Siemens has further strengthened its portfolio of manufacturing software solutions with the aquisition of innotech, the German vendor of digital engineering software and services for the process industry. The company will become a subsidiary of Siemens AG and will be assigned to the Industrial Automation Systems Business Unit.
“innotec is an outstanding technological supplement to our portfolio. It will make us the first vendor in the world that can offer the process industry an integrated software solution, from the planning stage of a production plant, through operation, right up to modernization,” said CEO Ralf-Michael Franke. “In the future, our customers in the process industry, like those in the discrete manufacturing industry, will be able to significantly reduce the time-to-market with coordinated Siemens technology.”
The purchase price was not disclosed and the transaction remains subject to approval from the relevant authorities.
Tom Shelley, at Manufacturing Computer Solutions, writes that a representative of BAE Systems’ Nimrod refurbishment project has been visiting Red Bull Racing HQ discovering how they have implemented Teamcenter and the advantages it has brought. Between Red Bull’s two F1 racing outfits, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso, they have 150 seats of NX and Teamcenter, as well as a custom interface written by Siemens for going from Epicor to Avanti ERP system. The benefits that Siemens and Teamcenter have brought to Red Bull include the ability to make parametrically controlled template parts and thus the possibility of quickly making many variants. These variants can be produced as stereolithography rapid prototype parts which can be then be immediately tested. It is this sort of rapid testing which no doubt appeals to those in charge at BAE Systems’ Nimrod MRA4 rebuilding programme for, in refurbishing the Nimrod, they are essentially having to rebuild it. Given the paramount need for safety in aviation and “some serious design management issues” on the Nimrod, more and quicker testing can only be a good thing.
The Nimrod rebuilding project are reportedly creating “several hundred” Teamcenter seats in 2009. To find current empty Teamcenter seats, try our listing for Teamcenter jobs.
Aberdeen Group, a leading research and market intelligence company, have released a new study entitled “The Best Kept Secret of Top SMB Product Developers? Finding the Shortest Path to PLM”.
The report reveals that while there is still a relatively modest adoption of PLM by SMEs, there is a clear performance benefit to those that are using it. Specifically, product profit margins are claimed to be 18.5% higher. In addition to this, the report claims that misconceptions of PLM are extensive which prevents many smaller companies from recognising the value, or indeed exploring PLM as an opportunity at all.
“Prior to implementing PLM, Best-in-Class SME companies focus on understanding their current product development processes so they can identify where PLM will offer the most benefit. Starting with the problems they need solved clarifies how PLM will help them. They are also sure to have executive level involvement from the very beginning,” observes Michelle Boucher, Research Analyst in Aberdeen’s Product Innovation & Engineering practice. “Their approach pays off as their implementation costs are 74% lower than the Industry Average.”
A complimentary copy of the report has been made available by IBM, Siemens PLM Software and the Aberdeen Group. This offer remains open until 26 September 2008.
Geometric Software, the India based Product Lifecycle Management and engineering solution company, have announced their intention to diversify into a broader cross-section of industries. Traditionally, Geometric has generated much of its revenue from the automotive and aerospace sectors, working with companies such as Ford and Chrysler. However, with a downturn in these industries forecast to continue, the company is looking to avoid the risk associated with being too focused on only a few industry segments. “We are now looking at other industries such as fashion, apparel and luxury goods makers, which are adopting PLM,” said S Ravi Gopinath, MD and CEO of Geometric Software. “The fashion industry is also seasonal and the time to market is critical, so the challenges are similar [to the automotive and aerospace industries].”
Geometric showcased its apparel solution ‘D.R.A.P.E.D.’ at Miami’s Technology Solutions Expo in April and is since rumoured to have secured a large fashion and lifestyle client.
Geometric are not the first PLM vendor to expand their market reach. Market leader and software partner, Dassault Systemes, have also moved into less traditional PLM industries.
IBM has rapidly increased its PLM capacity in the last few years, now employing more than 3,000 PLM practitioners across the company. IBM will continue to sell and support Dassault Systemes products with the emphasis on V6, the latest release of Dassault’s core offering.
IBM has grand hopes for PLM, anticipating that lifecycle management solutions will expand beyond the current engineering focus and become an enterprise wide set of applications. The company now has 10 PLM Centres of Excellence around the World.
Further coverage of IBM’s PLM vision can be found on Desktop Engineering and Manufacturing Computer Solutions.
INCAT has been awarded the contract to manage the transition of the engineering management systems of Jaguar Land Rover from Ford to TATA until 2013. It is anticipated that the initial process of transferring more than 1,000 IT applications to the Jaguar Land Rover environment will take 18 months and require approximately 100 project managers. The contract will also include an additional 250 staff for ongoing support of Jaguar Land Rover’s PLM applications, based in the UK and in Pune, India.
One obvious advantage of the deal is that INCAT is owned by TATA, although it has been stressed that the awarding of the contract has been based on INCAT’s considerable expertise in this area and extremely reliable track record. INCAT has been a long term PLM partner of Jaguar Land Rover, well before the purchase of the car company by their parent.
Alan Weeks, Jaguar Land Rover IT Transition Manager said “INCAT offers the most robust and complete set of service provisions to meet our needs with the least risk. Recognising that INCAT is also owned by Tata, we have been particularly sensitive to the need to treat them as we would any other vendor. No advantageous insight has been available to the INCAT team, who worked with us in a very professional manner throughout the research phase.”
Full press release available on the INCAT website.
View INCAT PLM jobs on the PLMjobs.com website.
Conformia, the California based Product Lifecycle Management provider, has enhanced its focus on the pharmaceutical industry with the releases of its Design Suite – a web based solution automating the design of new drugs during the lab scale environment. The solution completes Conformia’s pharma offering by creating a full end-to-end PLM solution ‘from lab to launch’.
Recent years have seen considerable growth in the development of PLM for the pharma industry, with a particular emphasis on enabling regulatory compliance. Datamonitor put PLM spend by pharma companies at almost US$500 million in 2007.
In July, Conformia announced the expansion of the Chemistry Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) Biotech Working Group, designed in conjunction with seven leading biotech companies to formulate case studies with a view to assuring quality in the manufacture of medicinal products. The group includes Amgen, Genentech, Abbott, Medlmmune, GlaxoSmithKine, Eli Lilly, and Pfizer.
