Andea helps Autoliv deliver a unique and customizable GEO solution

Andea was tasked with the delivery of a unique and highly customizable solution. They also had to work against some very tight timelines and deal with highly demanding business users. As with most complex projects, we also encountered a fair share of challenges along the way. Andea played an integral role in the project, and because of their experience and dedication, we were able to deliver the GEO solution successfully. They are a trustworthy partner that Autoliv can safely recommend to others.

Doug Stein

Director – Global Test and Prototype

67 K

Employees

27

Countries

5,300

R&D Employees

14

Technical Centers

19

Test Tracks

Autoliv develops, manufactures and markets airbags, seatbelts, steering wheels, and passive safety electronics. A fortune 500 company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden the company is among the largest Tier 1 automotive suppliers in the world. Together with its joint ventures, Autoliv has over 67K employees in 27 countries, of whom 5700 are involved in research, development, and engineering. Also, the company has 14 technical centers around the world, including 19 test tracks, more than any other automotive safety supplier.

Challange:

Autoliv has embarked on an initiative to implement a Global Engineering Order (GEO) solution, utilizing the DELMIA Apriso MOM platform. This project is not a typical MOM/MES implementation, but a unique solution designed for Autoliv’s prototyping activities in their Technical Centers and manufacturing Plants. The project goal is to improve Engineering operations and quality, reduce complexity, lead times, and costs of managing prototype orders. Due to the scale of the project, the GEO solution needs to meet high-performance, quality, and user-friendliness requirements.

The ultimate goal of Autoliv is to have all 80 facilities and 6500+ users located in Europe, USA and Asia connected to one Central Instance of the GEO solution. Phase 1 of the GEO project went live June 2019 and covered three (3) factories and around 2500 users – connected to one central server.

Autoliv faced the following challenges:

1. Consolidation of large number of point and homegrown systems into a single solution that can be integrated with PLM/Enovia (support fully-exploded revision-controlled E-BOMs), Nice Label and Multi-Domain Active Directory

2. Initial deployment to a total of around 2500 users spread across three different time zones expecting high system availability and performance

3. Develop a Centralized Architecture that will support Autoliv’s standard processes while being able to accommodate local deviations

4. Ability to deliver the project using a semi-agile approach to help realize the business value early

How Andea helped?

It is essential to highlight the fact that the GEO solution is not a regular MES/MOM solution, and each of the challenges mentioned above required a unique and customized approach. This solution covers order planning and preparation, warehouse and logistics management, shipment, and delivery of prototype parts. This project is an excellent example of how flexible the DELMIA Apriso platform is and how it can be used to solve different business challenges.

Autoliv had to find a solution delivery partner that not only had significant DELMIA Apriso experience but could also think outside of the box. After completing a careful selection process, Autoliv selected Andea as their strategic delivery partner for the GEO project. Andea was responsible for the delivery of solution designs, development, testing, training, and rollout activities.

Semi-Agile Methodology

The project was delivered using a semi-agile methodology. There were four sprints, which consisted of design, development, and testing phases. Each iteration finished with a customer demo regularly validated by the business. Such frequent verifications required the Andea project team to react promptly and swiftly to changes. The feedback that the Andea team received after each demo was an integral part of the next sprint.

Concurrent Users

The solution needs to support 500+ concurrent users working in three (3) different regions worldwide. Hundreds of man-hours were spent on defining proper solution architecture and measuring and testing system performance to ensure that the solution will not "break" during peak use times. Server clustering was used to help ensure high system availability and prevent bottlenecks from occurring.

Centralized Architecture

Deploying a solution in a centralized architecture that can handle local site deviations is not a trivial task. The GEO solution has been designed so that users can choose a specific list of features and functionalities that applies to them. Such a list is available for the entire company and allows for the customization of the local functionalities and users' needs. Additionally, Autoliv uses a unique Multi-Domain Active Directory, which is not supported by the DELMIA Apriso MOM platform. Andea team was able to create workarounds so that users from different geographies and different Active Directory domains can perform Single Sign-On (SSO).

System Performance

As the solution's architecture is centralized, one of the Autoliv's requirements was to validate the system performance before the first deployment. DELMIA Apriso MOM platform does not have any standard dedicated tools that can be used to execute Performance Tests. Andea's Project Excellence team developed a performance test framework that allowed to simulate multiple users, their actions, and system load. The performance data generated by this framework was then used to make the needed system changes to ensure that Autoliv is satisfied with GEO performance. That was all done before the first go-live.

Business Results:

UNIFIED SYSTEM

The GEO Project equips all Autoliv sites and divisions with one unified system, which gives them full global visibility and facilitates cooperation. GEO enables the transfer of information, knowledge, and data across an organization – Yokoten. The solution supports Autoliv’s primary process of delivering prototypes as well as non-standard local deviations. Full visibility of the current state of the process with an overview of possible risks and threats enables faster reactions and helps to prevent bottlenecks and blocking points from occurring. In the background, it also calculates key KPI’s such as Lead Times. The ability to quickly and easily identify key problem areas enables Autoliv to continually improve its processes.

WORK EFFICIENCY

The GEO solution is used by warehouse, shop-floor, and engineering users. Individual tasks are created for each user and displayed in a prioritized manner to help improve more efficient execution. To further enhance employee efficiency, each GEO user is presented only with the relevant order and task information. The visibility of stock in all facilities, together with notifications of the outstanding events, helps engineers plan their builds more efficiently and shortens the lead times. The GEO solution also increases warehouse performance. It prevents usage of broken materials and improves warehouse space organization by utilizing a purge functionality.

CUSTOMIZED REPORTS

GEO solution supports exceptional cases such as tuning-built, product transformation, and first-part inspection, which are typical for prototyping. Exclusively developed for Autoliv, a Gantt chart presents the full process of the prototype creation, logistics of its components, and delivery of the finished goods, including a diagram that visualizes all dependencies between the orders. GEO solution offers the possibility to quickly implement a wide variety of reports such as Material Usage, APU, Warehouse Stock Snapshot, Purge Requests, and Scraps. These reports allow to Autoliv to perform sophisticated data analysis. GEO also keeps a full history of system data, such as lead times, order rejections, scrap, and hold reasons, which is later used when implementing continuous improvement initiatives.