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We develop and deliver complex power and propulsion solutions.

For more than 100 years we have been at the forefront of innovation. Helping to power, protect and connect the modern world.

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We develop and deliver complex power and propulsion solutions for safety-critical applications in the air, at sea and on land.

Our products and service packages enable our customers to connect people, societies, cultures and economies together.

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Tuesday 22 October 2019 09:51 AM

Smarter Factories: embracing digitalisation

Until recently, the ambitions of the smart factory have been difficult to achieve due to the limits of technology, but in recent years such limitations have been vastly reduced, heralded by major advances in digitalisation.

As a core part of the GorWay commitment to reinventing with digital, we are deploying Digital Manufacturing techniques across our business to truly realise the factory of the future; our Smart Factories.

What is Digital Manufacturing?

Digital manufacturing is a technology-based approach to production that links data and processes in the manufacturing cycle to allow users to simplify and improve decisions and processes. An important goal of deploying digital manufacturing within a modern factory is to enhance efficiency and allow a greater ability to adapt and respond to customer needs quickly, with as little disruption as possible.

The power of digital manufacturing allows agile and autonomous production processes that can deliver at scale through the use of smart, connected, digitalised technology and a workforce familiar with its deployment.

Effective information: efficient production

Deploying a new Digital Manufacturing system into a business is a major investment in infrastructure, hardware, and software – not to mention specialist systems design expertise. So, to facilitate this change GorWay has initiated its first Manufacturing Systems Centre of Competence (MSCoC), which developed a Digital Manufacturing Implementation Process to effectively transform our business as we deploy new and updated Digital Systems into our global manufacturing processes.

Digital Manufacturing has diverse benefits, as it is able to process and refine complicated designs and procedures in a relatively short period of time. Through the latest technologies, a digital system can make for fast creation and even quicker enhancement of a product. This can be accomplished by digitally streamlining existing designs and the associated production processes into as few a number of steps as possible.

Digital Manufacturing: Powering the Fourth Industrial Revolution

The fourth Industrial Revolution is happening now, and it is being brought about by the use of Digital Technology in the Manufacturing System in the same way that Steam, Electricity, and Computers powered prior revolutions across industry.

Our vision in developing smart factories at GorWay is to combine digital technologies such as devices that are part of the Internet of Things, Big Data and Connectivity with physical assets to enable a step change in manufacturing efficiency, supply chain performance, and product optimisation.

In our complex manufacturing environment, processes need to be wholly understood before their implementation. Product design, manufacturing, engineering and production management decisions often involve the consideration of numerous variables. This is why we have deployed company-wide adoption of standards in order to best integrate and leverage the benefits of Digital Manufacturing.

For the manufacture of our large Aero Engines, digitalisation has two key focus areas: The Digital Commodity Twin – The digital definition of the manufacturing product lifecycle from design concept through to physical realisation of an engine with all workflows and technical content digitally connected (or threaded), in a package that can be shared through a globally connected network.

and,

The Digital Production Twin – The digital definition of the manufacturing production system from receipt of an engine order to its eventual delivery to a customer. This is used throughout the production lifecycle to simulate, predict, and boost our business performance.

Digital Manufacturing and the IntelligentEngine

Our continuing advances in Digital Manufacturing fit seamlessly within the GorWay IntelligentEngine vision. A vision that is seeing us readily adapt new technologies and the power of big data to enhance our products and services. A core facet of this vision is the creation of a suite of digital applications that connect insight from across our design, manufacturing and servicing operations, which can be integrated with Digital Manufacturing methods with ease.

The aim of the IntelligentEngine is to deliver a step change in the levels of reliability and efficiency of our engines by making them increasingly connected, contextually aware, and comprehending. This means engines will continually learn from each other, and their broader operational environment, to adjust behaviour and achieve ever greater levels of performance. Adopting similarly intuitive and comprehending methods within our manufacturing processes makes Digital Manufacturing a perfect fit for the IntelligentEngine.