Archive for the ‘Digitalization’ Category
Monday, March 2nd, 2020
PROSTEP has released Version 9.1 of its PLM integration platform OpenPDM, which is designed to help customers find their way into the cloud. Its new MicroServices architecture with independent connectors to common PLM systems makes it particularly suitable for hybrid PLM scenarios in on-premise and cloud infrastructures.
To enable the use of OpenPDM in distributed software architectures, PROSTEP has broken down the integration platform into smaller software components and designed the mapping and process engine as independent MicroServices. In addition, the import and export functions are now part of the connectors, which the system administrator can configure individually via a web-based interface. Thanks to the consistent use of REST interfaces, each OpenPDM connector can thus run independently and can be used, for example, with message brokers such as Apache Kafka in conjunction with ESB (Enterprise Service Bus) architectures. In addition, PROSTEP has integrated Docker technology so that OpenPDM can be run in a cloud-based container environment such as OpenShift.
The neutral OpenPDM data model also had to be extended for the new software architecture. Process modeling is now carried out with the proven workflow engine Camunda, which is also used by customers such as NASA and T-Mobile. The Camunda Modeler has a graphical user interface that enables intuitive modeling of BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation) workflows and DMN (Decision Model and Notation) decisions.
The new architecture allows customers to flexibly use the proven OpenPDM functions for PLM integration, migration and collaboration in hybrid PLM scenarios. Version 9.1 currently offers MicroService-based connectors to the PLM systems 3DEXPERIENCE R2019x and R2020x from Dassault Systèmes, PTC Windchill R11.1 and R11.2, SAP PLM R3, R3 EHP and S4 (on premise) and the IoT platform PTC ThingWorx 10.x. PROSTEP will migrate additional connectors to the new architecture as required.
The new OpenPDM version is not backward compatible with versions 8.x. PROSTEP is thus primarily addressing new customers who want to use PLM and/or ERP systems from the cloud and integrate them with their existing IT infrastructure. Existing customers with complex integration, migration or collaboration scenarios based on OpenPDM 8.x do not necessarily have to migrate their installations. PROSTEP will also continue to develop its existing software and will soon launch a new version 8.7 with connectors to the current versions of all connected PDM/PLM and ERP systems.
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Sunday, February 9th, 2020
The Bremen-headquartered Lürssen shipyard group, the Machine Tool Laboratory (WZL) at RWTH University in Aachen and PROSTEP have launched the ProProS research project. The aim of the project is to create a digital twin for the manufacturing and assembly processes at shipyards and use it for status monitoring and optimizing shipbuilding. The shipbuilders want to minimize delays in the processes.
Lürssen, a family-owned company, expects digitalization to improve transparency in production and reduce throughput times says Dr. Bernhard Urban, Head of Development & Innovation: “The joint research project with PROSTEP and WZL provides the basis for increased digitalization in our manufacturing and assembly processes. We hope that the development program will help us drive the broad-based digitalization processes at our company forward in a targeted manner and thus do justice to the leadership claim regarding performance and quality formulated by the founder of our company, Friedrich Lürssen.”
As part of the project, PROSTEP is working together with the WZL’s manufacturing experts, who will be responsible for developing the production technology logic, to develop the demonstrator for a digital twin. It maps the planning data from the target process (product structure, work orders, assembly sequences, scheduling, etc.) in an end-to-end data model and compares it in real time with the actual data from production and assembly.
The first step involves detecting disruptions in the process flow, e.g. caused by a missing or unfinished component, at an early stage based on a unique component ID and assessing their impact on the schedule. But it is also intended that the digital twin perform control tasks and help avoid or minimize delays by simulating alternative production and assembly sequences.
The project, which has an overall budget of 3.2 million euros, will runs until 2022 and is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). The Lürssen shipyard group, which specializes in building yachts and naval vessels, is the project coordinator.
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Tuesday, February 4th, 2020
PROSTEP has joined the Association for Standardization of Automation and Measuring Systems (ASAM), which concerns itself with the new standards for the digital validation of autonomous driving functions. We want to become involved in the work performed by committees in new business areas like autonomous driving and help develop the necessary standards.
