Rafael's Successful Implementation of aPriori for Design to Cost Goals
Technology Category
- Functional Applications - Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)
Applicable Industries
- Aerospace
- National Security & Defense
Applicable Functions
- Procurement
- Product Research & Development
Use Cases
- Additive Manufacturing
- Manufacturing Process Simulation
About The Customer
Rafael is a leading company in the Aerospace & Defense industry with over 8,000 employees and a revenue of $3 billion. For more than 70 years, Rafael has pioneered advances in defense, cyber, and security solutions for air, land, sea, and space. The company's engineers involved in the product development process are typically expected to have vast amounts of expertise and knowledge. As part of their company roadmap, Rafael made a business decision to invest heavily in design to cost initiatives, aiming to manage cost from the design stage all the way up to manufacturing.
The Challenge
Rafael, a pioneer in defense, cyber, and security solutions for over 70 years, had set challenging design to cost targets as part of their company roadmap. The goal was to manage cost from the design stage all the way up to manufacturing, including initiatives related to procurement, project management, system engineering, and requirements management. However, achieving these targets required the right tools and technology. Rafael's engineers, who are typically expected to have vast amounts of expertise and knowledge, needed a technology that they could rely on to work together efficiently, seamlessly, and collaboratively to meet these design to cost initiatives.
The Solution
Rafael chose aPriori as their technology partner to meet their design to cost goals. aPriori was provided to all product development engineers to facilitate collaboration across departments. The manufacturing insights provided by aPriori were the perfect technology to meet their strategy. By utilizing the digital factories and manufacturing simulation in aPriori, the lines of communication opened up between the engineers at Rafael. This allowed them to modify designs for cost, achieving significant cost savings on parts. For instance, a part that was originally designed at around $1,400 was simplified using aPriori to achieve a modified cost of $650.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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