Archive for December, 2019
Saturday, December 21st, 2019
At Aras ACE Europe 2019 in Munich, PROSTEP presented the OpenPDM integration platform with the connector to the Aras Innovator PLM platform. Integrations between Aras and other PLM systems are now on the Aras price list. Through the intensified cooperation between Aras and PROSTEP, users of the Aras platform will be optimally supported in realizing complex multi-PLM integration scenarios in the future.
OpenPDM is the world’s leading platform for the integration of various PLM, ERP, Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) and simulation data management systems, which also supports the integration of IoT platforms. It serves as a neutral intermediate layer through which metadata and structures between different enterprise applications can be automatically exchanged and synchronized. The standards-based connectors help to minimize the integration effort and facilitate the quick integration of new systems into an existing system landscape. Thanks to its modular architecture and the use of microservices, OpenPDM can now also be used in hybrid cloud scenarios.
PROSTEP has been offering a powerful OpenPDM connector to Aras Innovator for some time now, which makes it possible to integrate the Aras platform into heterogeneous PLM system landscapes. Aras has now added PROSTEP integration solutions to its price list, underscoring its interest in continuous further development and maintenance of the integration module. The connector supports Aras Innovator from version 11 and can also be used with the current version 12, which has been available since the middle of the year.
Thanks to the large number of available connectors to other PLM systems, PROSTEP’s integration platform offers good support for companies that want to use Aras Innovator as a cross-system PLM backbone for merging data from different enterprise applications – one of the typical application scenarios in the Aras customer base. But the dedicated connection of a single other PLM system to Aras Innovator can also be optimally implemented within the OpenPDM solution suite based on predefined use cases.
Around 380 customers worldwide currently use the Aras platform – mainly larger companies with relatively complex PLM installations in the automotive, aerospace, mechanical and plant engineering, high-tech and medical device industries. This is exactly the clientele that PROSTEP addresses with its range of consulting and solutions. This is the reason why we want to try to work more closely with Aras and its partners on customer projects in the future.
By Peter Pfalzgraf
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Tuesday, December 17th, 2019
The Secure Additive Manufacturing Platform for the secure exchange of 3D print data, which PROSTEP has developed together with partners, is becoming a prime example of the industrial use of the blockchain. No matter where we present the results of the SAMPL project, the solution is very well received. At the IoT Solutions World Congress in Barcelona, we demonstrated how it can be used to print licensed spare parts for the Mars Rover.
Hamburg – Berlin – Barcelona – Frankfurt were the stops on our SAMPL tour. First, we presented the results of the BMWi-funded joint project together with our partners at the User Day at the Centre for Applied Aviation Research (ZAL) in Hamburg. More than 70 participants from industry, research and development were able to convince themselves that the blockchain-based solution for the forgery-proof exchange of 3D print data and the unambiguous identification of printed components is ready for industrial use. This was demonstrated by the experience reports of users and service providers in the field of 3D printing technology. For example, Weidmüller, the manufacturer of control cabinet systems, was the first industrial user to produce a component on a metal-based 3D printer from SLM Solutions using the SAMPL Chain of Trust.
At the Mechanical Engineering Summit in Berlin, we presented the project to over 700 participants. We had intensive discussions with many of them about the use of the technology, which showed the growing interest in the SAMPL Chain of Trust. In order to present them to an even broader, global public, PROSTEP took part for the first time this year in the IoT Solutions World Congress (IoTSWC), the world’s largest event for industrial IoT applications. Over 16,000 people from 120 countries attended the event, where over 350 exhibitors from all over the world presented their IoT, AI (Artificial Intelligence) and blockchain solutions. In 200 lectures, discussions and presentations they could inform themselves about the current technological trends in the field of the industrial Internet of Things and about the previous experiences with IoT solutions. We took the opportunity to present the SAMPL project to the visitors at the blockchain Conference in a 45-minute lecture. Many listeners wanted to learn more about how they can protect data with the blockchain against subsequent manipulation.
SAMPL was also the secret protagonist of the joint testbed stand where PROSTEP, the prostep ivip Association, the International Dataspaces Association, innovalia METROLOGY and FIWARE Foundation demonstrated the interaction of IoT applications, model-based systems engineering and industry 4.0 using the example of the Mars Rover. The model of the remote-controlled vehicle for exploring the red planet, which PROSTEP developed on the basis of data provided by NASA and supplemented by sensors and actuators, serves as an open testbed for testing digital twin scenarios. It was one of the eye-catchers of the organizers, as the video of the third day of the event shows.