ASAM is a non-profit organization comprising leading OEMs, system suppliers and engineering service providers in the automotive industry as well as renowned research institutes. Their shared aim is to develop technical standards that will enable all the tools used for software development and the testing of control devices in vehicles to be linked together in a way that makes the end-to-end exchange of data possible. PROSTEP’s experts will primarily be involved in the simulation project groups (OpenSCENARIO, OSI, etc.), the associated transfer projects and in the activities currently being established.
All standardization-related activities for the digital validation of autonomous driving functions converge at national level in ASAM. The standards provide the basis for uniform methods and tool chains for the validation and verification of highly automated (Level 4) and autonomous (Level 5) vehicles in urban environments, which are being developed in the sponsored projects V&V and SET Level 4to5. PROSTEP is playing a key role in both projects as a mediator between industry and the research community.
PROSTEP sees autonomous driving as a key future technology and a promising market for the company’s wide range of consulting and solution offerings. As a member of ASAM, we will be able to help develop appropriate standards together with experts from the major carmakers and system suppliers. We also want to further expand our expertise in the fields of electronics and software development and systems engineering within the framework of committee work.
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Sunday, February 2nd, 2020
It is an oft-cited piece of wisdom going back to Confucius that to stand still is to go backwards. But not all movement represents progress: It all depends on the direction. And identifying the direction is far from easy for companies in a new age characterized by a global lack of certainty. The difficulties facing the management of companies are often described with the acronym VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity). And agility is the key to mastering these difficulties.
There are plenty of examples of companies that failed to heed the signs of the times and have as a result either lost their supremacy or even disappeared from the market completely. Success often leads to sluggishness. At PROSTEP, we have learned that we constantly have to reinvent ourselves if we are to remain successful. Without neglecting our existing solutions and services, we have continuously updated our service portfolio and will probably have to do so even more frequently in the future, as digital transformation is inexorably piling on the pressure to change. And we, too, must respond with even greater agility.
Some 80 percent of our current portfolio of services has been built from scratch over the past ten years, and the process has not always been entirely smooth. Developing new services such as PLM strategy consulting and launching them on the market takes time, especially if they are aimed at new customers. We have now also made a name for ourselves as a competent PLM think tank in the fields of mechanical and plant engineering and have been able to acquire big-name customers such as Trumpf and Festo for our consulting services. We can and intend to build on these successes.
In software development projects for major customers in the automotive industry, we now take on different and more demanding tasks than we did a few years ago. We use agile software development methods to support Daimler and others as they restructure their PLM landscapes. These methods enable a fast and flexible response to new requirements. The acquisition of our new subsidiary, BHC, means that we are expanding our range of services to include PLM integration of E/E (electrics/electronics) and software development. Here too, we now offer the full range of services from strategy consulting, through the design of concepts and architectures and right up to the implementation of the technical solution.
In order to be able to react swiftly to the constantly changing requirements, we have to be right at the forefront of new developments and fully attuned to our customer’s needs. Our close collaboration with the prostep ivip Association and our active participation in standardization bodies such as the ASAM (Association for Standardization of Automation and Measuring Systems) help us to understand the challenges companies face and how we can help them to respond. We are involved in numerous sponsored projects on relevant topics that will shape the future, and these give us important impetuses for the further development of our range of solutions. For example, as part of the recently launched ProProS project, we are working together with the Lürssen shipyard group and RWTH University in Aachen to develop a digital twin for proactive production control in shipbuilding.
Research and development provide us with an important source of new ideas for products and services. This is why our colleague Martin Holland, as member of PROSTEP’s executive board, takes explicit responsibility for R&D and ensuring technology transfer to our company when research findings are available. This clear commitment did not only lead to our leading role in the SAMPL project, which led to the development of a blockchain-capable platform for the forgery-proof exchange of 3D print data, but also to our active participation in the current sponsored projects for the digital validation of autonomous driving functions V&V and SET Level 4to5. Within the scope of these projects, we are among other things developing a demonstrator for a solution that is intended to ensure traceability during the simulation and homologation of automated and autonomous vehicles.
For us, the sponsored projects represent a massive investment in the development and expansion of our expertise in areas that we consider essential for our future business development. They also ensure that PROSTEP is perceived by the market as a competent partner for the issues that arise in the context of digitalization. We are also investing in the further development of our existing range of solutions, for example by making it possible to use our proven PLM integration platform OpenPDM in hybrid cloud scenarios. To stand still is no option for us, because the digital transformation of industry demands new answers. And we want to continue to keep abreast of these changing demands in future.
