Recently, Sachin Choughule, writing for IT News Online, argued that cloud computing is poised to have a significant impact on the computer-aided design (CAD) industry. Now, another industry expert has offered her assessment of a similar development: the rise of cloud computing in the field of product lifecycle management (PLM).
PLM providers and the cloud
Beth Stackpole, writing for Design News, recently claimed that PLM and design tool providers seem to be more comfortable with the concept of integrating cloud services with their operations than they were in the past. Despite becoming a well-established and widely-implemented component of many industries' IT departments, the cloud is only now being accepted by the PLM field.
Stackpole identifies several explanations for this lag. Most notably, PLM providers, like many other organizations, have been reluctant to store crucial research and development, engineering intellectual capital and other vital assets on third party servers. This basic component of cloud computing has long been cited by organizations of all industries as the leading factor preventing wider adoption of the technology.
However, computer security experts widely agree that when properly implemented with sufficient security precautions, the cloud is no more risky a proposition than in-house storage - a premise that PLM providers are beginning to accept, according to Stackpole.
Dassault leading the way
One PLM provider leading the industry's adoption of cloud technology is Dassault Systemes. Recently, Dassault Systemes announced it is continuing its commitment to supporting the Codex of PLM Openness (CPO), Sys-Con reports. According to Dassault executive Dominique Florack, the company aims to create an "open, unified collaborative experience for our customers." The cloud may be able to provide an improved means of achieving this level of interactivity and development.
Dassault Systemes and the U.K. National Composites Centre (NCC) have announced a new partnership to collaborate to create advanced composites products using Dassault Systemes' Version 6 3D Experience platform. This union makes Dassault Systemes the first official Associate Member of the NCC.
Peter Chivers, Chief Executive of the NCC, welcomed Dassault Systemes, expressing his belief that the NCC's mission will be greatly aided through the use of the Version 6 3D Experience platform, which he said offers "complete, open and fully integrated design, simulation and virtual manufacturing."
Version 6 is Dassault Systemes' advanced product lifecycle management (PLM) program, allowing designers to create and adapt products using a 3D online platform. The NCC will use Version 6 to increase collaboration among companies and creators to develop innovative composites products in neutral space. It will allow designers to work on every stage of a product, from design to simulation to manufacturing, within a single environment.
The NCC is a product of the UK government's UK Composites Strategy, a plan that emphasizes the importance of composites for the future of UK manufacturing. The NCC was created as a means of uniting design and manufacturing companies with academic researchers working in this field to develop high-grade composite products using advanced technologies.
The NCC coordinates this network to improve communication and innovation in composites manufacturing industries. Among the companies affiliated with the NCC are Rolls-Royce, Airbus and the University of Bristol.
Philippe Laufer, Vice President of Research & Development for CATIA of Dassault Systemes, said he believes the NCC to be "critical to global composite industry development," making it an excellent partner for Dassault Systemes as it strives to remain on the forefront of technological innovation.
Dassault Systemes, a leading innovator in the fields of 3D design software and product lifecycle management (PLM), has announced the acquisition of Netvibes, a sentiment analytics technology provider.
Monic Menghini, Dassault Systemes vice president for Industry, Marketing and Corporate Communications, explained that Dassault Systemes will use this new technology to improve the design and implementation of its engineering processes by incorporating a heightened degree of consumer feedback. The end result, according to Menghini, will be higher quality products that reach the market faster.
Sentiment analytics companies such as Netvibe provide products that can examine feedback from social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, in order to better ascertain consumers' feelings about a company. By using this information, businesses can more accurately gauge the public's desires and values, and therefore produce better service and products. Sentiment analytics firms can even provide real-time data updates.
Writing for DesignNews, Beth Stackpole notes that this pairing may seem like a mismatch initially, considering that primarily, media conglomerates and industry giants such as Coca-Cola have used sentiment analytics. However, she goes on to indicate that Netvibe's services may enable Dassault Systemes to significantly advance its people-centric PLM capabilities.
Bernard Charles, Dassault Systemes' CEO}, said of Netvibes' contribution to assault, "It will connect information related to all product, service and user experiences...in real-time and in-context for a better, richer experience and decision-making process."
As Stackpole writes, this fits into Dassault Systemes' goal of creating a "3D Experience platform." This platform is intended to connect engineers, designers, marketers and consumers in a social enterprise, focusing on delivering consumer "experiences."
