Archive for the ‘PLM’ Category
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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Tuesday, November 19th, 2019
With the appointment of Dr. Karsten Theis as a new member of the Executive Board, PROSTEP has initiated a generational change in management just in time for the company’s 25th anniversary. In an interview with the PROSTEP Newsletter, Theis explains how the PLM consulting and software company will position itself to be prepared for the challenges of the digital future. “We Integrate the Future” remains the company’s DNA.
An Interview with Karsten Theis
Question: PROSTEP sees itself as a 100-percent PLM specialist. Is this the right way to prepare for the future?
Theis: What we mean by 100% PLM is the digitalization of the entire product lifecycle from development to production and operation through to service. This vision is exactly what the market is demanding and what we – and only we – are able to deliver in this form. Our core focus lies in the integration of complex processes and systems – including at a cross-enterprise level. The market for such solutions is growing strongly because the topic of integration is becoming ever more important. Digitalization, Industry 4.0 and IoT are bringing new players whose systems have to be integrated into the existing processes and IT landscapes. I therefore think that we are very well positioned for the future.
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Friday, October 18th, 2019
The experiences of Walterscheid Powertrain and SONACA show that with the right strategy and careful planning, a CAD data migration doesn’t have to be difficult.
In the middle of 2019, leading private equity firm One Equity Partners (OEP) announced its acquisition of Walterscheid Powertrain Group — a leading provider of original and aftermarket parts and services for off-highway powertrain applications — from GKN limited. The divestiture of Walterscheid from GKN resulted in the necessary migration of product data management (PDM) data. Due to the acquisition, Walterscheid needed to move PTC Windchill data to another server to consolidate legacy systems.
The legacy systems of Walderscheid and the firm formerly known as OEP were not designed compatibly. Each company’s system had its own lifecycle state, revision scheme, attribute types, and classification. To further add to the challenge, Walterscheid was faced with a time constraint: They needed to merge their systems quickly to keep the project on time and within budget. Therefore, Walterscheid looked to PROSTEP’s data-migration expertise for assistance.
In another example, leading global aerospace company SONACA wanted to improve and update their systems. With facilities in Europe, North and South America, and Asia, the SONACA Group opted for a Teamcenter migration, the best fit for their specific migration parameters. SONACA Group’s goal was to complete a migration from their Enovia VPM (virtual product management) configurations to a unified Teamcenter installation.
Their biggest challenge lay in reducing multiple product lifecycle management (PLM) instances down to a single centralized one in Teamcenter. This was a monumental feat, since SONACA Group had multiple Enovia instances in various locations. (How were they able to handle the specific logic of VPM layouts? How were they able to consolidate data VPM layouts to a single Teamcenter model? Continue reading for details about SONACA Group’s successful migration.)
The above scenarios are two of many reasons that your business may require a data migration. What if you’re introducing modern technologies such as Industry 4.0 and enabling digital thread manufacturing in your company? What will you do when your system is facing end-of-life? Are your product development processes sustainable? Will your legacy systems be prepared for the changing digital landscape?
Are You Prepared for a Data Migration?
Digitalization, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and/or system end-of-life are a handful of scenarios that make data migration a necessity. Regardless of whether it’s a new startup or a long-established firm, your company will certainly face a data migration at some point. When this occurs, you may try a do-it-yourself (DIY) approach — but be aware that DIY often leads to a longer migration period, numerous data mapping errors, and countless dollars lost on product development.
With the right strategy and careful planning, a CAD data migration doesn’t have to be difficult. Can you answer the following questions from a high-level roadmap of a CAD data migration?
- As-Is Analysis: Do you understand your current PLM architecture, information flow, and capabilities? What challenges do you have with your current system that you’ll want remedied in your target system?
- To-Be Definition: How will you realign your business processes with the new system? What business and IT requirements are there? What kind of migration strategy is best, given your use case?
- System Selection: How will you plan out a pilot or proof of concept for your migration? What about the request for proposal (RFP), assessment, and contracting? Have you outlined a migration project plan and a solution partner?
