March_2022_AMP_Digital

A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | M A R C H 2 0 2 2 2 1 T he impact that Industry 4.0, with interconnected cyber-physical systems, has on our materials, engineering, and manufacturing ca- pabilities needs, has thrust advanced materials-related modeling and curat- ed, high-quality materials data into the spotlight for many ASM members. Ma- terials 4.0 represents those increased expectations of the Industry 4.0 world in which we all operate. This more pre- dictive side of engineering and opti- mization is affecting new materials development, functional and mechan- ical design, manufacturing, supply chain, and sustainability in ways the STEM community would have thought not possible even a few decades ago. ASM International has developed the Data Ecosystem over the past two years, addressing the need for better products, created and manufactured more cost effectively, and launched more quickly. This convenient digital platform, Data Ecosystem Workbench, will serve the materials, engineering, scientific, manufacturing, and supply chain stakeholders in the ASM sphere of influence. Data Ecosystem will also launch with pragmatic education cours- es aimed at teaching the fundamentals of data management, advanced analyt- ics, and materials processing that will expand the adoptability of Materials 4.0 in our highly competitive landscape (Fig. 1). INTRODUCTION TO THE ASM DATA ECOSYSTEM The ASM International team de- veloped a concept based on a simple structure recognizing the criticality of high-quality materials data in the Ma- terials 4.0 era. We discovered strong leadership resonance that the world’s largest society of materi- als professionals should help accelerate adoption of digital ways of working in our membership. As we further refined the con- cept into a working pro- totype, we also found that data management and data management edu- cation was a key founda- tional element that would make the concept grow faster and more effective- ly. In summary, the Data Ecosystem provides the materials data our mem- bers need to succeed, an- alytical tools that leverage those data, and the pragmatic educa- tion on howmembers can capturemore value in this Materials 4.0 environment. A MEMBER-BASED INITIATIVE DESIGNED AROUND MEMBER INSIGHTS Taking the initial concept and cre- ating a functioning product line took many months of member engagement and significant assessment of unserved and underserved materials community needs. This challenge was addressed by an ASM staff-led market research effort we called “Member Market Insights.” The layers of this effort started with a foundation of extracting needs from over two dozen member experts. These themes progressed into a member sur- vey with significant member response, and then product categories and fea- tures were further refined through member focus groups. The themes that emerged as crit- ical to ASM stakeholder success in- cluded reduced barriers for adoption of Materials 4.0 capabilities, expanding the availability of high-quality materials data, particularly for usage in design, engineering, manufacturing, and sup- ply chain activities, with applicability to a broad cross-section of our member- ship (Fig. 2). The Materials 4.0 capabil- ities that showed the greatest member interest in the survey included prag- matic data management and data man- agement education, machine learning, and uncertainty quantification. This led to an initial Release 1 offering based on the survey results and initial high-level themes identified: • Data management fundamentals and materials processing simulation courses as the first two classes in the ASM Data Ecosystem Education portfolio • Dante Solutions heat treat process simulation desktop toolset, with practical heat treat development and optimization graphical tools • Pandat Materials Phase Diagram desktop simulation module with ASM DATA ECOSYSTEM Designed with key input frommembers, ASM International’s new Data Ecosystem provides a digital platform to assist engineering design and manufacturing stakeholders working in the Materials 4.0 era. Raymond V. Fryan,* ASM International, Materials Park, Ohio *Member of ASM International Fig. 1 — Schematic of ASM Data Ecosystem.