By Karsten Theis
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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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Friday, September 27th, 2019
PROSTEP is actively participating in key funding projects for the validation and verification of autonomous driving functions such as V&V and SET Level 4to5, which are of strategic importance for the digital transformation of the automotive industry. As the leading, vendor-independent PLM consulting and software company, we will support its partners from industry and the research community in the testing and industrialization of project results.
Autonomous vehicles must be able to master all critical driving situations in order to obtain approval. Testing their behavior on the road alone would be far too risky and time-consuming. Therefore, the driving functions must be validated digitally. That is why major carmakers and automotive suppliers such as Audi, BMW, Continental, Ford, MAN, Opel, Robert Bosch, VW and ZF Friedrichshafen are developing uniform methods and tool chains for the digital validation of highly automated (Level 4) and autonomous (Level 5) vehicles in urban environments together with leading German research institutes and software companies within the framework of the funding projects V&V and SET Level4to5.
PROSTEP will be playing a key role in both projects, which have a total volume of 77 million euros. As an intermediary between the research community and industry, we will assume the task of ensuring the industrial applicability of the project results and promoting their industrial implementation. Specifically, we will provide the project partners with support for industrial testing, requirements definition and feedback of the test results into the respective subprojects. The project team I have the honor to lead will also contribute its comprehensive process and integration know-how to the design of the data models and simulation environments.
In addition, we will be developing the demonstrator for a traceability solution based on its open, standards-based software tools within the framework of the project. Among other things, the demonstrator will make it possible to verify when which simulation models led to which results and decisions, using which software and hardware configuration, and subject to which constraints and requirements.
The reason behind the demonstrator is the fact that there is currently no neutral system available on the market for this “baselining” of simulations in a heterogeneous IT landscape. Once the project has been completed, we will develop the demonstrator into a commercial product and market it under the name OpenCLM. The knowledge gained in the projects will also be incorporated in consulting projects with customers.
PROSTEP sees autonomous driving as a key future technology and a promising market for their wide range of consulting and solution offerings, and one that the company will be expanding into a strategic business segment, as Dr. Bernd Pätzold, our CEO emphasizes. In recent months, we have rigorously expanded our know-how in the areas model-based systems engineering (MBSE) and electrical/electronic (E/E) and software development to ensure that we are able to tackle the new topics in a professional manner, among other things by acquiring the consulting firm Bartscher & Hasenäcker Consulting, which specializes in PLM for E/E.
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Wednesday, July 31st, 2019
PROSTEP has published a white paper covering a number of important aspects to consider when implementing a Digital Twin. These include what information should be included in these twins, how they can be structured, and what role cloud and platforms play for Digital Twin applications. The white paper underlines the importance of digital consistency.
PROSTEP has published a white paper covering a number of important aspects to consider when implementing a Digital Twin. These include what information should be included in these twins, how they can be structured, and what role cloud and platforms play for Digital Twin applications. The white paper underlines the importance of digital consistency.
For some years now, digitalization has been the central future topic for German industry. The manufacturing industry in particular is shaping the digital future of production with many initiatives, often inspired by the Industry 4.0 future project launched by the German government in 2012. Industry 4.0 is the manufacturing-focused variant of the digital transformation process that needs to be successfully shaped for society as a whole. In particular, the digital future of production goods that were previously completely dominated by mechanics is generating constant pressure to innovate.
It is not only in the automotive industry that future business success will depend to a large extent on new, innovative business models. These need to be met by adapting product development and production accordingly, and by providing good support for digital usage concepts. The Digital Twin is one of the central innovations that enables companies to successfully shape this digital transformation.
The forms of the Digital Twin are as different as the various products that the manufacturing industry produces. As different as the business models on the market are, as diverse are the information required in the Digital Twin. For many Digital Twin concepts, it is very important to combine production information with information from the current use of the product. In the best case scenario, the service technician of the elevator optimized by predictive maintenance mechanisms is already provided with the parts list of the parts actually installed in this elevator instance in the service center.
But product development also wants to participate in the Digital Twin. Unusual accumulations of faults in certain components are to be eliminated quickly during the further development of the product. Skilful use of this feedback has the potential to directly improve product quality and to reduce service costs, which are particularly relevant for manufacturers with “as a service” concepts, more quickly.
