Adient is a world leader in automotive seating. In 2018, the company brought its aircraft seating business into a joint venture with the Boeing Company. At the end of a transitional period, this created the need to carve out the PLM infrastructure and to introduce a separate data exchange solution for the joint venture. After a market analysis, the decision was made in favor of OpenDXM GlobalX from PROSTEP, as it guarantees the requirements of a secure and traceable exchange of data to the partner companies.

In order to be able to use the data exchange platform quickly and without any acquisition costs or installation effort, the company opted for the cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service) model. The software is installed in the partner data center of PROSTEP AG, which users access via encrypted data lines and an intuitive web portal after appropriate authorization.

“As a result, the amount of training required is very low,” says Gregor Starck, manager engineering at Adient Aerospace.

The effort required for installation and ramp-up was also kept within limits. The solution was operational just one day after the order was received. Adient extracted the contact data of the aerospace partners from the legacy automotive system so that it could be automatically transferred to OpenDXM GlobalX.

Engineers at Adient Aerospace currently use OpenDXM GlobalX as a portal solution, meaning they extract the data to be exchanged from their PTC Windchill PLM system and send it manually using OpenDXM GlobalX. In order to automate and speed up the data exchange processes the company is considering the option to implement OpenDXM GlobalX Windchill integration. “PROSTEP’s data exchange platform integrates very well with the company’s processes and applications,” comments Starck. As the range of functions grows, a switch to an on-premises installation is also not out of the question.