presentation to The Last Frontier: Eliminating the Manufacturing Bottleneck presentation to SME Automation Rendez-vous Conference 2009 October 20, 2009 OpenAire Inc.Logicap Engineering

Outline 1.OpenAire Background 2.The Manufacturing Bottleneck 3.Lean Stage 1: Automated Design 4.Results of Organizational Transformation 5.Lean Stage 2: Automated Welding

Company Overview  Founded in 1992  Marketing custom glass-aluminum retractable roof buildings globally  Recognized the manufacturing bottleneck in Year 2000  Began implementing Lean engineering OpenAire Background

Water Parks Resorts & Water Parks OpenAire Background

Curved Retractable Roof Systems OpenAire Background

Pre-Lean Practices  Sales  Quotes relied on past experience  Visuals generated by Engineering  Design  2D electronic drafting  Manual material take-off  Manufacturing  Frequent engineering changes  1,000s of hours of manual welding per building OpenAire Background

Custom Manufacturing Process Flow Time SalesProductionOrder EntryPurchasing Applications Engineering Design Engineering Manufacturing Engineering The Manufacturing Bottleneck = critical path limiter

Bottleneck Functions  Applications Engineering  Preliminary Bill of Materials & Process Plan  Quote drawing and costing  Design Engineering  Detailed Bill of Materials  Fabrication & assembly drawings  Manufacturing Engineering  Process Plan  CNC programs The Manufacturing Bottleneck

Why is Engineering a Bottleneck? Most routine engineering work is delivered through time-consuming, error-prone manual processes. Bottleneck Consequences  Delay  Sales prospects impatient for pricing  Unpredictable delivery schedules  Error  Engineers must remember 3D relationships between components in different 2D drawings  Cost  Engineering resources are expended in routine, repetitive work  Design errors usually result in shop floor waste The Manufacturing Bottleneck

Preparation for Automated Design  Formalized design process as a series of inputs and validations  Wrote design rule algorithms  Created 3D parametric solid CAD template models  Installed multiuser web-based knowledge engine Lean Stage 1: Automated Design

Automated Design Environment Lean Stage 1: Automated Design Web-based Knowledge Engine Web-based Knowledge Engine SQL Database Authoring Tools Authoring Tools Interface Output Generators CAD Templates ERP Link ERP Link

Automated Design Functionality 1. Submit inputs defining the building and its features 2. Review ‘working line’ pictorials 3. Generate CAD assemblies 4. Generate B.o.M. & drawing layouts Lean Stage 1: Automated Design … then use interactive CAD to tweak the 3D assembly and annotate drawings.

Project HistoryGeneral Building Layout Lean Stage 1: Automated Design

Structural Layout Lean Stage 1: Automated Design

Truss Configuration Lean Stage 1: Automated Design Truss Group & Bracing Layout

Face Configuration Lean Stage 1: Automated Design Main Back Side (Gable, dimensions in inches)

Working Lines Review Lean Stage 1: Automated Design Front Back Right Left Detailed CAD Digital Prototype Typical Building 110’ x 100’ x 32’

Design Review Truss Group Column Truss Retractable Slider Lean Stage 1: Automated Design Curtain Wall Corner Detail

Web Browser 3D Model Visualization & Installation Guide Lean Stage 1: Automated Design Assembly Structure with P/Ns

Atomic Bill of Materials Lean Stage 1: Automated Design Accurate Drawings

 Applications Engineering, time  Preliminary building designs and costs generated automatically on demand  Manufacturing Engineering, n/c  The next Lean target, Stage 2  Design Engineering, time  Detailed Bill of Materials and accurate shop drawing layouts extracted automatically from the 3D CAD building prototype Impact on Manufacturing Bottleneck Results of Organizational Transformation

Positive Trends Results of Organizational Transformation Customer Service Product Quality Profitability Growth Costs

 Quoting  Improved customer response  Reduced demand for engineering resources  Design for production  Estimated 50% time savings in engineering  Custom truss designs replicated digitally  Manufacturing  New confidence in engineering drawings Measurable Improvement Results of Organizational Transformation

Ready for the Next Lean StagePast Investigations A prerequisite for eliminating the final manufacturing bottleneck is custom truss designs are replicated digitally.  Robotic weld programming  Too time-consuming using truss designs developed by 2D electronic drafting processes  Weld fixturing  Precision positioning of long, extruded sections is difficult so ‘ideal-path’ weld motions must be corrected for component warpage  Cost justification  Existing robotic approaches could not compete with current manual methods Lean Stage 2: Automated Welding

New Developments  Robotic weld programming now feasible because …  Automated design generates 3D geometry suited to automated weld path extraction  Fixturing demands are relaxed with tip-touch system correction of CAD-to-actual weld path  Cost justification  Will depend on price/performance of proposed system relative to current manual methods Lean Stage 2: Automated Welding

Digital Weld Path Extraction Lean Stage 2: Automated Welding

Deviation of Actual from Digital Lean Stage 2: Automated Welding Weld path corrected by tip- touch system Path variability due to fixturing limitations

Next Steps  Review welding machine builders  Need system to fixture components for large, variable size trusses quickly and accurately  Generate CNC code from 3D model  Need algorithms to extract weld paths and tip angles from relevant geometry faces  Cost justification  Final decision to proceed with Lean Stage 2 dependent on projected savings Lean Stage 2: Automated Welding

IN SUMMARY The custom manufacturing bottleneck:  Is caused by routine manual engineering  Can be eliminated through design automation  Must be eliminated before welding automation is cost-justifiable

THANK YOU Contact Mark Albertine OpenAire Inc. 2360B Cornwall Road Oakville, Ontario Canada L6J 7T9 Tel. (905) Gord Hobbs Logicap Engineering Corp. # McGovern Drive Cambridge, Ontario Canada N3H 4R7 Tel. (519)