- Implementation: By now, do you understand the new system configuration and customization? How will business processes be executed in your target system? Have you implemented validation and verification steps to ensure correct data mapping?
- Go-Live Preparation: Have your end users been trained in the new system? Have you performed dry runs of the migration?
- Go-Live: Have you answered all the above questions? Are you prepared to go live?
 PROSTEP PLM Migration Process Roadmap Understanding the PLM migration roadmap and how it will affect business and IT is crucial to your success. With this big-picture scenario, three strategies that will help your data migration run smoothly include:
- Ensure your user base is well informed, and obtain early buy-in from them. Your user base will benefit from a full understanding of the new system and its features. Executing an enterprise public relations campaign can help spread the word.
- Understand that migration requirements include not only what you’ll need for the new system, but also how you want to decommission the old system, and whether you will archive your data.
- Lastly, find a migration strategy that supports and aligns with your business needs. Does a one-time (“Big Bang”) data migration make sense? Can you afford and run a quick migration over a weekend? What about a co-existence/incremental migration? This style of migration can move at the pace of your business, and it allows users to migrate in stages.
 Big Bang vs. Incremental Data Migration Scenario Walterscheid’s migration project with PROSTEP was highly successful. Kirk Jones, Product Engineering Supervisor, Walterscheid Powertrain Group adds “The proposed project timeline was realistic, reasonable, and ultimately achieved to within a week of the original outlined schedule.”
SONACA Group’s Luc Detollenaere, Manager PLM & Digital Projects indicates that the “…reason for choosing PROSTEP was the powerful tools and functions for automating the migration process and controlling the quality of the results.” In the end, PROSTEP helped to successfully migrate SONACA Group’s Enovia VPM instances to Teamcenter.
Data migration success at these and many other companies couldn’t occur without PROSTEP’s OpenPDM Migrate – the PLM migration and integration platform that allows PDM information exchange between different systems. Learn more about OpenPDM Migrate and the toolkit to enable product data exchange in this guide to data migration, PROSTEP’s Data Migration Blueprint.
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Friday, October 11th, 2019
Industry 4.0 is here, and it’s no secret that your business and product development processes will be affected. The Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Additive Manufacturing (AM) and other innovative technologies add more dimension and depth to the never-ending amounts of data produced by the industry. How will you effectively manage and use this data to enhance your product development processes? It’s important to know the answer to this question, because Industry 4.0 shows no signs of slowing down.
What challenges will you face with Industry 4.0’s integration, implementation and education in your company? How will it affect your PLM infrastructure and product development processes? How will you adopt new business models and increase value by intelligently linking your products? Are you ultimately prepared for digital transformation?
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Saturday, October 5th, 2019
The full steering system supplier of thyssenkrupp, thyssenkrupp Presta AG, has embarked on an ambitious System Lifecycle Management project to shape its future engineering processes and IT landscape to enable Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE). The first step towards SLM is to implement a new PLM solution. PROSTEP steers the SLM team through the technical specification and system evaluation process.
thyssenkrupp Presta AG in Eschen is the lead company of the thyssenkrupp Steering division which is part of the automotive business of thyssenkrupp. The automotive supplier is among the world’s largest manufacturers of steering systems and a technology leader in the field of cold forging. Every fourth car in the world runs with a thyssenkrupp steering system. Headquartered in Eschen, Liechtenstein, the company has 17 sites – four technology centers (two incl. manufacturing) and 15 manufacturing plants with approximately 9000 employees worldwide. Whereas mechanical design is mainly done in Liechtenstein, the development site in Budapest, Hungary, is the competence center for E/E hardware (Electrics/Electronics) and software development.
