Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott sit down with Bob Maffia of BAE Systems to unpack what it really takes to manage large-scale PLM systems. From supporting thousands of users to navigating digital engineering, Bob shares practical lessons from the front lines.

💡 Highlights

• Real-world challenges of enterprise PLM at scale
  
  
• Balancing customization with vendor capabilities
  
  
• Strategies for digital engineering: start small, stay agile, engage stakeholders early
  
  
• Advice for vendors on openness and smoother upgrades
  
  
  

📩 Get in Touch

Have a question or want to connect with Bob? Email us at podcast@razorleaf.com

🎧 Follow Us

Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform or YouTube—and as always, stay sharp!

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© 2024 Razorleaf Corp. All Rights Reserved.

In this episode of Stay Sharp, hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott are joined by Michael Craffey and Kip Speck from Razorleaf to unpack the highlights from COExperience 2025, held in Reno, Nevada. COExperience—originally the CATIA Operators Exchange—is one of the largest gatherings in the PLM community, showcasing the latest in Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform.

Takeaways:

• AI and AR are no longer futuristic—they’re embedded in everyday workflows.
• Secure, cloud-based design environments are becoming viable for even the most regulated industries.
• COExperience remains a crucial event for innovation sharing, collaboration, and community.

👉 Get Involved:

Interested in volunteering with COExperience? Visit www.coe.org or email coe@coe.org.

🎧 Listen & Subscribe:

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app or watch on YouTube. Don’t forget to like and share this episode if you enjoyed it!

Music is considered “royalty-free” and discovered on Story Blocks.
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© 2024 Razorleaf Corp. All Rights Reserved.

In this episode of Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering, hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott are joined by Rob McAveney, Chief Technology Officer at ARAS, to explore the evolving landscape of the digital thread. They discuss why every company’s digital thread is unique, the role of adaptability in PLM systems, and how AI is shaping the future of connected data. The conversation unpacks key concepts like strong versus weak data links, forward and backward traceability, and how companies can leverage the digital thread for better decision-making.

Episode Highlights

🔹 Understanding the Digital Thread – What it is, why it matters, and how different companies implement it uniquely.
🔹 The Role of PLM in Digital Thread Development – How product lifecycle management systems enable connected data.
🔹 Strong vs. Weak Data Links – Why high-quality data connectivity is essential for effective decision-making.
🔹 Federating Data for Different Users – How different roles in an organization consume and interact with the digital thread.
🔹 The Role of AI in Digital Thread Management – Why AI won’t replace the need for a well-structured digital thread but can enhance its capabilities.
🔹 The Importance of Adaptability – How businesses must continually evolve their digital thread as technology and regulations change.

The digital thread is a critical component for modern engineering and manufacturing, but its value is only as strong as the quality of the connections it maintains. Companies must ensure their digital thread is adaptable, accessible to the right people, and structured to support ongoing evolution. While AI can enhance the process, it cannot replace the need for structured, authoritative data.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe to Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering on your favorite podcast platform or YouTube. Have questions about the digital thread? Leave a comment or email us at podcast@razorleaf.com. Until next time—Stay Sharp!

Music is considered “royalty-free” and discovered on Story Blocks.
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© 2024 Razorleaf Corp. All Rights Reserved.

In this episode of Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering, hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott are joined by their colleague Pat Coulehan to discuss the intersection of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). They explore the challenges of managing models and data across systems, the role of configuration management, and best practices for successful MBSE-PLM integration. Drawing insights from the defense sector, the conversation underscores the importance of clear standards, planning, and understanding tool limitations for optimal outcomes.

Episode Highlights

🔹 What is MBSE and why does it matter? – How MBSE is shifting engineering away from documents and toward models.

🔹 The role of PLM in managing MBSE models – Why MBSE tools and PLM systems need to work together.

🔹 Challenges in integration – Understanding why PLM can manage MBSE files but struggles to interpret their internal structure.

🔹 Configuration Management and Change Control – The complexities of managing MBSE models within enterprise systems.

🔹 The importance of clear frameworks and standards – Why defining standards early is critical for successful implementation.

