NISSAN Motor Company / CADdoctor for NX
User's Voice
"If the received data meet our requirements, our designers can focus on design study without being troubled with low-quality data while operating CAD. CADdoctor for NX has been improving the quality of product data exchanged among Nissan and our suppliers and made it possible for data recipients to concentrate on design examination or evaluation. "
Koji FUJITA
Senior Manager of Engineering IS Department, Global IS Division (As of 2010)
Summary
Nissan and its suppliers are building a strict PDQ management system by using PDQ tools including 'CADdoctor for NX' which meet Nissan requirements. When CADdoctor for NX is adopted at every stage of product development, only authorized data are delivered so that recipients of data don't have to be bothered by unneeded work to recover geometry errors any more.
About PDQ / CADdoctor for NX
Nissan had implemented the shift to the new process for product development; from initial sketches of a concept car to manufacturing instructions with 3D CAD data since 2001. The process doesn't require a printed copy of 2D drawing. However, it faced to a severe problems like "Cross-section view of a model can't be seen", because of the poor quality of the product data. After the thorough investigation of the cause, Nissan found out that they had lost several millions of dollars by the waste of labor.
Therefore it was decided to manage data distribution so that no one in the Nissan family can make, send, and receive a model that has a PDQ error. First, Nissan determined the unique criteria of the product data quality (PDQ) for I-deas. And then, Nissan decided to develop the quality check tool, "PDQ-NP", in cooperation with Elysium. The quality assurance system including the PDQ criteria and PDQ-NP dramatically reduced man-hour to create and use 3D data.
When Nissan made the decision to switch to NX from I-deas, Nissan and Elysium investigated a lot of data made on NX to assess the potential PDQ problems. In the case of I-deas, the study showed the maintenance of the PDQ would be the key to prevent wasting cost. Accordingly, Nissan adopted 'CADdoctor for NX' to check PDQ and repair errors.
Nissan will continue the PDQ activity with its global suppliers after the migration to NX. It is recommended for the suppliers to cooperate with it. There is no doubt that the PDQ activity is fruitful for them, too.
