the challenge of reducing vehicle development cost and time has become more difficult. If we look at the bill of material (BOM) for a passenger vehicle, BIW (Body in White) + DIW (Door in White) constitutes close to 40% of the total weight of the vehicle and has a significant role in impacting the overall vehicle cost and time of development.
Refer to the below-mentioned graphs that show the weight distribution of all the subsystems of 4 Compact SUVs.
In order to support OEM clients in achieving their challenging automotive cost reduction targets, we targeted BIW & DIW benchmarking for mass reduction of car BIW for detailed study. We have designed a range of custom services (Fig. 3) with respect to passenger car Body in White (BiW) based specifically on their recent requirements that help in lightweight design of a car. We have divided the set of services in 3 parts in order to explain things in a detailed manner.
This particular page is Part-1(Fig. 3) & will pivot entirely around the CAD engineering specific services we offer. We have focused on generating 3D CAD Data for a BiW through automotive 3d scanning and reverse engineering which is extremely useful in crash worthiness analysis of a car BiW, and how 2D CAD outputs are useful to automotive design engineers in analysing section modulus for strength requirements.
Part-1 CAD Engineering:
When we say CAD engineering, it includes all the categorized outputs or deliverables in digital format (CATIA/NX/Solid Edge/Solid Works) achieved through automotive reverse engineering that can be readily accessible to design engineers during design process. For instance, while designing passenger seat support bracket on Body in White (BIW), the designer needs to consider the following constraints:
Now, each of the constraints has a further level of detail which guides the design of the bracket in a particular direction. Ideally designing the bracket meeting all these requirements is very challenging in a limited period of time. If the engineer performs all the studies individually from scratch and tries to balance out on all the above fronts, the overall automotive design time required will be very high.
On the other hand, if appropriate automotive benchmark data in a suitable format is readily available, detailed study time can be reduced and the decision-making process can be expedited. For e.g. if the benchmark vehicle passes homologation and the seat assembly weight is in range, the thickness map of the benchmark bracket can be used as a reference to start the vehicle design. It will save many iterations for CAE.
Based on a recent study the availability of automotive benchmark data at the right time while designing can reduce the overall time of design engineers by 23.7%.
As the data required by a Body in White (BIW) engineer while working on a new product model, a facelift model or a minor change model can vary from stage to stage, we provide the solution in 2 forms divided into further stages.
1. 3D CAD:- 3D Scanning & Reverse Engineering
This includes Automotive 3D Scanning and Reverse Engineering. By using a top-bottom approach detailed 3D data is generated for the entire Body in White (BIW) in the following 2 ways.
Process-1:
Scan Body in White BIW → Generate Rough Surface → Disassemble Parts → Scan All Parts→ Generate Rough Surface data for all components→ Assemble all components.
Deliverable:
Non-Parametric rough surface data of Body in White (BIW) Assembly, DIW assembly and all components in.iges/.stp/.prt/.Catpart format. Vehicle co-ordinate system will be different for all the parts and assembly CAD files.
Few Uses:
- Study of Position, Size and Packaging of Components with Low Accuracy.
- Ergonomics Reference Study.
- Dimension-Based Homologation Checks.
- Rough Sectional Study.
Process-2:
Assign reference vehicle to co-ordinate system (VCS) → Scan Body in White (BIW)→ Generate rough surface Disassemble Parts Hierarchy wise→ Scan All parts in assembled and non-assembled condition→ Generate rough surface data for all components→ Assemble all components→ Clean-Up CAD and generate CAE suitable CAD → Add weld information with exact quantity, size, and location.
Deliverable:
Parametric solid 3D CAD data of Body in White (BIW) Assembly, DIW assembly and all components in.iges/.stp/.prt/.Catpart format. Hierarchy wise properly assembled all components in assembly with common VCS.
Few Uses:
- Everything from Process-1 with higher accuracy.
- Detailed thickness map of all the components.
- CAE analysis for crash, vibration, and fatigue.
- Tool development & Proto Building.
- Features and holes positioning and mapping.
- Detailed sections can be cut and studied.
2. 2D CAD
For 2D CAD deliveries, we need not disassemble Body in White (BiW) unless for a specific requirement and sections are cut from the BIW assembly at all critical locations. After that, the cut pieces are scanned/traced and imported in the required CAD software for section modelling. 2D CAD modeling of the section includes all thickness details (paint, anti-rust coating, and panels) & exact profile.
