Right Hemisphere Pioneers "Just-in-Time" Training

There is a tremendous amount of highly detailed data generated by aircraft, engine, and component manufacturers in the form of 3D computer-aided design (CAD), but that data is rarely used beyond the design phase. "There is a massive amount of 3D data being made in the manufacturing world," said Michael Lynch, chief executive officer of Right Hemisphere (www.righthemisphere.com). "But it's not being used for communication."

Right Hemisphere started and developed 3D paint tools to put textures on computer-generated characters for movies such as Dinotopia and the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter series. "That was a relatively small market," said Lynch. "But we realized that we had developed interoperability so that [various software] packages could talk to each other."

After acquiring other companies, Right Hemisphere developed what it calls a post-CAD product data management (PDM) system. The Right Hemisphere system can take CAD data and repurpose it in any format needed for creation of training systems, maintenance manuals, parts catalogs, and marketing pieces. Right Hemisphere can create, Lynch said, "marketing and technical documents for pennies. We're selling an infrastructure that can optimize all of those applications."

Right Hemisphere's first customer for the new PDM products was Sikorsky, which planned to use the system for Comanche maintenance training (before the Comanche program was cancelled). Sikorsky is using the Right Hemisphere system for Blackhawk training.

Engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney is using Right Hemisphere to help deliver what it calls "just-in-time" training. Pratt & Whitney's engine training facility is taking fault data generated by sensors installed on the engines to teach technicians how to deal with real-world problems. Technicians learn, Lynch said, "what's wrong, how to find the part, and how to replace the part." Pratt & Whitney is exploring other ways of using Right Hemisphere-generated data to enhance engine maintenance, too.

"On the average aircraft," Lynch said, "there are 50,000 drawings." Right Hemisphere can save a company $3 to $4 million per aircraft by repurposing CAD data into technical documents. "We believe we can cut the support/MRO side down by 50 percent," he said, "just as they have done for the design side."

Figuring out how to make efficient use of original CAD data for downstream maintenance and training systems "is the unfinished area of optimization," said Lynch. -- By Matt Thurber