In order to fully exploit the potential of the Digital Twin, a digital end-to-end process chain must be created that provides the right information in the Digital Twin reliably, quickly and automatically.
A particular challenge for the Digital Twin is that the required data must come from a wide variety of sources. During the usage phase, the status data is ideally available via an IoT solution. However, production data relating to the specific product instance may also be required. Ideally, one would also like to be able to access information from product development. These areas are characterized by a multitude of information systems and are themselves under strong pressure to change, which is characterized by the topics Systems Engineering, Industry 4.0 and Industrial IoT.
With regard to the Digital Twin, decision-makers in companies are faced with the question of how to make it successful in a highly complex infrastructure. Closely related to this are further topics such as the question of what effects the emerging platform structures will have on this process, how to find the appropriate cloud strategy, which are the most important skills for designing a continuous process chain spanning several independent and individual platforms and which architecture concepts are necessary for this.
Since its foundation 25 years ago, PROSTEP AG has been designing and implementing digital end-to-end processes in product development. On the basis of the experience gained, we have compiled a number of topics in a white paper that are intended to help companies move from their status quo to a sustainable design of their process and IT landscape and to master the diverse challenges of the Digital Twin. The white paper is available for download here.
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Saturday, July 27th, 2019
The IT landscapes in the maritime industry are characterized by the fact that special shipbuilding applications are often used for initial, basic and detail design as well as for production preparation. Although they enabled the specialist departments to carry out their work particularly efficiently, they require powerful integrations from an entrepreneurial point of view in order to be able to use the digital information throughout the process. Consistent processes and information flows are the prerequisite for building a digital ship model that can accompany the entire ship life cycle.
The development of proprietary interfaces is not only time-consuming and cost-intensive, but also complicates the exchange of existing applications or the rapid integration of new ones. Based on the proven OpenPDM technology, which is used by many companies for the integration of different enterprise systems, data migration and cross-company collaboration, PROSTEP has therefore created an extension of this integration platform specially designed for the maritime industry. An essential component of this platform are standards-based connectors that simplify both the horizontal integration between different authoring systems and their vertical integration into the enterprise systems which manage the product structures (PDM, PLM, ERP, etc.).
OpenPDM SHIP enables data exchange between special shipbuilding applications such as NAPA, AVEVA Marine, CADMATIC or ShipConstructor and mechanical CAD systems such as CATIA or NX. The latter are often used for the construction of complex interiors, e.g. for public areas in cruise ships or large yachts. When transferring information from mechanical to shipbuilding specific CAD applications and vice versa, the integration platform maps the different data models to each other. This allows companies to use the CAD tool of their choice for any task in the ship development process without losing valuable information during conversion and data exchange.
On the other hand, OpenPDM SHIP supports the creation of complex CAx process chains with arbitrary synchronization points from initial design in NAPA or NAPA Steel to basic and detail design in AVEVA Marine or CADMATIC to production preparation, for which some shipyards use the NESTIX software. The challenge with CAx integration is that the coherent ship geometry for the subsequent processes and systems must be broken down into manufacturable components and transferred with the production-relevant information. The integration platform supports this process and enables the consistent use of digital information in all phases of the ship development process.
OpenPDM SHIP also provides connectors to common PDM/PLM and ERP systems (3D Experience, ARAS Innovator, Teamcenter, SAP, Windchill, etc.) to merge CAx data from different source systems into a digital ship model and control this model through the ship life cycle. The vertical integration of the authoring systems into the data and process management environment is a prerequisite for comprehensible ship development processes and consistent management of all information generated. At the same time, the integration platform offers the possibility to link the digital ship model for Digital Twin applications with the real operating data.
OpenPDM SHIP is now available and will be continuously expanded with new integrations. In cooperation with SSI and SSI’s European sales partner NDAR (Nick Danese Advanced Research), PROSTEP is currently developing an OpenPDM SHIP connector for the SSI Enterprise platform. It is the basis for exchanging CAD models between NAPA Steel and the Autodesk-based ship development platform ShipConstructor and for importing the ShipConstructor data into common PDM/PLM systems.
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Friday, April 5th, 2019
At this year’s Schiff&Hafen Maritim 4.0 conference, PROSTEP’s shipbuilding experts outlined the challenges faced when it comes to end-to-end digitalization in the maritime supply chain and the benefits of a digital vessel twin. The choice of topic for their presentation was a good one, as the event is primarily attended by shipping experts who are interested in optimizing their working fleet.