For higher accuracy, the sections are cut using a reciprocating saw, where speed, feed, and depth of the cut is controlled and monitored. Also, during scanning/tracing & CAD making, dimensions are correlated with the physical section piece. In general, the accuracy of the section profile size is within 100 microns & thickness values within 10 microns.
Fig. 6 shows just an example of a 1:1 scale 2D CAD section made using NX software, this section is from the A-Pillar region of the Body in White (BIW). The automotive design engineer can use this section to study the A-Pillar obstruction (should be less than 6 degrees), section modulus for strength requirements, weld size & space availability, number of layers for spot weld and many more. Also, as this data will be available in the digital format, so she/he can verify & check shape/dimensions on the design software being used.
Major Challenges in Body in White (BIW) Benchmarking
The 2 major challenges that clients face while obtaining automotive benchmark data are getting the right data at the right time and accuracy of the same. At ASI we develop new methods and improve the efficiency of these methods over time in order to deliver accurate automotive benchmark data at the right time. We have standard operating procedures (SOPs) for making 3D CAD, automotive Scanning, section profile cutting and CAE activity and these standards have been developed with various Japanese, Indian and European Automobile OEMs. Also, the tools and machines used are calibrated and highly accurate.
BiW Benchmarking - Teardown & BoM
In the previous blog we discussed about BIW CAD Engineering services that we offer and it will focus on deliverable & uses of teardown of BIW (Body in White) & DIW (Door in White) assembly & detailed T-BOM (Teardown- Bill of Material) generation.
Teardown of BIW & DIW:
BIW teardown is the process of dis-assembling child assemblies and child components from their parent assembly in a strategic manner. Along the process, critical information is mapped which is further utilized for following purposes:
- Should costing
- Input for design engineer
- Supply chain complexity study
- Production engineering inputs
- Reference for focused automotive cost reduction projects (VA/VE)
All vehicle teardown activities are cumbersome and require huge amount of resources (time & money). Try to remember the last teardown activity you were involved with and the challenges you faced.
Were they:
- Too much of data, 20% relevant & 80% scrap.
- Non-structured random data, mostly images.
- Accessibility issues & multiple copies of the same thing.
- Difficulty in searching for any specific parts, be it image, technical info or even the hierarchy level.
There must be many more, now in order to solve these issues, we targeted them one by one and devised a detailed solution with following attributes:
- Strategic, to the point.
- Less time and money consuming.
- Highly accurate.
- Provides structured data and ease of accessing them.
- Finding any data of any vehicle from any activity with or without portal/software dependency.
Case Study (B-Pillar of BIW Structure)
The teardown workflow and process with which we claim to achieve the above attributes is explained through a small case study where a B-Pillar BIW structure was cut from the vehicle and torn down up to the last level.
Work Scope of Body in White (BiW) Benchmarking
Scope of the activity:
- Cut the B-Pillar LH portion from the car BIW & generate Teardown BOM.
- Map parameters such as Hierarchy, Weight, Quantity, Thickness, Material, Manufacturing Process, Weld Spots, 3 Views on Grid Sheet, Box Dimension, Coating thickness and technical comments.
- Map the profile of the section and make a detailed section in CAD
Workflow for Body in white (BiW) benchmarking
Deliverable:
1. Consolidated BOM
The consolidated Bill Of Material includes all the parameters on one sheet with all parts, Sub-Assemblies and Assemblies. The list of parameters can vary from 10 to 100 based on the Depth of Analysis & Data Mapping Required.
The image below shows few of the parameters that we map to create Bill of material of the Teardown Vehicle
2. Hierarchy Wise Individual Input Sheet and High-Quality View Images on Grid Sheet
Every folder has very high quality 4 images of every part with input sheet with same parameters as explained above, but specific to the single part.
The images are taken on-grid sheet with 100X100 grid size to measure dimensions later if required by the user.
3. 2D CAD with Thickness and Profile Details of the B-Pillar Section.
B Pillar section study was also conducted to understand the thickness details of the panel and profile. The data is provided to the client in 2D CAD format (1:1 scale) for further study.
4. Detailed Teardown Images:
The above deliverables are provided to the client with a handbook which explains the data search methodology, usage of the types of data provided and other studies that can be performed using the output of this activity.
