A leading aerospace & defense manufacturer Eaton chooses DELMIA solutions to enhance efficiency and quality

When it comes to precision and reliability in the aerospace & defense industry, Eaton truly stands out. With a focus on manufacturing connectors for harsh environments, Eaton supplies critical components used in civil aviation, deep-sea exploration, and even in space-bound satellites and rockets. The company’s commitment to delivering high-quality products with exceptional traceability, while maintaining cost-effectiveness, drives its continuous pursuit of technological advancement.

Delmia Software

Tuesday, September 17, 2024

The need for balancing quality, traceability, and cost

The aerospace & industry defense industry is an extremely competitive and difficult landscape to navigate through. Even leading innovators must overcome manufacturing and business hurdles.

Eaton's challenge has been multifaceted: maintaining rigorous product traceability and quality, managing a diverse global production network, and doing so cost-effectively. With 3,400 employees spread across 10 factories worldwide, each specializing in processes like machining, electroplating, molding, and assembly, the need for a cohesive and efficient production management system is critical.

Our ambition has been to digitalize our production workshop to increase our competitiveness, manage our efficiency and quality more precisely, and improve our product traceability process.

Franck Jollivet

Production Director, Eaton

Digital transformation with DELMIA

Eaton turned to Dassault Systèmes’ DELMIA solution to meet these challenges head-on. DELMIA's integration with ERP and PLM systems, along with ENOVIA, has enabled Eaton to streamline its production processes and dematerialize production documentation. This has led to a significant enhancement in product traceability and overall efficiency management.

Key features that made a difference for Eaton include:

Scalable communication: DELMIA’s compatibility with Eaton’s existing ERP and PLM systems ensures seamless communication and integration across the production network.

Improved visibility: Enhanced real-time visibility in production workshops facilitates better decision-making and process harmonization.

Uniform solution: A standardized solution across all factories ensures consistent quality and efficiency, aligning with Eaton’s global expansion strategy.

Achieving enhanced productivity and real-time decision-making

The adoption of DELMIA has yielded substantial benefits for Eaton, driving improvements in productivity, safety, and maintenance levels across its operations. The ability to collect and analyze data has empowered Eaton to focus on actions that directly enhance workshop efficiency and product quality.

In certain areas, there has been an improvement in our productivity thanks to the data we've been able to collect and focus on the right actions to help people in the workshops and to improve both the quality and the ease of their work every day.

Francois-Xavier Marchais

Vice-President of Operations, Aerospace Group, Eaton

Eaton experienced significant improvements and transformative outcomes like:

Real-time decision-making: Operators and team leaders can make informed decisions quickly, thanks to the improved visibility provided by DELMIA.

Harmonized processes: Uniform indicators and processes across all production facilities ensure consistent operational excellence.

Enhanced traceability: The digitalization of production documents has improved traceability, meeting the stringent requirements of Eaton’s aerospace clients.

Global implementation is the way to go

Eaton’s plans to expand the DELMIA system across all 10 of its global production sites. This ambitious rollout is aimed at cementing Eaton’s position as a leader in intelligent power management and aerospace manufacturing.

The plan is to roll out this system to all our sites—there are about ten of them worldwide. That remains our goal.

Francois-Xavier Marchais

Vice-President of Operations, Aerospace Group, Eaton

Lessons learned for aerospace & defense manufacturers

Eaton’s digital transformation with DELMIA exemplifies how innovative technology can drive significant improvements in efficiency, quality, and cost management. As Eaton continues to roll out this system globally, it sets a new standard for excellence in aerospace manufacturing.

Why select Andea on your way toward digital transformation

Check out our extensive case study to learn how Andea and one of the A&D industry leaders Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) partnered to create a Manufacturing Planning and Execution Platform to support the company’s different processes and address its diverse business needs in the fields of production, quality, warehouse, labor, and supply chain.

Browse our website for more information on how Andea can help you implement Dassault Systèmes DELMIA solutions to stay at the forefront of innovation.