The spectators were amazed at how the Mars Rover itself triggers the licensed and automated 3D printing process for a defect component. This was made possible by the integration of SAMPL and an AI-based solution into the testbed.
Our solution for the tamper-proof exchange of 3D print data and the unambiguous identification of printed components has also impressively demonstrated its practical suitability in Barcelona. The challenge now is to bring the application to industrialization. PROSTEP intends to work closely with manufacturers of 3D printers and 3D printing service providers in the industrialization process. At the User Day in Hamburg, several companies exhibited SAMPL-enabled 3D printers, including 3DMicroPrint and SLM Solutions. The company NXP demonstrated how components in 3D printing can be identified without a doubt by automatically inserting an RFID chip.
In order to intensify the contacts to existing partners and to establish new contacts, we travelled with the SAMPL Chain of Trust this year also to the formnext in Frankfurt. formnext is the world’s leading trade fair for additive manufacturing and next-generation intelligent industrial production. The use of the blockchain in 3D printing met with great interest among the manufacturing specialists and brought us into conversation with potential customers who are faced with the question of how they can safely integrate additive processes into their global manufacturing processes.
During the discussions, we were also approached with new requirements from the field of medical device technology for which the documentation of process data or the materials used is of interest rather than the licensing of print jobs. Ensuring that this information cannot be changed is a key component of blockchain technology. In this way, blockchain integration also opens up new areas of application for our OpenDXM GlobalX data exchange solution. All essential prerequisites have been created for the implementation of a blockchain demonstrator. Contact us if you would like to find out more about the possibilities of the blockchain.
The importance of the blockchain was underlined not least by the publication of the blockchain strategy of the Federal Government in September. In addition, the EU Commission has just approved a new technology fund worth two billion euros for AI and blockchain technologies.
By Martin Holland
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Wednesday, December 11th, 2019
PROSTEP has entered into a partnership with the manufacturer of the LeanIX enterprise architecture suite with the aim of providing customers with optimal advice on the development of their enterprise-wide PLM architectures. As a certified LeanIX partner, we can now offer our customers our proven methodology of capability-based strategy consulting in a model-based form, thus ensuring the sustainable management of their enterprise architecture (EAM).
PROSTEP has been pursuing an EAM-based consulting approach in PLM strategy and process consulting for some time, which is oriented to customer-specific PLM requirements from the as-is analysis to roll-out planning. Based on our many years of experience as PLM consultants, we have developed a capability map that covers the applications of the digital product lifecycle from systems engineering to digital twin. On this basis, we work with our customers to develop individual heat maps (prioritization) from which the further development of the PLM architecture can be derived.
One of the challenges in consulting projects is to document the current status of the enterprise architecture in such a way that the documentation can also be used for the further development of the PLM architecture and can be easily updated during adaptations in order to maintain an overview of the development and its anchoring in the business processes at all times. As a certified LeanIX partner, we now offer our customers the opportunity to map their enterprise architecture in the LeanIX EA suite and thus document their business requirements, PLM capabilities, actual and target architecture in a sustainable manner. If you are not already using the EA suite, you can purchase a license for the duration of the project at a reduced price.
LeanIX offers its EA software as a service from the cloud (SaaS). It enables companies to make transparent IT decisions faster and on a solid data basis. More than 250 customers worldwide use LeanIX software, including leading automobile manufacturers and suppliers such as Audi, Bosch and Volkswagen, as well as well-known brands such as Adidas, DHL, Vodafone and Zalando. Founded in Bonn in 2012, the start-up employs more than 170 people worldwide and has a US headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. It is growing very dynamically and is now considered one of the relevant players in the EAM market. This is demonstrated not least by the large number of participants at the latest EA Connect Days in Bonn, where PROSTEP was also represented as a freshly certified LeanIX partner.
With this partnership, PROSTEP is breaking new ground in holistic and comprehensive PLM strategy consulting that also considers the corporate strategy and organizational level of digital transformation. With the help of LeanIX’s EA suite, we are building a bridge between corporate and PLM strategy and activating the EAM potential for engineering. Our customers can use the consulting results directly and document the lifecycle of their PLM architectures traceably with LeanIX even after the consulting project has been completed.
By Martin Strietzel
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Tuesday, December 10th, 2019
The future of PLM is characterized by smart networked products and new, data-driven business models that extend the product life cycle into the operating phase. For us, this future has already begun with important decisions such as our acquisition of Bartscher & Hasenäcker Consulting and our planned participation in groundbreaking research projects for the validation of autonomous driving functions.
