COE Annual Conference Featured Speakers
Tuesday, May 1 & Wednesday May 2, 2007

Here are just a few of the many speakers that will be highlighting the COE Annual Conference on Tuesday and Wednesday in Las Vegas. 

Rapid Design-Chain Alignment and Synchronization
	Mike Fecek Vice President, Virtual Services
Every company is under constant competitive pressure to deliver its products at lower cost, in less time, and with increased product quality.  A company, however, is only as good as the sum of its suppliers.  Any weak link in its supply-chain can compromise the objectives of speed, cost and quality.  In worst case scenarios, a weak critical supplier can jeopardize the total success of the entire product program.  Program risk increases when new products are rolled out, new suppliers are added to the supply-chain, or new technology must be adopted throughout the extended enterprise.  In order to address these challenges, a comprehensive approach to rapid supply-chain alignment and synchronization was developed called LEaP© (Linked, Enabled and Proficient). LEaP© is an end-to-end, process-driven, generic framework that is used to architect supply-chain synchronization solutions.  Synchronization solutions are specific and unique to each supply-chain owner and supplier community.  The LEaP© framework includes processes, methods and technology to accelerate supply chain alignment, measure its proficiency, and monitor its ongoing performance.  LEaP© has been tested, validated and refined over the past three years.  Some of the key underpinning technologies include the Virtual Team Management Systems (VTMS©), the Virtual Learning Management System (VLMS©), and a rapid deployment product call LEaP Express©.  The LEaP© framework can be applied to any design-chain albeit an external set of suppliers or an internal set of corporate divisions.  LEaP© solutions are currently in broad use by two major OEMs. The application of the LEaP© framework is critical to the success of companies who depend upon their supply-chains.  Suppliers are connected faster, supply chain implementation costs are dramatically reduced, and ongoing alignment and synchronization is assured.  Resistance to change within the supply base is minimized by substantially reducing adoption costs.  The LEaP© framework provides high value output for IT, Product Development, Purchasing and Manufacturing.  LEaP© yields win-win solutions for supply chains and their owners in a way that promotes long-term success amidst the uncertainties of an ever-changing global economy.

Legacy Data Requirements and Strategy for MBD Datasets Archiving
	Terry McGowan Systems Engineer IV, Boeing Phantom Works ALE
This presentation will address relevant issues specific to long term retention of authority CAD datasets from both a regulatory compliance standpoint and internal policy perspective. The ISO 10303 STEP AP 203 edition 2 standard will be a primary focus of this presentation. The concepts of collaborative and consumable data are discussed and what role each of these classes of data yield in terms of future reuse of data. General process flows will be presented which outline basic approaches to establishing a long term retention strategy. The final part of the presentation will discuss the importance of establishing a robust validation method for insuring the integrity of data being stored.

Implementing Product Life-Cycle Management – “The Good, the Bad and the Legacy”
	Richard Parr LCA Project Lead, Sikorsky
Inherent in the high engineering design content of complex Aerospace and Defense (A&D) products, data management is mission critical. As companies adopt virtual enterprise concepts, the information infrastructures must support inter-company exchange of product data along the supply chain and its customers. To meet these challenges Sikorsky Aircraft is migrating to the next generation of Product Life-Cycle Management systems (PLM). This paper will address how Sikorsky Aircraft is implementing Enovia’s Life-Cycle Application (LCA) software across their virtual enterprise. It will discuss the good, the bad and the legacy data aspects of this challenge.

Virtual Collaboration in a Global Enterprise
	David Prawel President, Longview Advisors Inc.
This presentation will present key success factors for effective collaboration in a global organization. 3D software technology, supported by PLM processes and technologies, provides a foundation that enables globally distributed organizations, such as design, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, sales, maintenance, and service, to collaborate with customers and each other to speed exciting, innovative products to market. I will discuss people, process and technology considerations and solutions, along with benefits, impacts, and risks, and I will highlight Dassault’s recent developments to facilitate collaboration throughout the product lifecycle. It’s not easy to collaborate effectively, but there is huge, proven value of getting it right.