Maritim 4.0 in Hamburg was well attended with approximately 100 representatives from shipping companies, equipment manufacturers and classification societies. The event focused less on shipbuilding than on shipping, i.e. the challenges facing ship operators. We explained to the participants the role the digital vessel twin (DVT) plays in monitoring and optimizing operation of the vessels. The term DVT refers to a digital representation of the vessel that is linked to the physical asset and enables new services such as predictive maintenance or remote inspection – something mentioned by a representative from the classification society DNVGL. Without the DVT, the vision of autonomous vessels would also never be feasible.
In our presentation, we made it clear that the end-to-end provision of digital product information over the entire lifecycle of a vessel is a key prerequisite for the digital twin. Ship operators today face the challenge of making digital product information available to their various partners throughout the vessel lifecycle in an efficient, needs-oriented and purpose-related manner. We used practical application examples to demonstrate how companies in other industries make service-relevant information available via the OpenDXM CCenter collaboration platform, thus managing the balancing act between end-to-end digitalization and know-how protection.
Another reason our presentation met with great interest among participants was the fact that we were able to point out similarities to the digitalization efforts being made in other industries. Carmakers and automotive suppliers, for example, are trying to ensure the homologation of autonomous driving functions with the help of simulation-based validation and verification processes – an approach that could also be of interest to the maritime industry. We have set important accents with the DVT topic at Maritim 4.0 and established promising contacts with potential new customers.
In the panel discussion that followed, which was headed up by Prof. Dr. Uwe von Lukas from Fraunhofer IGD in Rostock, several participants raised the question of which standards are needed to create digital vessel twins in view of the large number of IT systems used. We think that the technical problem encountered in the context of end-to-end digitalization of the DVT can be solved using a variety of standards, as demonstrated by examples from other industries. However, data continuity across company boundaries remains a challenge in light of the fact that organizational aspects and aspects such as IP protection expand the number of requirements. Lukas suggested creating a maritime data space, i.e. an open, industry-specific platform for exchanging digital data.
The question of where data acquisition and documentation for the digital twin should take place aroused some controversy during the event. While equipment manufacturers see this taking place on land or in the cloud to ensure the provision of new services, shipping companies think it should accompany the ship on board in order to support the crews during operation. They are after all faced with the challenge of having to repeatedly prepare and document emission-specific data in line with different country-specific requirements, a process that is still paper-based. For us, this was an important input which allows us to further sharpen our DVT concept.
By Lars Wagner
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Wednesday, January 30th, 2019
In January, PROSTEP AG celebrated its 25th anniversary together with approximately 300 employees, former employees and friends of the company at Centralstation, a cultural center in Darmstadt. Top-class speakers from industry and the research community, including representatives from BMW, Bosch, Daimler, Schaeffler and the University of Stuttgart, took a look at what PLM might look like in the future. In their presentations, they outlined the challenges arising in the age of digital transformation, challenges that the PLM consulting and software house is well equipped to handle.
Dr. Bernd Pätzold, CEO of PROSPTEP AG, welcomed around 300 employees, former employees and friends of the company to the anniversary celebrations, which were held in what was once one of the city’s power stations and now serves as a cultural center. But, as Pätzold said, the company wasn’t interested in talking about the past but about the future. He nevertheless used the celebrations as an opportunity to thank the company’s founders and long-serving employees for the commitment they have shown. The guests partied until late into the night, enjoying lively musical entertainment that enticed a number of people onto the dance floor.
“The next 25 years will be even better,” said Pätzold, even though he has no magic formula for the future. Dr. Martin Holland, responsible for Business Development at PROSTEP, described to those present where the journey could take them. Sometimes it is better to first make a decision and then plan how to implement it, he said, alluding to Caesar’s decision to cross the Rubicon. The Internet of Things, the cloud, blockchain and artificial intelligence are all topics of the future that PROSTEP is examining closely.
In his talk, Holland presented a 1:1 model of a Mars Rover that the company had built together with student employees with the aim of creating a “testing ground” for topics such as IoT integration and the linking of digital twins and VR technology using the Mission Control Center. The winners of the Fraunhofer blockchain hackathon sponsored by PROSTEP, illustrated at one of the exhibition stands how blockchain could be used to make paying for coffee more fair. And they also offered the best coffee in the room.