🔹 Best practices for MBSE and PLM integration – Steps to avoid common pitfalls and ensure a smooth workflow.

Successfully integrating MBSE and PLM requires thoughtful planning, clear standards, and an understanding of system limitations. While MBSE introduces new ways to design and validate requirements, managing its data effectively alongside PLM remains a challenge. Companies should prioritize use cases, focus on authoritative sources of truth, and establish clear change management processes.

Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe to Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering on your favorite podcast platform or YouTube. Have questions or insights about MBSE and PLM? Leave a comment or email us at podcast@razorleaf.com. We’d love to hear from you!

Until next time—Stay Sharp!

Music is considered “royalty-free” and discovered on Story Blocks.
Technical Podcast Support by Jon Keur at Wayfare Recording Co.
© 2024 Razorleaf Corp. All Rights Reserved.

In this bittersweet episode of Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering, we say goodbye to longtime co-host Jen Ferello as she steps away from the podcast. Joining hosts Jonathan Scott and Juliann Grant, Jen reflects on her journey with the show—sharing personal growth, memorable guests, and key lessons learned from the digital engineering space.

Jen also gives a glimpse into her next chapter at Siemens, discussing her work with PLM components and the importance of high-quality data in digital engineering.

Juliann officially steps into her new role as co-host, bringing fresh perspectives from her background in marketing and expresses gratitude for Jen's contributions and acknowledges the challenge of filling her shoes, given Jen's extensive experience in engineering and relationships in the field. The conversation shifts to the importance of data quality and challenges associated with AI in the digital industry.

Get ready for a fun and nostalgic conversation, packed with behind-the-scenes stories, humorous moments, and even a few listener challenges (anyone remember gin, lipstick, and all things digital? 🤔).

Music is considered “royalty-free” and discovered on Story Blocks.
Technical Podcast Support by Jon Keur at Wayfare Recording Co.
© 2024 Razorleaf Corp. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome to Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering, the podcast where we explore the tools, trends, and tactics driving digital transformation in product design and manufacturing.

In this episode, co-hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott dive into the world of shipbuilding and digital transformation, joined by special guest Pat Coulehan. With over 30 years of experience in digital engineering, Pat shares firsthand insights from his five-year involvement in a major U.S. shipbuilding project.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

🚢 Shipbuilding’s Digital Shift – How the industry is adopting digital tools to enhance design, manufacturing, and maintenance.
🛠️ Industry Parallels – The surprising similarities between shipbuilding, aerospace, and construction, and what makes shipbuilding unique.
🔗 Supply Chain & Tech Adoption – The challenges of integrating digital workflows with suppliers and legacy processes.
⚙️ Configuration Management & Lifecycle Challenges – Why ship designs continuously evolve and how digital tools support long-term maintainability.
📊 Data & Compliance – The role of data management, regulatory requirements, and the importance of traceability in shipbuilding projects.
🔧 Overcoming Challenges – Lessons learned from transitioning shipbuilders to digital systems, including standardization hurdles and cultural shifts.

Key Takeaways:

✅ Shipbuilding is a complex, multi-disciplinary industry that blends elements of aerospace and construction.
✅ Digital transformation brings massive benefits but requires overcoming cultural resistance and supply chain adoption challenges.
✅ Data management and standardization are crucial to maintaining efficiency over decades-long projects.
✅ The move to digital is not just about initial cost savings—it’s about long-term sustainability, efficiency, and maintenance savings.
✅ Regulatory compliance, safety, and modularity play a key role in ship design and manufacturing.

Next Steps & Future Topics:

During the conversation, Pat also touched on Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and its role in shipbuilding. Stay tuned for a future episode where we’ll take a deeper dive into MBSE and its impact on digital engineering!

📢 Join the Conversation!
Have questions or topics you'd like us to cover? Drop us a comment, like, or message us at podcast@razorleaf.com.

🎧 Subscribe & Stay Sharp:
If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering on your favorite podcast platform or YouTube. Your engagement helps us bring you the latest insights in digital transformation!

Until next time—Stay Sharp!

