Fictiv’s Digital Manufacturing Ecosystem Delivers Radical Transparency Features

Fictiv has unveiled features that deliver visibility, traceability, speed and quality benefits for customers leveraging its Digital Manufacturing Ecosystem (DME) to order high-tolerance, custom mechanical parts for prototyping and production needs. In response to evolving customer work-from-home requirements as well as more compressed new product introduction timelines, Fictiv’s new radical transparency initiative helps introduce risk mitigation and cost-savings opportunities.

The impact for enterprise companies trying to orchestrate production of hundreds of parts at once is enormous. “These new features on Fictiv’s platform are incredibly useful,” says Antonio Ruiz, supervisor, Strategic Sourcing at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. “Having 24/7 visibility and access to the real-time schedule of things is a game-changer.”

“Fictiv’s new streamlined end-to-end process is exciting, capturing the entire value chain from design upload through DFM with real-time pricing,” says Ibrahim Toukan, head of Supply Chain at Level 5, Lyft’s autonomous vehicle unit, agrees. 

Key Transparency Features

Available now, Fictiv’s radical transparency initiative includes these key features:

• On-Demand Production Status: detailed current production status of all the parts within every order, immediately and online;
• Virtual Inspection Photos: inspection photos from manufacturing partner facilities, before the parts are delivered; 
• Centralized Access to Quality Documentation: material certifications, certificates of conformance and inspection documentation all available in one place;
• Order Configuration Details: centralized access to 2D and 3D design files, thread specifications, material and process configurations and invoices for all Fictiv orders;
• Historical DFM: digitally call up previous manufacturability feedback for all ordered parts to inform future design cycles;
• Reorders: streamlined quoting process to reorder parts and lock in previous pricing; and
• Shipment Tracking: aggregate tracking links from third-party providers to keep all shipments in one secure place.

These new features integrate into the Fictiv digital thread, a combination of technology and process that enables the manufacture of complex, high-precision mechanical parts at much faster speeds and much less cost versus traditional solutions, according to Fictiv. The data produced from Fictiv’s digital thread helps drive automation through the Fictiv DME to speed up production and prevent errors.

For example, every part produced through the Fictiv DME receives a minimum of five dimensional inspections, with the resulting data captured digitally for fast and simple validation by Fictiv teams and customers. 

“Historically, companies were working in the dark, relying on paper-based workflows, including phone calls late at night, file transfers, emails, and time-consuming site inspections when it came to overseas manufacturing—a risky, expensive process that often resulted in delays and quality issues,” says Fictiv CEO Dave Evans. “Fictiv’s groundbreaking new radical transparency initiative is better because our quality engineers and customers can inspect a part all along the way. These features introduce a disruptive set of visibility controls and prompts that peel back the covers and make it possible for engineers and supply chain managers to clearly see, communicate, and track progress of manufacturing work and come away with complete confidence in quality outcomes, delivery times, and costs.”

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.