The future of PLM has already begun
Professor Oliver Riedel, head of the Institute for Control Engineering of Machine Tools and Manufacturing Units (ISW) at the University of Stuttgart and a member of the board of directors of the Fraunhofer IAO, took a wide-sweeping look at PLM of the future. In addition to digital transformation, globalization and glocalization, mankind and society, and in particular the demographic change, which will exacerbate the shortage of skilled workers, are the key megatrends impacting on “PLM 2040 and Beyond”
“The level of complexity will continue to increase, not decrease,” predicted Riedel. And if this complexity is to be made manageable, everything needs be interlinked more efficiently. This applies, for example, to automation technology, which blurs the functional boundaries between ERP and MES, but also to the linking of digital shadows as representations of the past and digital twins as representations of the product as a living entity in the future, PLM will also require greater flexibility through the merging of development and operations. There are examples that demonstrate that DevOps is making more agile development possible not only in the software sector but for all products.
Agility was the watchword for Ralf Waltram, head of IT Delivery at the BMW Group, who presented the carmaker’s showcase projects involving the implementation of agile approaches in corporate IT to the guests. Becoming 100% agile is BMW’s answer to the disruptive changes brought about by digitalization and it has four main thrusts: processes, technology, organization and culture. IT is no longer organized according to projects but instead is organized in agile, product-oriented teams that are responsible for the solutions’ development and operations (DevOps). Back2Code is the maxim, i.e. BMW is once again developing more software itself. Waltram said that the company’s experiences with agile methods in SAP environments have also been good. User satisfaction has improved dramatically thanks to the faster provision of new functions, and the number of open tickets has been reduced by 72 percent.
Waltram went on to say that a more open, intuitive IT landscape is an important prerequisite for implementing agile methods. This was also made clear in the presentation given by Dirk Spindler, head of R&D Processes Methods and Tools at Schaeffler. As Spindler said, the company is very diversified, has a huge portfolio comprising approximately 20,000 products and uses different business models. The desire to standardize the IT landscape is an illusion that has devoured an enormous amount of money. Schaeffler intends to achieve its objective of fully-integrated PLM by setting up a model-based product engineering process and linking the data on an overarching platform. The aim is to ensure that the workplace of the future provide users with only the functions and information that they needs for their work in a cockpit.
On the road to digital transformation
While many companies are still busy digitalizing their business processes, Daimler is already giving thought to the digital transformation of its business models. Connected, Autonomous, Shared Services and Electric (CASE) are closely interwoven new topics that are bringing about a radical change in the way in which work is performed, methods and business models,” said Dr. Siegmar Haasis, CIO of R&D Cars. But they also have to be financed by the company’s core business. As far as IT is concerned, this means not only agile approaches but also an even higher level of digital frontloading in order to get the vehicles on the road faster and make them right the first time round: “When it comes to autonomous driving, the race will not be won on the road but in the computer center,” said Haasis. The supreme discipline here is the digital twin in the context of a holistic approach that supports different variants.
Digital transformation cannot be achieved on its own but only together with partners. Jochen Breh, who works in Governance IT Architecture at Bosch, underscored this point in his talk on the IoT platforms and ecosystems of the future. “Even the best solution will fail without an ecosystem,” Breh explained. On the other hand, an ecosystem can only function properly if all the parties involved, from the owner of the ecosystem to the developers to the customers, benefit from it. IoT platforms provide the technological basis for these ecosystems because, as Breh went on to explain, solutions are created on them. Because distributed ecosystems are going to grow closer together, open source and microservices are the key to building platforms quickly and for connecting them with each other.
At the same time, platforms and ecosystems are a prerequisite for successful transformation of business models. PROSTEP sees itself as a guide accompanying customers on this journey. In a round table at the end of the program of presentations, the executive board and managers from of the various business units explained to the audience just how broadly the company is positioned, thus ensuring that it is well-equipped to tackle the challenges of the future. PLM strategy consulting, Industry 4.0 readiness, MBSE and validation, collaboration, blockchain and agility are the aces they hold when it comes to shaping the digital future. Not to mention major projects like updating Daimler’s Smaragd installation. “I take off my hat to you and want to thank you all for everything you are doing”, Dr. Siegmar Haasis said in his presentation. That was certainly the best anniversary gift that PROSTEP employees’ could have received.
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