Teamcenter 2007 Announced
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Teamcenter 2007 Announced

Siemens PLM Software, a division of Siemens Automation and Drives (A&D) and a leading global provider of PLM software and services, announced Teamcenter 2007 software, the latest version of its PLM industry-leading digital platform and software portfolio.

Boasting a complete service-oriented architecture (SOA), easy-to-use interface and comprehensive end-to-end PLM solution set, Teamcenter 2007 significantly lowers the total cost of ownership for PLM technology and establishes greater productivity for manufacturers through a single source of product and process knowledge.

"Teamcenter 2007 marks a new era of PLM market maturity with the industry's first solution to move beyond individual software applications to establish a truly integrated PLM solution across disciplines, project phases and programs based upon SOA approaches," said Michel Vrinat, Collaborative Product Development Associates analyst. "The rich capabilities in Teamcenter 2007 bode well for its continued industry leadership in the PLM marketplace."

Teamcenter 2007 was developed with a focus on lowering the total cost of PLM ownership through a series of enhancements and features that simplify and accelerate implementations, enhance productivity, streamline collaboration and expand control of the entire product lifecycle process.

One of the most powerful examples of this lower cost of ownership is found in Teamcenter's new Business Modeler Integrated Development Environment (BMIDE). The BMIDE enables software configuration versus customization along with rapid deployment of changes to remote sites through implementation templates and live server synchronization. In addition, Teamcenter 2007 includes a complete SOA technology foundation throughout the entire portfolio, delivering the industry's first fully unified PLM suite. The greater manageability enabled through Teamcenter 2007 sets a new standard for an easy- to-configure PLM environment, enabling companies to eliminate costly implementations and significantly reduce the time necessary to deploy a production-ready system.

"SOA-based PLM reduces the cost and complexity of deploying and maintaining a distributed PLM environment," says Ed Miller, President of industry consulting and research firm CIMdata. "Siemens PLM Software has delivered their new unified architecture capability with the ability to coexist and interoperate with current Teamcenter implementations. This means that the upgrade path for existing Teamcenter customers can be much more cost- effective."

A select group of Siemens PLM Software customers have been using Teamcenter 2007 in a production environment for the past several months as part of the company's Leadership Program. This program has served to validate how the complete SOA implementation simplifies several tasks for customers. In one example, Teamcenter's unified database enabled a customer to perform its upgrade all at once -- rather than through individual steps and synchronization of several components. The single data model also makes it much easier to perform tasks like data mining and connecting to ERP systems. The end result is a significant savings in time and development resources.

In addition to being easy to deploy, Teamcenter 2007 also establishes a lower cost of ownership through an easy to use interface. A new common look and feel based on the Microsoft user interface simplifies user adoption and reduces training costs.

"I believe we will be able to lower our total cost of ownership by reducing training costs simply because of the familiar Windows-like user interface of Teamcenter 2007," said Matt Bronowski, project manager of Next Generation PLM for BSH. "This will particularly help in regions like Asia where we're growing very rapidly and employing many new people. It's critical to bring these people up to speed very quickly, and we believe the latest version of Teamcenter will allow us to do that." By providing a single source of product and process knowledge along with the ability to enable instant collaboration on a global basis, Teamcenter 2007 delivers greater productivity and teamwork. As a result, companies have more time to focus on developing innovative solutions that create real business value. "BSH needs to distribute data to nearly 40 different R&D departments around the world and keep everybody in these departments consistently updated with the latest product information," said Uwe Tontsch, head of IT for Product Development and Industrial Engineering Solutions, BSH. "That is where Teamcenter 2007, as the single source for this information, is more or less the backbone and the relay station; so everybody gets the information when needed in the process. That brings us not only the benefit of time to market, but also a much higher process security and therefore less failures in the design process due to lack of updates or wrong version information."