For most manufacturing companies, reducing costs and accelerating production speed are among their most important organizational goals. To accomplish these objectives, many businesses use digital manufacturing software to design, simulate, analyze and manufacture products in a virtual environment.
According to a recent TechNavio study, the global digital manufacturing software market will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 7.5 percent from 2011 to 2014. The report named Dassault Systemes, a leader in computer aided design (CAD) and product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions, among the vendors dominating the digital manufacturing market.
"Many of the long-term benefits of PLM software are not achievable without implementation of digital manufacturing software," said an analyst from TechNavio's engineering services team. "Moreover, it helps manufacturing companies integrate PLM tools such as computer aided design (CAD), computer aided engineering (CAE) and product data management (PDM), with other applications or information systems."
Furthermore, the report said manufacturing companies are adopting digital manufacturing products they can customize to meet their specific needs. One available product is Dassault Systemes' DELMIA, a combination of digital manufacturing product and solutions designed to help companies in several industries virtually plan, create, monitor and control production processes. PSA Peugeot Citroen, a French automotive manufacturer, recently deployed DELMIA in its powertrain division.
Manufacturing companies and most enterprises in other sectors are collecting, managing and analyzing more data than ever before, across a wide range of systems, networks, devices and office locations. However, several software providers now offer product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions designed to help organizations usher in the era of big data, cloud computing, social media and other information-rich trends.
Omnify, a leading provider of PLM solutions for defense, mechanical, medical, electronic and other manufacturing businesses, recently unveiled a new case study to evaluate the implementation of its Empower PLM software. The study features CVG-Avtec, a provider of systems engineering services for the aerospace and defense industries. CVG-Avtec manages a large amount of data during its product development processes and as it helps solve its customers' engineering issues, Omnify said in the announcement.
"Due to the complexity of their products, it is critical for customers like CVG-Avtec to have the right system in place to accurately track and manage the multitude of product revisions associated with their product development environment," said Omnify CTO Chuck Cimalore. "Empower PLM helps customers to address the challenges of managing product revisions by centralizing all product information, providing a controlled environment for managing engineering changes with workflows and audit trails, and automating all BOM management processes."
Quang Le of CVG-Avtec said Omnify's Empower PLM solution has helped the company reduce the time spent searching for information by at least 95 percent, enabling it to focus on business critical tasks, improve efficiency and increase productivity. According to Omnify, CVG-Avtec uses the PLM software to centralize and manage product data like engineering changes, documents, files and BOMs.
More companies are using PLM solutions than ever, helping them reduce costs and support increasing amounts of data. Many PLM providers now offer cloud-based software, allowing enterprises to track and manage data using multiple devices and from remote, flexible locations.
Dassault Systemes' products have helped numerous automotive manufactures achieve never-before-seen success through the adoption of 3D design and product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions. However, while companies like Ford, Hyundai, BMW and Honda have already realized several benefits of Dassault's services, the company is now focusing on using its technology to boost India's automotive industry.
According to a recent Financial Chronicle report, Dassault plans to use its DELMIA products and solutions to help multiple Indian auto companies, such as Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Ashok Leyland improve design processes, simulation and product manufacturing.
"India is one of the largest economies in the world, especially in manufacturing. We are in talks with various auto companies here to give them 3D services for development of products and testing their performance," Keith A Charron, senior vice president at Dassault, told the source, adding that India's manufacturers are more focused on innovation than their Chinese competitors.
The report said Dassault is also planning to provide automotive component manufacturers - often small companies - with design and product development services. According to the Chronicle, Dassault has more than 2,000 customers in the Indian automotive and aviation industries after adding roughly 200 customers last year. Charron told the source that India is the company's fastest expanding market in Asia, a region Dassault expects will produce 30 percent growth this year.
The firm's increased presence in the Asian automotive market further expands its stronghold as one of the top providers of 3D design, PLM and simulation solutions. Dassault recently announced its revenues reached record totals in the fourth quarter of 2011 and the year overall, the result of heightened demand in the automotive and aerospace sectors.
Companies in nearly every industry are adopting cloud services for data storage, application sharing and other computing functions, providing organizations with greater efficiency and reduced operating costs. According to some experts, cloud-based tools are significantly changing the ways electronics design teams develop products.
