GM Powertrain Uses DELMIA IGRIP to Streamline Inspection Process

Troy, Michigan (USA) December 7, 2001 - In its quest to continuously improve efficiency, GM Powertrain continues to review labor-intensive processes.  One example involves creating gauging stations along manufacturing lines, eliminating handling required to off load parts to a central gauging station. GM asked Applied Manufacturing Technologies to verify this concept and optimize the layout using DELMIA IGRIP.

• The DELMIA IGRIP Solution

“Working with GM Powertrain, we agreed that the solution would be found in 3D-workcell simulation. It allows us to determine the optimal setup in a virtual representation,” said Rohit A. Khanolkar, senior simulation engineer, Applied Manufacturing Technologies (AMT) in Orion, Michigan.

“Utilizing DELMIA IGRIP, from GM’s strategic digital manufacturing software partner, DELMIA, for this project, provided our engineering team with the capability to generate 3D simulations and to translate models created in other commercially available packages,” Khanolkar added. 

“We are pleased that AMT’s highly skilled simulation engineers applied DELMIA IGRIP to aid GM Powertrain’s gauging process,” said Peter Schmitt, Vice President, World-wide Marketing and Business Development, DELMIA Corporation. “We believe IGRIP is an ideal solution for companies searching to improve productivity and quality, while lowering production costs.”

DELMIA IGRIP can assign motion to moving elements of a model, such as robots and tooling, providing collision-detection between those elements. IGRIP also provides extensive programming capability to simulate controls logic, allowing elements within a workcell to interact.

• Simulating a Solution

For this project, simulation validated that those operators from 5th percentile female human model to 95th percentile male human model are capable of performing the gauging tasks.

“Using IGRIP to validate this new gauging process helped GM to achieve an overall reduction in material handling by 60-80 percent,” said Diana Wegner, Manager GM Powertrain Manufacturing Validation Group. 

DELMIA IGRIP is part of an integrated suite for Digital Manufacturing, with a range of solutions for robotic simulation analysis, human motion analysis, and assembly simulation. 

“IGRIP is one of many solutions from DELMIA solutions designed to help our customers manufacture high quality products quickly and efficiently at a lower cost, the first time, every time,” said Schmitt.