Many of the challenges thyssenkrupp is facing are due to the actual trends in the automotive industry like autonomous driving, e-mobility and car-to-car connectivity, but also due to stricter safety and environmental requirements. Steering can do a lot to reduce Co2 emissions. Customers need new steering technology for autonomous vehicles and want the steering feel to be customizable. They foster cross-platform developments to reduce costs which on the downside require a higher degree of modularity and standardization of the steering systems. Consequently, the company has evolved over time from a component manufacturer to a supplier of complex mechatronic and cybertronic systems which today employs more hard- and software engineers than mechanical designers.
PLM as the cornerstone for SLM
New steering functions are mostly driven by E/E and software which makes products and product development a lot more complex. With product complexity increasing the need for integrated processes and a digital thread becomes crucial, as Dr. András Balogh, Chief Technology Officer E/E Competence Center in Hungary points out. “We can’t design tomorrow’s products with yesterday’s engineering methods and technology. In the future, the target development process will be much closer to Model Based Systems Engineering and the mechatronic V-model-based approach. This is the long-term goal which we address with SLM.”
Defining the SLM strategy and roadmap was a longer process, because the project team first had to develop a common understanding of where they wanted to go and what they needed for their journey to digitized engineering. A good deal of PROSTEP’s consulting work consisted in moderating the team’s alignment process and in elaborating a system neutral SLM concept as prerequisite for the PLM selection process. „The most important contribution of PROSTEP was to help us understand what we needed and, secondly, to provide a vendor-neutral opinion of what the solutions on the market are capable to deliver“, says Wolfgang Xander, who is responsible for semi-central development and business process.
Replacement of the existing Agile e6 PLM installation is a major necessity as the software is quite outdated and thyssenkrupp Presta does not see improvements anymore. The idea is not to have a single-vendor solution, but to implement a modular architecture. „We need a stable PLM platform as core of SLM to be able to build a backbone that should integrate all other subsystems used in engineering and that provides an information access to connected, clear and consistent data,” explains Klaus Brandner, SLM Project Manager
The IT infrastructure of the company is quite heterogeneous and far from being integrated. It consists of different CAD systems for mechanical design, Altium for E/E development with only a rudimentary integration into Agile e6 PLM and various tools for software development which are linked to a homegrown Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) environment. The company has made a great effort to integrate the tool chain to comply with ASPICE and other standards that require traceability from requirements classification to test and validation. “Nevertheless, software development is still separated from the PLM world”, as András Balogh and Patrick Schäfer, IT Architect Engineering IT explain.
Starting with a proof of concept
With the help of PROSTEP the project team elaborated a long list of requirements to select a short list of PLM vendors with whom the company will start a proof of concept early next year. „We have defined test cases along the whole product lifecycle, starting with Requirements Engineering up to Functional Modeling and regarding the Bill of Material (BOM), a Multi-BOM Management,” explains Brandner. At present the company is handling just one (Manufacturing) BOM in the PLM system, “which means a tremendous effort for the engineers as every change in the supply chain, in logistics or in manufacturing falls back on them”, says Xander.
After the proof of concept, thyssenkrupp Presta will do a longer pilot phase using the old and new PLM systems in parallel. The idea is to migrate functional areas like Requirements Engineering or Master Data Management (MDM) to the new environment and roll it out globally to all domains involved in the process. “A migration by projects or sites would cause to much disruption in the organization as there are many legacy data being reused in new projects,” explains Brandner.
A common Requirements Engineering from the system level down to the domain-specific requirements will be one of the key functions of the new PLM solution and an important enabler of MBSE. Customer requirements are generally managed in DOORS, but – except for hardware and software – there is no traceability to design an implementation. For software the company uses a proprietary AutoSAR tool integrated with requirements management and test specification, as Balogh says: “Ideally, we would like to use the same environment for the management of customer requirements, internal system requirements and software- and hardware requirements to ensure cohesive traceability over the whole process down the (left side) of the V-model.”