By unifying all product-related data, Teamcenter 2007 creates fast, easy access to just the right information regardless of the end user's location or job responsibility. This information can then be effectively leveraged with new process knowledge enhancements for embedded requirements management providing the ability to allocate requirements to mechanical, electrical, electronics, and software systems to more effectively manage the impact of change. Teamcenter 2007 also simplifies bill-of-material (BOM) management with new tools to visualize and browse complex product relationships, aligning design BOMs with business BOMs, and enabling BOM editing and redlining.

In addition, the Teamcenter 2007 Leadership Program highlighted how customers can save significant amounts of time in activities such as design reviews by using Teamcenter as a single source of knowledge and collaboration. For example, one leadership customer discovered that when they needed to collaborate on a product development project with other locations, they could gather and share all of the information necessary, including all of the 3D models, in a single afternoon -- a process that used to take three to four weeks. As a result, designers and engineers can spend less time on paperwork and are free to do more creative design work.

With the industry's most comprehensive suite of powerful end-to-end PLM applications and an unparalleled level of integration among them, Teamcenter 2007 provides companies with greater control by allowing them to connect all of their processes into a cohesive system that enhances efficiency and improves management visibility throughout the product lifecycle.

Manufacturers of all sizes can increase the speed and confidence of management decision making by aligning new product and service introduction efforts with market requirements. Tight software integration eliminates the need to re-enter data from one process to the next and Teamcenter's scalability and breadth of modular applications enables even small to medium size manufacturers to deploy a cost effective system that can be easily expanded as the business grows.

The enhanced visibility afforded by Teamcenter 2007 can positively affect both top-line and bottom-line business value. Revenue potential is increased by validating ideas against market opportunities, producing products that are better aligned with market needs and delivering them on time before the competition. At the same time, operating and process costs are reduced through a more efficient and coordinated effort among various departments and greater flexibility built into the product development network.

"Siemens PLM Software appears to be ahead of its competitors in driving product data management functions across the board in product development projects," said Dick Slansky, ARC Advisory Group. "Their broad scope of solutions is impressive but it's the integration of those end-to-end offerings that creates real value for manufacturers."

Any major enterprise application, such as PLM, can have a profound impact on the company that selects it and deploys it. An unproven system or proprietary niche supplier can put an organization at risk. As the clear market leader, Teamcenter has an unchallenged record of proven global leadership.

In addition to being recognized with several industry awards over the past two years, Teamcenter and Siemens PLM Software have earned the trust and loyalty of the global manufacturing community. The company's top 100 customers have been clients for an average of 17 years, and the three million installed licenses of Teamcenter represent more than seven times the install base of the next closest competitor. In fact, more companies trust Teamcenter to manage their product knowledge than the next three competitors combined.

"By listening to the market and understanding the challenges of the global manufacturing community, our development team has been able to produce the world's most advanced and complete PLM offering that is both easy-to-deploy and use," said Chuck Grindstaff, executive vice president of Products, Siemens PLM Software. "As a result, our customers can spend less time on non- productive tasks and more time on producing the world's most innovative new products."


Commentary By Jeffrey Rowe, Editor

Teamcenter is probably the UGS PLM component that has more exposure to more customers than the rest of its PLM suite combined. Teamcenter is an integrated suite of PLM software modules for managing product and process data. Teamcenter is best known for managing various types of CAx data, but it can be used for other kinds of data management, as well. Again, Teamcenter is not just one, but actually several modules for managing data and processes.

Let’s take a brief look at a few of the modules most applicable for SMBs in the MCAD arena, although Teamcenter can be tailored and implemented to work with companies of virtually any size.

Teamcenter Community is a Web-based collaboration utility that lets companies, suppliers, and customers share information in a secure environment. Since Teamcenter Community is built on Windows SharePoint Services, there is a tight integration between Teamcenter Community, Microsoft Windows, and Microsoft Office. Teamcenter Community 2007 is based on SharePoint 2007. In a nutshell, Teamcenter Community enables teams to capture, share, and exchange ideas.