In a recent column for Electronics Weekly, Frank Framer, a technical marketing director at Altium Europe, analyzed the trend of many electronics designers and manufacturers now using secure cloud environments for collaboration between employees and data managers.
"For engineering teams, the creation and dissemination of information invariably takes the form of IP and design files, and keeping that data concurrent is a well recognized challenge, particularly as design teams are now often co-located across sites and regions, or even countries and time zones," Framer explained.
According to Framer, cloud-based solutions enable engineers and designers to share information in real time, ensuring data is always current and making the design process more efficient.
Altium is a leader in electronics design software that integrates processes and supports secure data sharing between teams and employees. The company's products allow engineers to quickly deliver more innovative designs for reduced costs.
The automotive industry has been one of the most widespread adopters of product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions, which enable engineers and manufacturers to increase innovation, product quality and production speed.
Triumph Motorcycles, the largest British motorcycle manufacturer, recently selected a new PLM solution that it believes can support business expansion and augment product development. Triumph is well-known throughout the U.K. for its innovative motorcycle designs and high-performance vehicles.
"We pride ourselves on our distinctive design, performance pedigree, outstanding engineering and unique engine sound. With that reputation and our annual production level of 50,000 motorcycles, we felt it was key to move our product development to another level and implement a fully integrated PLM system," said Geoff Hurst, Triumph's chief information officer. "We believe we will see a significant improvement in the design, production and manufacturing development times."
Hurst added that the integrated PLM system will support the company's product development tasks from the early design stages through manufacturing.
Many manufacturing companies have implemented PLM systems and are realizing the technology's several advantages. Dassault Systemes, a leader in computer aided design (CAD) and PLM solutions, recently announced it amassed record revenues in 2011, largely due to increased enterprise PLM adoption.
The rise of social media has enabled businesses to communicate with customers in a manner never previously possible, and some companies are seeking the ability to take online interaction a step further.
Dassault Systemes, a leader in 3D design software and product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions, recently announced the launch of its 3DSwYM brand, and the acquisitions of internet companies Netvibes and Exalead. 3DSwYM will help Dassault provide clients with social business applications, part of the comapany's 3D experience platform. The idea behind the 3D experience is to give designers, engineers, marketing managers and consumers an online social channel to communicate, which Dassault said will increase innovation in several industries.
"We have evolved the V6 platform with our customers over the last few years. The addition of intelligent information search-based technologies, social innovation capabilities and realistic 3D virtual experiences made us ready to pioneer a new technological wave: a 3D Experience platform to serve the social enterprise of the 21st century," said Bernard Charles, president of Dassault Systemes. "I am convinced that within this century, people will invent and innovate more than ever before."
Dassault said its 3D experience platform will drive innovation by allowing each member of an organization and its customers to participate in designing and producing cutting-edge products, which will increase value for the end consumer.
According to Dassault's website, the 3DSwYM social innovation solution will help businesses create an engaging, secure social network where community members, including consumers, can interact, learn and contribute. The integrated, easy-to-use interface will enable enterprises to build an online community without software development or extensive social media experience.
Dassault's 3D experience could impact the way several industries interact with consumers, as businesses in the aerospace, automotive, construction, fashion, consumer electronics and other sectors use the company's PLM and CAD solutions to design innovative products.
The automotive industry has pioneered innovative design, simulation and manufacturing techniques to create products more cost-effectively and faster than ever before.
Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors Corporation (HMC/KMC) recently completed the first phase of dispensing a new product lifecycle management (PLM) system across its entire enterprise, the fourth largest and fastest growing automobile manufacturer in the world.
"When it comes to product design, development and delivery, HMC/KMC represents a new generation of thinking which requires a new generation of technology," said PLM expert Jim Heppelmann. "There is no question that HMC/KMC is charting a new path toward growth through innovation."
The new PLM system will help HMC/KMC more easily support constantly changing vehicle requirements, increase innovation and consolidate several existing data systems into a single data management solution. HMC/KMC's system will include extensive design data from several programs, including Dassault Systemes' CATIA, a leading software for computer aided design (CAD) and product development.
The Hyundai Elantra was designed using CATIA and was recently named a finalist for the North American Car of the Year. In fact, all six finalists in the car and truck divisions were designed in Dassault's popular software. Dassault is an industry leader, helping manufacturers in several industries increase productivity, improve time to market and reduce costs.