Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1504794
12 SMT007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2023 program person for the F-22, F-35, and some F-16s, and now I'm just trying to head us on the right path with digital transformation as I walk out the door, so to speak. Matties: How did you get started in digital transformation? Digital transformation in our industry started with 3D modeling. Lockheed got involved in the mid-'90s when we started developing 3D models and common PLM systems. I think Boeing even started a little earlier than that. e F-35, for example, started as a digital pro- gram. We used the digital thread—3D solid models—for everything. Everybody accessed a common database so those models could be passed along from engineering to manufactur- ing. at was the beginning of digital transfor- mation. Nolan Johnson: Does your digital twin exist just within the mechanicals? Actually, 3D models were the tip of the ice- berg. As the years went on, we realized what the real cost drivers were. Today, we're trying to use advanced modeling and simulation tech- nology—computational fluid dynamics, high- powered computing, and graphics process- ing units—to get better configurations, better loads, more maturity, and better models. Digital transformation is not just about model-based engineering, but a model-based enterprise where we're combining PLM sys- tems. For example, our IT systems are typi- cally siloed: PLM, MES, ERP, and sustain- ment systems. ey tend to grow up under Conway's Law, which is the idea that IT sys- tems take on the bureaucracy and characteris- tics of the organization that own them: Engi- neering owns PLM and CAD, manufacturing owns MES, and finance and supply chain own ERP. e problem is that the systems don't talk to one another; they require manual data transfers between the systems. e next gener- ation of digital twins will be as much about the data as about the product itself. Artificial intel- ligence is the enabler for the next generation of tools that integrate systems and provide finger- tip access. Johnson: How does Lockheed pull together simulation? You have mechanical, electronic, electrical, and, I assume, optical pieces in the system. Those are very different disciplines, so how do you do that? We have vehicle system twins, and twins for fuel, hydraulic, and ECS systems. I have twins for flight control, structural finite element models, soware, and mission systems. Not everything goes together yet because there are different disciplines and soware. Not all of those are needed for what we call "top level." e joint all-domain environ- ment models are Level Five digital twins; this includes operational analysis twins used in mission planning, and to fulfill the desire of the customer in a battle environment. e cus- tomer wants us to be able to collect various twins in the same ecosystem so that they can engage. It's very difficult because that soware tends to be very homegrown and highly IP- oriented. It's difficult to get everything stan- dardized. Don Kinard