Teamcenter Community was developed in a partnership with Microsoft to deploy this PLM component through the ubiquitous Windows- and Office-based desktop environment. It links diverse sources of product knowledge for better and faster product-related decisions that, ideally, reduce the frequency and time required for design reviews and iterations.

Teamcenter Community provides capabilities beyond basic document and conferencing collaboration provided by most other competing collaboration packages as a visual product collaboration environment supporting and distributing information as it evolves through a product’s lifecycle. Teamcenter Community extends product knowledge beyond the engineering group, and enables all team members to access, visualize, collaborate, and conference around detailed product information, such as CAD parts and drawings, traditionally locked up in the engineering group.

Teamcenter Engineering and Teamcenter Express are packages designed for CAx data management. Users can integrate with the engineering client application with many different CAx products. The program called Teamcenter Engineering is designed for large companies, while Teamcenter Express is targeted for mid-size to small engineering companies. Teamcenter Engineering and Teamcenter Express are designed to streamline engineering processes.

During any product’s lifecycle, there is a need to establish sustainable competitive advantages in terms of the ability to:

To address these strategic issues, Teamcenter Engineering provides multi-CAD engineering process management for multi-site product teams. With core functionality in UGS’ market Teamcenter portfolio, Teamcenter Engineering is especially suited for enabling product development teams to improve efficiency during the earliest stages of the product lifecycle.

Teamcenter Engineering allows engineering and manufacturing teams to synchronize design data, share design models in workflow-driven processes, and collaborate across a digital environment. CAD systems currently supported include NX, I-deas, Solid Edge, AutoCAD, CATIA, Pro/ENGINEER, and SolidWorks. It lets dispersed product teams, or separate companies, collaborate in common design and team members to participate in automated engineering and manufacturing processes via what UGS calls visual product collaboration.

Teamcenter Manufacturing an information management engine based on Teamcenter Engineering, with several extensions that optimize its applicability to the manufacturing environment and manufacturing process management. Teamcenter Manufacturing serves as the foundation for UGS' Tecnomatix suite of digital manufacturing products, that lets companies quickly assess the impact of decisions on product, process, plant, and resource requirements. It focuses on managing product definition and related information, to manage a wider set of data created in the manufacturing planning stage of the product lifecycle.

By itself (and by definition), Teamcenter is not PLM, but does provide a crucial part of the PLM puzzle that is involved with process as well as product. Based on a multitude of factors, Teamcenter and PLM continue to move to design and manufacturing companies of all sizes. Some of these factors include regulatory compliance, shorter product lifecycles, or for companies to remain competitive and growing top-line revenue while cutting bottom-line expenses. These factors boil down to management issues and Teamcenter has proven well-suited to this task by a customer base and associated markets that continue to grow. UGS has been quite successful with Teamcenter and this trend should continue with Teamcenter 2007.

The Week’s Top 5

At MCADCafé we track many things, including the stories that have attracted the most interest from our subscribers. Below are the five news items that were the most viewed during last week.



Grimme Cuts Development Cycles With CoCreate OneSpace Modeling
CoCreate Software announced that Grimme Landmaschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG in Damme, Germany has adopted the CoCreate OneSpace Suite to systematically digitize product development. Grimme has produced equipment for the sowing, care, harvest and storage of potatoes for over 70 years. The company also offers sugar beet harvesters. Products such as Grimme's large harvesters are customer-specific and frequently configured with a wide range of models and options. Design engineers at Damme regularly face the challenge of adapting machinery because of the complex interplay between climate, soil, and weather conditions in different regions. To react faster and more flexibly to the needs of new customers in new regions, the company implemented CoCreate OneSpace Modeling and its Dynamic Modeling based approach to product design. With the CoCreate software, designers work free of design history, meaning that anybody can use and modify designs without worrying about previous modeling steps. The OneSpace Suite includes key modules that streamline all of Grimme's work, such as Sheet Metal for OneSpace Modeling, lets the company's CAD software communicate with laser-cutting machines and sheet metal folders.