“PLM is back in,” my fellow board member Karsten Theis wrote correctly in the editorial of the last newsletter. But a different kind of PLM that takes into account the challenges of interdisciplinary, model-based system development and the integration of E/E (electrical/electronic) and software development into classical, mechanics-oriented PLM processes. For us as one hundred percent PLM specialists, this means that we have to deal intensively with these challenges and build up additional know-how for E/E and software development.
A few months ago, we took an important step in this direction by acquiring a majority stake in Bartscher & Hasenäcker Consulting. Our new PROSTEP Company specializes in PLM consulting for electrical/electronic and software development and currently supports companies in the automotive and mechanical engineering industries in the design and implementation of corresponding solutions for mechatronic and E/E-dominant products. This will enable us to significantly expand our know-how in an area that is of central importance for the automotive industry, especially with regard to e-mobility and autonomous driving.
Bartscher & Hasenäcker Consulting was founded three years ago and will continue to operate as an independent brand on the market. Together we offer our customers a more comprehensive range of consulting and solutions and address demanding topics such as conception, requirements engineering, software quality assurance or application lifecycle management. We have already proven in joint projects that we can optimally support customers in their daily work with these topics.
We expect the new PROSTEP Company to strengthen our market position as a vendor-neutral PLM consulting and software house. Without know-how in the areas of E/E and software, we will not be able to maintain our claim to be the leading PLM think tank in the long term. The combination of our 25 years of experience in PLM consulting, system integration, migration and collaboration with the special know-how of Bartscher & Hasenäcker Consulting in E/E and software development enables us to support our customers even more comprehensively in digitizing their PLM processes.
In addition, the acquisition of Bartscher & Hasenäcker Consulting strengthens our position in pioneering research projects in Advanced Systems Engineering and in the verification and validation of autonomous driving, in which we intend to participate. We see these fields as a promising market for our PLM consulting and solutions offering, which we intend to develop into a strategic business area, not least with the support of our new colleagues. We will consistently expand our know-how in the areas of Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), E/E and software development, but also by hiring additional employees. In keeping with our guiding principle “How Integrate the Future”, they can actively shape the future of PLM at PROSTEP.
By Bernd Pätzold, PROSTEP AG
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Saturday, December 7th, 2019
The use of 3D content for technical documentation and after sales was one of the central topics at this year’s tekom annual conference in Stuttgart. PROSTEP presented the new Service Content Portal to visitors to the congress trade fair, which is primarily attended by experts from the world of technical communication. The portal offers the possibility of providing 3D spare parts catalogs and other service documents online on the Web.
At this year’s tekom annual conference, many exhibitors were represented with solutions for the preparation of 3D information for technical documentation and other subsequent processes. Obviously, the topic that PROSTEP has been dealing with for many years is in line with the trend of the times. Our stand was correspondingly well attended, and there were surprisingly many new interested parties who wanted to find out more about our range of HTML5 and 3D PDF-based service content solutions.
The focus of our trade fair appearance was our new service content portal and the extended possibilities of embedding 3D content for the service not only in 3D PDF documents, but also of publishing it in HTML5 format on the Web and thus facilitating access via mobile devices. The solution now offers companies the greatest possible flexibility in the provision of 3D spare parts catalogues and other service documents. Above all, however, it distinguishes itself from other solutions by the high degree of automation with which 3D data from design can be published together with structural information and other metadata. Recently, service engineers have even been enabled to enter comments into the portal, which are linked to the 3D data and stored on a server, enabling feedback from the field to quality assurance or development.
In addition to our service content portal, our 3D PDF-based solution for 3D assembly planning also met with great interest among tekom visitors. It offers machine and plant builders the opportunity to plan assembly at an earlier stage using 3D models from the design department and to calculate assembly costs reliably. Companies can make the assembly instructions available to their assembly workers in paperless form and even illustrate the assembly of complex assemblies with the aid of 3D animations. The high degree of automation of the solution, which can be easily integrated into the existing IT infrastructure, not only accelerates the creation of assembly instructions, but also their updating after changes.
By Timo Trautmann
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Sunday, December 1st, 2019
3D PDF Customer Experience Day: a platform for sharing information and experience
PROSTEP organized its first 3D PDF Customer Experience Day, held at PERCUMA, an event location in Eppstein, Germany, with the aim of promoting an exchange of information and experience relating to 3D PDF technology. Customers and interested parties had the opportunity to learn first-hand about the potential benefits of 3D PDF-based applications and talk to the speakers and other participants in a relaxed atmosphere.
