New VDA standard for digital material data management with support from material.one
Material and component initial sampling
Initial material sampling is part of the production process and the Production Process And Product Approval (PPA) of purchased parts. It is used to ensure the delivery of products that comply with laws and specifications. Automobiles an average consist of 30,000 components and thousands of different materials. In this article, you will learn how the German Association of the Automotive Industry or VDA, together with manufacturers, suppliers, testing laboratories and software companies, created a standard for digital material data management.
Examples of parameters checked during initial sampling
No cracks on load-bearing components
Flame-resistant materials
No potential hazardous substances in the vehicle interior
Pleasant smell in the interior
Example for the determination of the test parts and their position in the component
Individual parts in tree structure with different test requirements
The advantages of digital initial sampling at a glance
Clearly understandable specifications for all process participants Reduction of effort in the entire process chain (OEM - Tier N)
Accelerated processes
Subsequent processes enable, for example, real-time evaluations
Interfaces to internal systems and databases
The product development process (PDP) is of central importance for the development and introduction of new parts (components) and products in the automotive sector. This includes all steps from the determination of requirements to the ramp-up of series production. The PDP can involve many components and services and can be complex, requiring reliable project management. An important part of the product development process is proving the suitability of the developed components for series production. This involves functionality as well as compliance with dimensions and geometries, legal requirements and surface quality, to name but a few.
Initial sample inspection in the PD process
The aim of the product development process is to ensure that the product is not faulty. However, there are often certain deviations between development (prototype), pre-series and series production. For this reason, the product only undergoes final testing once it has been manufactured in series under real production conditions. The release for series production in the automotive sector is carried out either according to the American global organization AIAG via the production part approval process (PPAP) or according to VDA Volume 2 after production process and product approval (PPA). The basis for the release of production is compliance with the quality requirements, which is checked as part of the initial sampling. The supplier takes components from series production for sampling. These are checked and compared in accordance with the quality criteria from the sampling coordination meeting (VDA only). The resulting initial sample test report (FAIR) contains component dimensions and technical criteria as well as information on the materials used. These reports are usually transmitted through the entire supply chain in electronic form as a PDF document. However, the disadvantage here is that the material reports are stored without a direct link to the results for each component. Due to the PDF format, OEMs are in almost all cases unable to link the data from the PDF report with their electronic, machine-readable component data. This means that no specific material can be assigned to the components.
It is necessary to define the criteria of a component’s requirement, for example the strength of a side impact bar, directly at the beginning of a product’s development. Once the specifications are stored in the 3D model, the test plans can be derived. These are then verified by project partners such as the test laboratories and subcontractors. After testing is complete, the initial sample test report must be completed and usually the information is sent to the OEM as a PDF document. PDF documents are usually not machine readable; information remains in "silos" due to the file format. In many cases, other office documents are also in use (Word, Excel, etc.). This prevents end-to-end digitization. Particularly in the case of quality problems, checking the material properties under these conditions is time-consuming.
The time-consuming handling of individual documents is a thing of the past. From specifications to test results, all data is directly linked to the 3D model and available to all process participants.
Approaches for the optimization of material testing
The starting point for improved material-component pairing is the digitization of initial material sampling. For this purpose, an interface should be defined for the digital exchange of the required characteristic values for initial sampling. This should enable the direct link to the 3D data of the component. Accomplishing this objective required the definition of the exchange format and the integration of the process and supply chain.
A project group consisting of various experts from the automotive environment took on this challenge.
Participants of the project group
Manufacturer (OEM)
BMW, Volkswagen with subsidiary Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Opel-Vauxhall, MAN, Ford
Supplier Tier 1-n
Brose, Continental, Deutsche Edelstahlwerke, Schäffler, Otto Fuchs, ZF
Test laboratories
imat-uve, WIAM
Software
Brain of Materials, material.one*, MatPlus, Prostep, HTW-Berlin, Supply On
The prerequisite for digital material management is a clear assignment of the materials used to the individual parts and components of the vehicle. OEM-specific material databases are used for this purpose.
Implementation of digital material data management
In addition to VDA 231 - 200, the new guideline VDA 231-300 was introduced for the assignment of materials to components. For this purpose, the attributes in the CAD model were extended to include material and surface data. This enables a clear assignment to individual components of a part. This proposes a standardization of data exchange for material requirements.
The starting point for digital initial sampling are JT files for the components. In the exchange format, the JT files contain the necessary requirements for surfaces and materials in the new attributes. The following standards apply to the data transfer of the JT files:
DIN SPEC 91383: JT industrial application package (JITAP)
ISO 14306: Industrial automation systems and integration - Specification for the JT file format for 3D visualization
VDA 231-200 Material data set - Specification of materials and surfaces in IT systems
Further steps and outlook
The VDA 231 - 300 standard has been developed for the unambiguous assignment of material and surface data to 3D geometries. In the next step, a VDA standard for the exchange of TARGET and ACTUAL material parameters is also to be developed. A suitable interface format is to be found for this purpose. The test values can be provided directly via the data exchange format by the test laboratory for the Tier 1 or the subcontractor.
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By linking component and material and transporting this information throughout the supply chain, it always remains clear which material is being used.
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The requirements for materials can be called up at any time, whereby all characteristics and target values are linked to the header data from the material specification. In addition, there is an exchange between different systems directly and via the back-end.
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Actual values and test results for the characteristics are linked to the component. Additional information such as test center information, accreditation, etc. is also included. Ensure that this data is transported back through the supply chain to the OEM as part of the PPF.
In conjunction with the use of material.one, you gain significant advantages for the course of your FAI
Automated processes: Based on the information anchored in the 3D model in accordance with 231-300, material.one can automatically create >verification planning. Among other things, laboratory test plans are created in digital form.
You will receive the necessary standards in an interpreted, digital form, from which you will derive these benefits:
Rapid evaluation and output of test results
Time saving in the creation of new tests
Uncomplicated modification of tests
Tedious deciphering of handwritten answers is no longer necessary
Use of automatic data sources such as digital test equipment
Detailed analyses of the results. This allows tests or even individual values to be evaluated.
Immediate feedback possible during and after the end of the test
Paper savings / Ecological advantages
With the material.one platform, you and your sub-suppliers receive a tool that simplifies and accelerates the awarding of inspection orders.
You receive your inspection results and those of your sub-suppliers on material.one and can therefore evaluate them more quickly and pass them on to the customer. The target/actual comparison is simplified - you receive the data automatically.
Digital management thus simplifies the processes for OEM, supplier and laboratory by eliminating manual processing. The elimination of manual inspection planning is a major time advantage in the preparation of initial sample inspections. The inspection requirements are already defined when the digital product image (digital twin) is received. The automated creation of test plans and simple coordination with the test laboratory make test preparation easier. Another advantage is the elimination of error sources due to manual processing. Due to these advantages, the time saved for sampling and EMPB is at least 25% of the processing time.
A digital requirement with automatic pre-assessment of test results
About the software platform material.one
material.one is the name for a newly developed platform developed by the company of the same name in close cooperation with the IT group adesso, to which material.one belongs. adesso specializes in IT-supported solutions for the manufacturing industry and offers industry-oriented software solutions, e.g. for the automotive sector. In this VDA project group, material.one played a decisive role as the operator of the Supplier Network Collaboration Platform for various customers such as Mercedes.
Learn more about material.one
With material.one all stakeholders can collaborate a standardized manner in a compliance conforming way based on the "need to know". As an industry cloud platform, material.one provides information on material and material sampling, percentage of recycled material, certificates as well as CO₂ footprint information.