Inensia is pleased to announce its successful collaboration with Parrot on their new generation PLM application that will help them keep striving in its industry for years to come!

PARROT is known as a leading European drone company. PARROT’s DNA is based on innovation to move the industry forward with new standards for drones at work.

The high-tech drone industry is fast evolving where new technologies regularly change the rules which offer many challenges to the PLM system, including having the ability to quickly design prototypes and update them while keeping a spot-on history of the product. This challenge has only been increased by the worldwide component shortage and component obsolescence which requires to change the design faster than ever so that drones can be manufactured in time. Another challenge is linked to the complexity of the product itself, which mixes multiple expertise, especially the mechanical and electrical parts, both of which require a CAD integration within the PLM environment.

Thanks to the Aras innovator platform, Parrot was able to create a flexible and efficient tool to support its change process, so that the entire chain from design to manufacturing is always working with the latest and greatest design. This technology ensures the manufacturing of the drones and the purchasing of critical components go smoothly by anticipating potential shortages. This new system will enable Parrot to easily spot all the machine parts where a component possesses a risk of shortage, in which case multiple options are offered to lower it:

  • Change the component
  • Use the built-in tools in the system with their “Parrot coat” to allow the designers to qualify and approve other options to replace them.

The Aras choice revealed to be efficient for managing changes in addition to integrating the electronical and mechanical CAD to the environment in a limited time frame. Connecting theses different CAD environments with the PLM will allow designers to easily store their design so that they can put it under the control of the change process and easily share it with the rest of the company.

The implementation of this new gen PLM with Parrot was done with the Agile methodology, allowing the process owners to make the scope of the project evolve and change the design of the application so that it fits perfectly in their process. Regardless of all the changes, the balance 0 principle was respected during the entire duration of the project which allowed the project to finish in the six months expected by the planning while still deploying the PLM fundamentals, the CAD interfaces, as well as new features to support Parrot’s business processes.

Manuel Le Bail, Quality Director of Parrot & PLM Project Sponsor, said: “Being able to quickly design, review and manufacture drones is key in today’s drone industry, where new generation of processors and camera sensors go to market every 18 months and where the worldwide component shortages put heavy pressure on sourcing and design team. Having a simple, efficient and adaptive tool such as Aras PLM designed by Inensia will help Parrot achieve these goals”.

“Lean attitude & mutual trust were key elements to deliver this transformation project within a short period of time.”, stated Jonathan Munoz, Project Manager on Inensia side.

We would like to warmly thank and congratulate the entire Parrot/Inensia team for their engagement, their professionalism and their cheerfulness all along the project that without a doubt made this project a success!

About Alixe Delabrousse