PROSTEP invests a lot of time and money in these projects and thus in its future – for the benefit of our customers. As a technology company, we want to ensure that our service portfolio is subject to ongoing development. The sponsored projects allow us to keep our ear to the ground when it comes to technological advances and gather important ideas and gain know-how. We develop demonstrators for new products, which we can then get ready for market faster. And it is thanks to this that we were granted the first patent in the company’s history for the “procedure for the electronic documentation of license information” based on the use of blockchain technology this year.

Participation in these projects benefits us in a variety of ways. Our close contacts with renowned research institutes working in new fields such as artificial intelligence, cryptography, systems engineering and autonomous driving have over the years made it possible for us to expand our own know-how and attract new employees. At the same time, we work closely with (potential) customers and become more familiar with their requirements, which helps us develop software solutions that meet their needs. We are also gaining a deeper understanding of the industry in new application areas, such as shipbuilding in the ProProS and HoliYard projects for example.

Our traceability solution Tracy would certainly not have reached the level of maturity it currently has without the impetus provided by the V&V and SET Level projects. Within the framework of ImPaKT, a newly proposed sponsored project that will probably be launched in January, we intend to work together with both industrial partners like CLAAS and Schaeffler and SMEs like Hofmann, a specialist for balancing machines, on expanding OpenCLM to include functions for the use case of cross-domain impact analysis of changes. It will also involve the use of artificial intelligence methods. You will find more information about the use cases on the OpenCLM web page.

Sponsored projects make an important financial contribution to our product development and also to marketing. They generate a great deal of public interest and raise our profile. The SAMPL project alone gave rise to 23 presentations and 24 publications in the media; we also presented our new blockchain solution at 34 events. Our demonstrator will soon be exhibited at the Digital Technologies Forum and will also be shown to international visitors.

As part of the SAMPL (Secure Additive Manufacturing Platform) project, we have worked with partners to develop an end-to-end solution for the forgery-proof exchange of 3D print data using blockchain technology. The project has now been brought to a successful close. During the course of the project, blockchain technology was integrated in our OpenDXM GlobalX software solution. We can now support new business models that exploit the advantages of blockchain technology and involve exchanging large amounts of data. We are about to win our first major contract.

Our employees are given the opportunity to explore exciting topics and grow as a person. They in turn make it possible for us to remain innovative and break new ground for you – our customers.

If you are interested in finding out more, please contact martin.holland@prostep.com.