Short presentations, live demonstrations and plenty of opportunities for networking and an exchange of information and experience were the main highlights of an event that was intended to be different. PERCUMA, with its relaxed ambiance and its comfortable seating areas, provided the ideal setting. The new format was very well received by the participants. An intensive exchange of ideas after the user presentations in the morning and during the discussions in the Worldcafé at the end of the event rounded off the day.
The 3D PDF Customer Experience Day focused on the experience of companies that use PROSTEP’s service content solutions for a variety of different applications in the product lifecycle and in some cases achieve significant savings. ATOTECH Deutschland, for example, generates the multilingual spare parts catalogs for its electroplating systems largely automatically. This has not only dramatically reduced the effort involved in preparing the documents but has also made it easier for customers and their own service engineers to identify the spare parts that they need. This means that today hardly any incorrect orders are placed.
Versatile technology
André Hieke’s presentation on the use of 3D PDF in manufacturing at Siemens LDA in Nuremberg illustrated the versatility of the technology. The manufacturer of large electric motors and converters initially introduced our service content solution to automate the creation of customer-specific offer documents in the pre-sales phase. Due to its success, the application is now also used for the paperless provision of manufacturing documents. Siemens LDA originally wanted to replace the drawings with JT models containing product manufacturing information (PMI) annotations, but these were too awkward to handle. The advantage of the 3D PDF documents is that they can be displayed on touch screens and are easy for technicians to understand, said Hieke. In the future, Siemens LDA also plans to use the solution to integrate measuring machines in quality assurance.
If 3D information is to be provided automatically to downstream processes, 3D PDF technology needs to be integrated in the existing PLM and ERP landscape. Together with SEAL Systems, PROSTEP has created an integration solution for the automotive supplier Röchling, which Dr. Uwe Wächter from SEAL Systems presented to the participants. It allows CAD models to be automatically merged with classification information and parts lists from SAP in compact 3D PDF containers and made available to other departments once a certain status has been reached. The product data sheets improve communication between the engineering department and other departments that do not have CAD workstations, but which want to take a look at the design data at an early stage.
Timo Trautmann from PROSTEP used additional practical application examples to illustrate the data-related potential that can be exploited using 3D PDF. KHS, a manufacturer of filling and packaging systems, for example, expects 3D PDF-based assembly planning to result in considerable time savings.
Thanks to a database containing the most common assembly activities, costs and times, it enables not only more efficient and, more importantly, earlier planning but also the automatic derivation of assembly instructions in multiple languages. In addition, individual assembly steps can be animated interactively and displayed using the standard Acrobat Reader.
New possibilities in the web
In one of the two live demonstrations, Andreas Vogel from Theorie3.De showed how easy it is to animate 3D PDF documents or embedded 3D models using 3D PDF Pro to create virtual assembly instructions. In the second demonstration, Timo Trautmann used the example of a service content portal to show how 3D spare parts catalogs can be published in the web in HTML5 format. The portal now also gives service engineers the option of entering comments that are linked to the HTML5 file and stored on a cloud server. As Trautmann pointed out, this is a lean solution that does not require a separate database.
PROSTEP will continue to develop the functionality of its 3D PDF-based service content solutions. The roadmap envisages, for example, the capability to enrich the maintenance portal with sensor data gathered during operation in order to provide support for digital twin applications. Kristian Haizmann from INSYS MICROELECTRONICS explained to the participants how integration in the real world of production will be implemented. The company manufactures routers for industrial data communication in which the digital twin can be mapped in order to support predictive maintenance by evaluating sensor data locally (edge computing) for example.
The basic PDF technology itself is also evolving, as Ulrich Isermeyer from Adobe Systems illustrated in his presentation. Adobe now makes key features and workflows such as the annotation and signature of (scanned) PDF documents available in the cloud. PDF documents can also be displayed better on mobile devices. Liquid PDF ensures that they are converted to HTML5 format for display in Adobe Reader.
In the Worldcafé, the participants discussed fundamental questions such as the future of the documents and the purpose of 3D in the service department. Regardless of the technology employed, the use of 3D information in the service department often fails due to the companies’ lack of resources and the users’ lack of know-how when it comes to data preparation, concluded Andreas Vogel. Peter Pfalzgraf from PROSTEP summarized the results of his panel discussion as follows: “As long as the 3D master is not yet complete, documents will still be needed. They play a key role for archiving in particular.”
By Harald Blümel
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