This paper was produced for the 2019 NAFEMS World Congress in Quebec Canada

Resource Abstract

Materials modelling has shown great impact in a range of case studies. While a range of impact mechanisms have been identified, organisations require better ways of tracking impact and continuous improvements to justify investment and to inform R&D strategies.



Maturity models are suitable as a benchmarking framework: they help organisations to improve their performance. They are also a reference system enabling objective mapping of “as is” and “to be” states for business activities & operations.



A maturity model has been designed to probe the level of adoption of materials modelling. The materials modelling maturity model considers four dimensions: tools, data, processes and people. A description of materials modelling maturity levels for each of the dimensions has been elaborated and an on-line survey has been developed.



Results have been obtained from a range of users in industry. An analysis will be presented in this contribution. It includes current status, three-to-five years objectives, gaps and avenues how they can be overcome. The results indicate a relatively high level of maturity in the People dimension, meaning relatively strong and consistent staff support, however still lacking enterprise wide recognition and support for the materials modeller role. Lowest levels of maturity were found in Data and Processes. Data standards and process maturity are typically at the team or at most department level, rather than consistent across the enterprise. Modelling tools maturity was intermediate but also has the largest spread across different organisations.