Music is considered “royalty-free” and discovered on Story Blocks.
Technical Podcast Support by Jon Keur at Wayfare Recording Co.
© 2024 Razorleaf Corp. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome to Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering
Your insider guide to all things digital in product manufacturing and engineering.

In this episode, hosts Jonathan Scott and Jen Ferello are joined by Jennifer Herron, CEO of Action Engineering, and Helena Gutierrez, CEO of Share PLM, to discuss an inspiring topic: Women in STEM. Together, they explore the unique perspectives women bring to STEM fields, the challenges they face, and actionable strategies to create a more inclusive and diverse environment in the workplace.

From navigating unconscious biases to redefining leadership with empathy and collaboration, this episode offers insightful conversations about breaking barriers, fostering innovation, and embracing diversity in engineering and technology.

Episode Highlights

Why Women in STEM Matter:

• Women bring unique perspectives, including empathy, collaboration, and a focus on people, to engineering and technology.
• Diversity drives innovation and helps teams avoid groupthink.

Challenges Faced by Women in STEM:

• Common biases, such as assumptions about technical capabilities.
• Experiences of exclusion or inappropriate behavior in male-dominated environments.
• Lack of female role models and mentors.

Strategies to Foster Diversity:

• Hiring women and people from non-traditional backgrounds like teaching or psychology, and mentoring them to succeed in STEM.
• Recognizing and addressing unconscious bias in hiring processes and leadership practices.
• Creating safe spaces for open dialogue about diversity and inclusion.
• Highlighting the exciting and impactful aspects of STEM careers to inspire the next generation.

Mentorship and Leadership:

• Collaborative mentoring between generations fosters mutual learning and empowerment.
• Emphasizing feminine energy in leadership, such as empathy and accountability, for more effective team dynamics.

Women in STEM bring invaluable perspectives that strengthen teams and drive innovation. Through mentorship, proactive hiring, and inclusive leadership, we can work toward a more balanced and diverse future in engineering and technology.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share! Have your own story or insights about women in STEM? We’d love to hear them. Reach out to us at podcast@razorleaf.com or comment on our social media posts.

Stay sharp, and we’ll see you next time!

Music is considered “royalty-free” and discovered on Story Blocks.
Technical Podcast Support by Jon Keur at Wayfare Recording Co.
© 2024 Razorleaf Corp. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome to Stay Sharp with Razorleaf, your insider guide to all things digital in product manufacturing. In this episode, hosts Jonathan and Jen are joined by Michael Welti, a migration expert, to explore the common pitfalls of data migration and strategies to avoid them. From understanding source data and ensuring quality to the critical role of timing and rehearsals, this episode offers invaluable insights for smooth transitions during digital transformations.

Summary of the Episode

Michael Welti delves into the complexities of data migration, emphasizing preparation, intentionality, and thorough analysis to avoid costly mistakes. The discussion covers everything from knowing what data to migrate, addressing quality issues, rehearsing the process, and identifying latent issues that might arise long after the migration. Michael shares practical advice on planning, execution, and leveraging expertise to ensure a successful migration.

Episode Highlights

• Key Pitfalls in Data Migration:
  • Migrating unnecessary data while leaving out critical information.
  • Failing to account for data quality, constraints, and legacy system issues.
  • Overlooking the importance of security during and after migration.
• Strategies for Success:
  • Thorough analysis of source and target systems, identifying constraints and potential issues.
  • Conducting multiple rehearsals to test the migration process and identify hidden problems.
  • Planning for go-live timing, ensuring minimal downtime with bulk and delta migrations.
• Latent Issues to Watch For:
  • Problems surfacing weeks or months later due to overlooked details.
  • Security gaps resulting in exposed sensitive data during the migration.
  • Performance issues and mismatches between legacy and new system requirements.

Conclusion

Data migration is a challenging but crucial step in digital transformation. Success lies in thorough preparation, understanding your systems, and leaning on expertise when needed. Michael’s advice underscores the importance of rehearsals, planning, and a “Goldilocks approach”—finding the balance between too much and too little preparation for your unique business needs.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share! Have a story about data migration? We’d love to hear your successes and lessons learned. Reach out at podcast@razorleaf.com or leave a comment on our posts.

