The new release from aPriori provides a digital thread that enables users to review design scenarios by product cost, risk, and sustainability metrics
November 10, 2022
CONCORD, Mass.—A new collaboration and task management application from aPriori is reported to quicken and optimize the entire product design and manufacturing process by unifying teams and data.
The provider of digital manufacturing simulation software said that its aP Workspace application brings disconnected product teams and data together, providing a collaborative task management environment that enables teams to enhance product designs for cost, sustainability, and manufacturability. Digital thread capabilities provide users with the latest product information for their analysis, enabling all project stakeholders to work on the same data in one place in real time, aPriori said in the release.
The application is included in aPriori’s Manufacturing Insights Platform, which provides manufacturers with insights they can use to improve their product designs and manufacturing processes. Through collaboration, automation, and digitalization, the aPriori Manufacturing Insights Platform is said to connect design engineers, cost engineers, sourcing/procurement, sustainability, and supply chain teams.
“Manufacturers face mounting challenges. including inflation, looming sustainability mandates, and geopolitical instability,” said aPriori President and Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Feraday, in a statement. “Efforts to operate effectively and decisively are often hampered because teams can’t collaborate easily, or access information trapped in spreadsheets or siloed systems. aP Workspace addresses these hurdles by enabling product designers and manufacturers to plan quickly and confidently using enriched digital thread data.”
The aP Workspace application is said to centralize actionable data insights—including cost drivers, manufacturability risks, and sustainability metrics—from all aPriori applications.
Teams can review and act on aPriori insights in real time. For example, a user can create a new scenario—such as a 3D CAD model with proposed design and manufacturing process changes to reduce cost—based on an aPriori design analysis. Team members can mark up and comment on features or characteristics right on 3D models and line-item cost data, the company said in the release.
Users can also focus on their project action items by receiving automatic alerts. “Turn-based collaboration” provides filters to only receive updates related to specific user tasks.
In addition to enabling project stakeholders to access real-time product information, aP Workspace is said to promote ease of use in multiple ways. It improves collaboration by customizing product data for design or business reviews, as well as supplier negotiations. It enables users to review design scenarios by product cost, risk, sustainability, and other relevant metrics. It also simplifies communication by allowing users to mark up and comment directly on 3D models or provide line-item cost updates, the company said.
The application also allows users to gain transparency and simplify task management. Users can drill down into a task to see all user comments, and use this traceability to understand a project’s evolution. They can also receive automated alerts regarding comments and updates to their assignments, and use filters to turn off the stream of updates that don’t directly apply to your project responsibilities, aPriori said.
The company describes itself as “provider of digital manufacturing simulation software that brings product design and sourcing teams closer to production.” It said that by leveraging the digital twin within its digital factories, aPriori automatically generates “manufacturing intelligence that helps manufacturers collaborate across the product development process to make better design, sourcing, and manufacturing decisions that yield higher-value products in less time.”
Subscribe Now
Design-2-Part Magazine
Get the manufacturing industry news and features you need for free in a format you like.