BiW Benchmarking - Weld & Mounting
After Teardown & Bill of Material generation, the mapped parameters can be utilized to perform various studies and analysis. The study reports and inferences from the analysis can be utilized by the representative of following departments of an OEM
- Cost Management Cell
- Engineering Design Team
- Program Team
- Production Engineering Team
Data Analytics for Body in White (BIW) Benchmarking
Based on the 20-25 parameters that are mapped for all the components in the entire Bill of Material, a list of analytics activities can be designed and later used to draw conclusion for Weight Saving & Cost Saving Ideas.
For instance, we conducted detailed analysis on Door System and concluded many interesting value improvement ideas.
Following parameters were analyzed on 2 Vehicles
Analysis on every parameter almost resulted in concluding at least 5 Value improvement ideas each. Out of all, one of the most critical observation is presented below, this idea was accepted and resulted in 17.8% cost reduction from the current design in the new vehicle design.
The above infographics (Fig 4) clearly shows that even though the Total Weight of Client’s Door Assembly is lower than the competitor, there is a huge potential of cost savings if we dig deep and look at the mounting hinges.
- To hang a 45Kg door assembly the competitor has used just 1Kg weight of hinges & on the other hand, the client is hanging the same door on the BIW using 1.9 Kg hinges.
- Now, if we look at the complexity the client is having a more complicated Door Assembly as it is using 16 mounting bolts on one side which the competitor is easily doing with 10 bolts of the same size.
The above 2 inferences show that there is potential for weight and cost savings by optimizing the design for the best use. As the 2 benchmarked vehicles are sold in the same region, the use cases will also be similar. Similarly, when we analyze all the parameters in depth, we can come up with various mind-boggling ideas which can have huge cost benefits.
Weld Mapping for Body in White (BIW) Benchmarking:
Spot Welding is the dominant joining method in Body in White (BIW) Assembly, the position, shape, and sequence of welding has a huge impact on the quality (Dimensional Stability) of the final BIW ready for paint. Also, if the quality does not match the exact design, the deviation might result in a bad correlation between the simulation and actual crash CAE results. Hence, our analysis or rather data mapping of weld info for the entire BIW and individual parts can help in understanding how the competitor is planning to avoid any such manufacturing errors. It also helps in optimizing the No. of Spot Welds, Weld Length and Weld Size and Provide Thickness and Position Benchmark Values of Spot Welds for Design Engineers.
Following is a small example that showcases the data that we map from individual parts:
If required, the weld location can be analyzed for HAZ (Heat Affected Zone), microstructure analysis, weld material identification etc.
Thickness Mapping for Body in White (BIW) Benchmarking:
Work hardening and Thinning behavior of BIW panels have a huge impact on Crash Performance and Durability of BIW assembly. OEM’s spend a huge amount of time in ensuring that while designing the effects of formability is considered. Few OEM’s have started controlling the Thinning % and Wrinkling effect with quantified targets on BIW panels. As the thickness profile of all the strategically placed panels in a BIW is critical, we have started studying the thinning behavior of sheet metal panels and showcase them in the following manner.
Ultrasonic Thickness Gauge or Microscopic Thickness Layer Study is used from case to case basis to study thickness map. The main focus is on use of advanced material for weight saving by Thickness Reduction. Refer the for sample Thickness Mapping data
Mounting Philosophy for Body in White (BIW) Benchmarking:
With the competition growing, OEM’s can’t take a chance of losing customers due to increased waiting period of its models. In order to have a quick delivery time, the production in sync needs to be faster. Hence, there is a constant quest for reducing the total no of parts per vehicle (complexity reduction) & making the design such that it is easy to assemble and leads to reduced takt time. Now, in this section we provide a study that deals with the mounting philosophy of components on the BIW. This includes Locus of Assembly, Tool Utilization, No of Steps for Assembly, No of Mounts etc. This provides mounting method ideas to design engineers.
The following 2 examples show the brief idea about the mounting philosophy study (refer Fig 6 & 7). Detailed time & production engineering specific study can be conducted and presented on demand.
With all the information that we produce while BIW Teardown Activity, the data can be utilised as a benchmark to reduce the overall Automotive Product Development Time by 23.7%. The activities are agile and very specifically designed based on the final objective
