Jamco

If you’ve flown on a commercial aircraft, chances are you’ve encountered one of Jamco’s products. As one of the world’s leading suppliers of aircraft interiors, the company creates customized lavatories, galleys and seating for major aerospace original equipment manufacturers and airlines. Until recently, though, bringing these products to market was a complex process. Traditionally, airlines would propose innovative interior ideas and share images of the designs that they have in mind. Suppliers like Jamco were then tasked to design and engineer these requests to bring them to fruition. Physical prototypes didn’t always match the final product, leading to late-stage design changes, longer lead times and repeated reviews.

Now, Jamco is turning that complex process into a seamless virtual experience. At its Virtual Innovation Studio in Japan, aerospace engineers and customers explore full-scale aircraft cabins in a virtual space that’s so immersive it feels like being inside a real aircraft. Projected on the walls and floor of this state-of-the-art virtual reality (VR) environment, the realistic mockup is so convincing that users can reach for handles, inspect finishes and test layouts without touching a single physical part.

“Our Virtual Innovation Studio uses a projection-based cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE) system,” said Hiroshi Sakurai, deputy general manager at Jamco’s Technology and Innovation Center. “This setup integrates the user’s physical body into the virtual world, creating a more immersive, realistic experience. It allows our customers to better understand our products and provide more detailed feedback.”

Dassault Systèmes’ Commercial Virtual Twin as a Service (VTaaS) powers Jamco’s CAVE system. Provided as an online turnkey managed solution, it gives Jamco all the capabilities to deliver immersive 3D experiences and carry out engineering-grade simulation to validate product designs earlier, make decisions faster and reduce rework at every stage.

Jamco’s journey into virtual development builds on years of digital design expertise. “We’ve used Dassault Systemes' CATIA for computer aided design (CAD) for more than 20 years,” Sakurai said. “However, it was mainly a solution for creating drawings. Recognizing the time and effort we invest in 3D data, we began looking for ways to make better use of it. Now, we’re challenging ourselves to go further by leveraging high-precision 3D models as virtual twins, which will become a single source of truth for all product development.”

Available as a subscription-based, fully managed cloud solution, the Commercial VTaaS offering combines Dassault Systèmes’ advanced visualization technology with its proven engineering, simulation and data management solutions, including CATIA, SOLIDWORKS, ENOVIA and 3DEXCITE, into one ready to use virtual environment. For companies like Jamco, it’s a faster, lower risk way to unlock value. There’s no need to assemble a specialist team, build IT infrastructure or develop a new digital strategy. Instead, they get a tailored, always-on solution that’s delivered on time, maintained by experts and ready to support real business outcomes without the usual risk, delays or upfront investment of doing it all in house.

“From a data compatibility standpoint, continuing with Dassault Systèmes’ solutions makes strong business sense,” Sakurai said. “The 3DEXCITE engineering team’s expertise in content creation and deep technical knowledge made them an ideal partner and they supported us well, speeding up the content development process and delivering the quality we needed. Their expertise has been invaluable.”

In commercial aviation, every detail matters, from the placement of a toilet handle to the texture of a galley wall or the distance between seats and bulkheads. Now, Jamco and its customers can explore these details much earlier in the Virtual Innovation Studio, evaluating material finishes and layout choices in life-size proportions before anything is physically built.

Changes like switching a color to match an airline brand’s color scheme or adjusting a storage compartment can be made in seconds and viewed immediately. Jamco’s design team no longer waits for physical prototypes or outsourced mockups to verify whether a concept works. If something isn’t quite right, it’s caught during the design phase, not on the production floor, helping to accelerate development and prevent the downstream issues that used to cause delays or add costs.

“Most of our products are made to order, tailored to each customer’s specifications,” Sakurai said. “In the past, changes would be requested even though production had already started, which is common in any development process. With the virtual twin, they can review and sign off designs much earlier. This helps us avoid late-stage rework, shorten lead times and streamline manufacturing.”

Beyond internal efficiencies, Jamco’s virtual twin experience is transforming how the manufacturer organizes the preliminary and critical design review meetings with customers. By giving them better visibility and more input throughout the design process, it’s making every stage more collaborative, intuitive and productive.

“Traditionally, we’d go back and forth with customers using 2D drawings and 3D models on a screen to agree on designs, or we’d resort to making costly physical mockups,” Sakurai said. “Now, through the virtual twin, we’re able to engage customers in a more collaborative and immersive experience where they can truly understand how the product will look, feel and function before it’s built.”

Jamco is exploring how this approach could enhance both pre-sales and after-sales interactions, too. The Virtual Innovation Studio might be used to showcase products within a realistic aircraft environment, giving customers a clearer, more tangible sense of what they’re investing in. Virtual twin models also could support maintenance and repair once products enter service, with the aim of enhancing after-sales support and service quality. As part of this, Dassault Systèmes is working with the company to determine how the virtual twin could be maintained and provided as part of the wider customer offering.

“In the aftermarket, we can provide customers with virtual twin models to help them understand our products and learn about maintenance and repair procedures,” Sakurai said. “Our technicians could use the model to visually identify which parts need to be replaced ahead of servicing. This will help shorten the repair process.”

Sakurai also sees the potential of Jamco’s virtual environment as a key resource for employee education and skills development, which is especially valuable as the company continues to do business in a globalized manufacturing value chain.

For a company that relies on precision manufacturing and prides itself on delivering highly tailored designs, developing young talent and building the right skills internally is essential. What once required physical parts and on-site demonstrations can now be taught remotely.

“Our Virtual Innovation Studio can be used in many different contexts,” Sakurai said. “In education, it allows new employees to gain hands-on experience. Our main production site is in Niigata, Japan, but we also have factories in Miyazaki and the Philippines. When production shifts to other sites, we can share knowhow virtually. Previously, training to work in our plants required on-site presence or waiting until production began. Now, we can do this ahead of time, making the process more efficient and scalable.”

As more of Jamco’s design and review processes move into the virtual world, the company sees opportunities to work smarter and support its sustainability goals. In particular, it will conserve materials, reduce waste and lessen the environmental impact associated with building and shipping multiple prototypes.

“As virtual twin adoption expands, we expect less reliance on physical mockups,” Sakurai said. “This will reduce manufacturing and transport costs and contribute to lower carbon emissions.”

Underpinning all of this is the company’s commitment to innovation in the aerospace industry and its strong partnership with Dassault Systèmes. As aircraft manufacturers push for highly customized interiors, faster turnaround times and more sustainable solutions, Jamco’s Virtual Innovation Studio is helping to fulfill these needs.

“At Jamco, we proudly position ourselves as a technology leader,” Sakurai said. “We continuously explore new frontiers, embracing challenges as part of our core identity. Working with Dassault Systèmes offers a key strategic advantage: we can use the same data seamlessly across the entire product lifecycle from pre-sales and design to manufacturing and aftersales support.”