Autodesk Launches Academic Certification Program
Autodesk announced the launch of its academic certification program for secondary and post-secondary students. The Autodesk academic certification program enables students to earn a credential in recognition of their knowledge of specific Autodesk software applications. Autodesk supports this program with an end-to-end certification solution that includes: a pre-assessment application proficiency exam, Autodesk official certification courseware for reviewing the knowledge and skills covered on the certification examinations, and certified user and certified expert examinations for validating knowledge and skills. Schools that choose to deliver the Autodesk academic certification exams can become authorized certification centers and have the flexibility to offer exams to students at the school's convenience. The Web-delivered exams are performance-based rather than traditional multiple choice, requiring students to demonstrate their skills by using Autodesk applications.

EFD.V5 for CATIA
VENTREX Automotive GmbH saved four months in the design of an automotive valve by using EFD.V5, CATIA V5-embedded CFD simulation software. Automotive air conditioning systems are beginning to use CO2 as the refrigerant because it does not damage the ozone layer and also has a very low impact on global warming. But CO2 based systems need to operate at pressures 7 to 10 times higher than previous generation systems and this requires redesign of many components. Among the components most affected by the change is the valves used to evacuate and charge the system. Most important, the pressure drops seen in existing valves are too high to enable the required flow rates. But reducing the pressure drop of valves is challenging because of the complexity of internal flow passages caused by the presence of components used to open and close the valve. In the past, engineers would make design changes based on educated guesses. For each design change they had to build and test a prototype of the valve. The test results did not provide diagnostic information that would help engineers determine whether or not the design change had the intended effect. CFD makes it possible to build a software prototype of the valve that can be solved to determine the pressure drop of any particular design iteration without having to build a prototype. The greatest obstacle to the use of CFD has been that traditional CFD codes require the user to have a deep understanding of the computational aspects of fluid dynamics in order to be certain of obtaining accurate results. EFD.V5 simplifies the simulation process by extending CATIA V5 functionality to include fluid flow and heat transfer simulation within a single user environment.

3D Systems Launches New Rapid Manufacturing Material
3D Systems announced DuraForm HST Plastic, a strong, temperature-resistant Rapid Manufacturing material for use in its Sinterstation HiQ SLS Systems. Incorporating advanced fiber technology, DuraForm HST (High Strength and Temperature) Plastic is an engineered material for applications that require improved strength, higher stiffness, and elevated temperature resistance. With better pricing than carbon-fiber filled materials and better recyclability than other competitive materials, DuraForm HST is a cost-effective solution for both engineering applications and general purpose use. DuraForm HST offers good accuracy and repeatability in all X-Y-Z directions. This white-colored material is easy-to-process, resulting in parts with excellent surface detail. It is also a non-conductive material that is RF transparent to faraday cage effects. Specific applications include UAV components, housings and enclosures and low- to mid-volume manufactured parts.

Consona ERP Announces Technology Partnership With Omnify Software
Consona ERP, a provider of ERP software and services for small and midsize discrete manufacturers, announced a formal technology partnership with Omnify Software, a provider of PLM software for electronic, medical, mechanical, and defense manufacturers. The integration between Intuitive ERP and the Omnify PLM solution allows small and midsize manufacturers to share and synchronize engineering and manufacturing data through an automated process. Manufacturers with sophisticated engineering requirements can utilize the Omnify system to manage product data, such as component information, bill of materials, documentation, engineering changes and compliance data. Pertinent information is automatically passed to Intuitive ERP, where it is integrated into the system's financial, distribution, and manufacturing modules.

Jeffrey Rowe is the editor of MCADCafé and MCAD Weekly Review. He can be reached at Email Contact or 408.850.9230.

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