Assembly Digital Mock-Up (DMU) is the use of the 3D CAD assembly model to validate that all components in a product physically fit together correctly — checking for hard clashes (parts that geometrically intersect), soft clashes (insufficient clearance for thermal expansion, vibration, or manufacturing tolerance), kinematic envelope conflicts (parts that interfere during motion), and accessibility deficiencies (insufficient space for assembly, maintenance, or inspection tasks). For complex products with thousands of parts from multiple suppliers designed in parallel — vehicles, aircraft, industrial machines, offshore platforms — DMU is the primary mechanism for detecting fit conflicts before physical prototypes are built. A hard clash found in DMU costs a design change; the same conflict found in a physical prototype costs tooling rework, prototype fabrication, and program delay — typically 10 to 50 times more expensive.
The EMUG SCAN Framework is EMUG’s five-phase DMU automation delivery methodology, standing for: Structure analyse, Configure checks, Automate execution, Notify results, and Sign-off integrate. It structures DMU automation programs from assembly structure analysis and clearance requirement documentation through automated check suite configuration, automation tool development, results reporting, and PLM sign-off integration. The framework specifically addresses the most common DMU automation failure mode — generating hundreds of clash reports per run including known, accepted, and irrelevant clashes, causing engineers to stop reading DMU reports rather than acting on the genuine violations.
Known and accepted clashes — component pairs that are technically within the defined minimum clearance but have been reviewed and accepted for specific engineering reasons — are managed through a configurable exception database in EMUG’s DMU automation tools. Each accepted exception is documented with: the component pair identity, the reason for acceptance (by design, accepted risk, different operating condition), the engineer who approved the acceptance, and an expiry condition (valid until design freeze, valid for this design revision only). The automation tool filters accepted exceptions from results before generating violation reports — ensuring that DMU reports contain only new or unresolved violations. The exception database is version-controlled and auditable, satisfying AS9100 and IATF 16949 traceability requirements.
Kinematic DMU automation for mechanisms with complex motion — door hinges, suspension systems, landing gear retraction, engine hood and trunk lid, seat adjustment mechanisms — requires defining the motion path (the sequence of positions from start to end state), the assembly constraint or mechanism definition that drives the motion, and the clearance check configurations to run at each position along the path. EMUG builds kinematic DMU automation using CATIA DMU Kinematics, NX Motion, and Creo Mechanism APIs to drive the assembly through its motion path in defined steps, execute clearance checks at each step, collect minimum clearance and interference data at each position, and report the worst-case clearance across the full motion range — producing a motion-sweep minimum clearance map that shows exactly where in the motion cycle clearance is most critical.
Thermal deformation DMU is required for components that operate at significantly different temperatures from ambient assembly conditions — engine bay components, exhaust systems, brake systems, process plant equipment, and jet engine installations. At operating temperature, metal components expand by amounts that depend on their temperature differential and coefficient of thermal expansion: a steel exhaust manifold at 800 degrees Celsius expands by approximately 10mm per meter of length, which can convert a 5mm cold clearance to a geometric clash at operating temperature. EMUG builds thermal DMU automation tools that apply temperature-dependent displacement fields to assembly components (from either CAE thermal analysis results or simplified coefficient-based calculations), reposition components to their hot state, and run clearance checks at operating temperature — identifying cold-versus-hot clearance differences that static assembly DMU misses.
A focused DMU automation tool for a defined assembly and check type — for example, a full vehicle static clearance check suite for NX Assembly — takes six to twelve weeks to build using the EMUG SCAN Framework, including check configuration definition, development, testing, and deployment. A comprehensive DMU automation program covering static clearance, kinematic motion, thermal deformation, and tolerance stack checks for a complex product assembly takes three to five months. EMUG delivers a working prototype of the static clearance automation within three weeks of requirements sign-off — enabling the engineering DMU team to evaluate the tool and confirm it matches their working practices before the full development investment is committed.
Yes. EMUG integrates DMU automation with PLM for milestone sign-off using Teamcenter, Windchill, and 3DEXPERIENCE. Integration covers: automatic loading of the current assembly revision from PLM at the start of each DMU run (ensuring DMU is always performed on the correct data), archival of DMU results datasets in PLM linked to the assembly revision they were produced from, generation of DMU completeness certificates confirming all required checks were executed for milestone gate review, and engineering change workflow initiation in PLM for violations that require formal design changes. This integration provides the program-level DMU traceability that automotive OEM gateway reviews and aerospace AS9100 design verification documentation require.
EMUG delivers DMU and clearance check automation to automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers (IATF 16949, OEM gateway requirements), aerospace and defense organizations (AS9100 Rev D, ITAR compliance), industrial machinery and equipment manufacturers (ISO 13849 safety clearances), energy and oil and gas companies (offshore and process plant DMU), and engineering services and EPC firms. Delivery countries include Germany, France, UK, Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Poland, Czech Republic, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, India, China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya.