Stay Sharp, and we’ll see you next time!

Music is considered “royalty-free” and discovered on Story Blocks.
Technical Podcast Support by Jon Keur at Wayfare Recording Co.
© 2024 Razorleaf Corp. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome to Stay Sharp with Razorleaf, your go-to podcast for all things digital in the world of products and manufacturing. In this episode, your hosts dive into the transformative world of DevOps with special guest Stephen Binstock, a seasoned solution architect and DevOps expert. Together, they unravel the intricacies of DevOps, its key components, and its game-changing impact on enterprise systems.

Summary of the Episode

Stephen Binstock sheds light on the often-misunderstood concept of DevOps, breaking it down into actionable insights for organizations striving for greater collaboration and efficiency in their digital systems. The conversation covers the fundamental aspects of DevOps—requirements definition, system traceability, and testing—and how these practices address common challenges like system misalignment and inefficient deployments. Whether you're new to DevOps or looking to refine your approach, this episode provides practical advice for incremental adoption and maximizing its benefits.

Episode Highlights

• What is DevOps?
  DevOps combines development and operations to streamline enterprise system management, focusing on requirements definition, traceability, and testing.
• Challenges Solved by DevOps:
  Addresses misaligned environments, team collaboration issues, and troubleshooting inefficiencies.
• Benefits of DevOps:
  Improves transparency, enhances team collaboration, and speeds up deployments through automation.
• Getting Started:
  Start with managing requirements and traceability using tools like Microsoft DevOps or Jira, adopting an incremental approach for smooth organizational change.

DevOps is more than just a buzzword; it’s a powerful framework for streamlining processes and fostering collaboration in enterprise systems. Whether you’re just getting started or looking to refine your approach, incremental adoption can yield significant benefits for your organization. Stephen’s practical advice underscores the importance of open-mindedness and leveraging the right tools for your unique needs.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share! Have a question or topic suggestion? Reach out to us at podcast@razorleaf.com or leave a comment on our social posts. We’re planning our topics for 2025, so we’d love to hear from you!

Stay Sharp, and see you next time!

Music is considered “royalty-free” and discovered on Story Blocks.
Technical Podcast Support by Jon Keur at Wayfare Recording Co.
© 2024 Razorleaf Corp. All Rights Reserved.

In this episode, hosts Jen Ferrello and Jonathan Scott discuss, with guest, Oleg Shilovitsky, an industry blogger and expert in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), the transformative trends in digital products and manufacturing for 2025. They explore the impact of graph technology and artificial intelligence on product lifecycle management (PLM), emphasizing improved collaboration, real-time integration, and innovative engineering workflows. The conversation also addresses challenges related to generational tech shifts, modernizing workflows, and the necessary evolution of engineering practices.

Key Discussion Points

Impact of Graph Technology:

• The significance of managing relationships within product data.
• Comparison of graph databases with traditional relational databases, highlighting their expressiveness and efficiency.
• How graph models can enhance AI capabilities.

Challenges in Modernizing Engineering Workflows:

• Issues with outdated check-in/check-out processes in PLM systems, especially with the integration of software and electromechanical designs.
• The need for collaborative tools that allow engineers from different disciplines (mechanical, software, electrical) to work together seamlessly.

Emerging Trends for 2025:

• The shift towards collaborative workspaces that leverage graph technology to manage product data dynamically.
• The significance of generational differences in tech adoption—how younger professionals may prefer real-time collaboration methods over traditional file management.

The Future of Data Management in PLM:

• Emphasis on the importance of contextualized data for AI applications.
• The role of semantic technology in enhancing data interoperability across different systems and platforms.

All agree that while challenges remain, the future of digital products and manufacturing looks promising with advancements in graph technology and improved collaborative workflows set to redefine the industry landscape by 2025.

Share your questions, comments, or future topic suggestions.

Thank you for tuning in! Stay Sharp!

Music is considered “royalty-free” and discovered on Story Blocks.
Technical Podcast Support by Jon Keur at Wayfare Recording Co.
© 2024 Razorleaf Corp. All Rights Reserved.