“The biggest challenge on the technical side will be the integration of the different tools into the new Presta System Lifecycle Management Backbone”, as Brandner continues. thyssenkrupp Presta will probably have to replace some of the existing tools that might not be designed for easy integration. Even bigger will be the challenge to adapt the organization to the new ways of cross-domain collaboration and communication which might require changes in responsibility and new roles. “It does not make sense to work in the new environment with an organization which is 30 or more years old;” concludes Balogh.
* SysLM or SLM in thyssenkrupp Steering specific wording.
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Wednesday, October 2nd, 2019
Being among the top 100 suppliers to the automotive industry, Webasto generated sales of 3.4 billion euros and had more than 13,000 employees at over 50 locations (with 30 of these being manufacturing plants) during financial year 2018. The core business comprises a wide range of products for vehicle manufacturers: sunroofs, panorama roofs and convertible roofs, heating systems for cars and commercial vehicles with all types of drive systems, together with battery systems and charging solutions for hybrid and electric vehicles. Webasto moreover has a strong market position in the aftermarket business and provides dealers and consumers with customized solutions and services for thermo management and e-mobility.
In the last ten years Webasto has also grown strongly through company takeovers. Important milestones were the acquisition of the convertible division of Edscha, the North American business of Karmann, the Diavia air conditioning business of Delphi Italia and the Efficient Energy Systems (EES) business of AeroVironment, which today manufactures charging solutions under the name Webasto Charging Systems Inc. In addition, the company has recently bought the shares of its long-standing South Korean joint venture partner. The joint venture Webasto Donghee, with headquarters in Ulsan (South Korea) that previously focused on production and sales of panorama roofs, is now part of Webasto’s worldwide development and production network, thus strengthening its position in Asia further.
Heterogeneous PDM landscape
One consequence of the takeovers is that the company today has a heterogeneous PDM system landscape. The roof and thermal systems division uses PTC Windchill, the convertible division SAP PLM, Webasto Charging Systems Inc. Oracle Agile PLM and the former South Korean joint venture, the Teamcenter software from Siemens PLM. The development and change processes of the various divisions are not uniform either, which makes it more difficult to handle global development and production projects.
Particularly in the field of roof systems, Webasto faces the challenge of developing products for global customers and manufacturing them at various locations. “Whereas we used to develop roof systems for a specific vehicle, we now offer our customers platforms that can be installed in several vehicle types or brands of an automobile manufacturer with certain adaptations,” explains Jorge Ortiz, who is responsible for user training in the central PLM project team. This saves development costs, but also means that every change must be coordinated with all development departments involved.
Another challenge is that Webasto is becoming a mechatronic focused company that develops and manufactures its own software and electronic components. The basis for this was laid, among other things, by the takeover of the electronics service provider Schaidt Innovations. This necessarily requires a closer connection of software development to the product development process and the IT systems supporting it.
The Webasto strategy is therefore to establish a uniform organization and implement a globally uniform product development process for all divisions, which can be mapped in a uniform system environment. This process will also support Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) in the future, as Ortiz explains: “We want to create a CAD/PLM development environment with uniform data structures and enable users to access data quickly and easily via a single point of truth, regardless of their location and region.
Approach to production
When selecting the new PLM solution, Webasto was faced with the alternative of either looking for greater proximity to the CAD landscape with CATIA V5 and Dassault Systèmes’ 3D experience platform as the target system, or approaching the SAP ERP system. None of the existing PDM systems met the requirements of an enterprise-wide PLM platform. In the case of Windchill, it was an older version that was gradually being phased out of maintenance and with which users were no longer satisfied with the usability.
After a longer selection phase, the project team decided to introduce the SAP-based PLM solution 4PEP from ILC GmbH, a decision that was backed by the assessment of an independent consulting firm. “4PEP gives us the opportunity to better integrate development and production processes by providing all information digitally,” says Ortiz, explaining the main reasons for the decision. The flexibility of the software and the willingness of the software manufacturer to consider Webasto’s special needs on the basis of the automotive-specific reference approach also spoke in favor of ILC. The software house also had a strong partner in PROSTEP AG for the integration of 4PEP and 3DExperience.
4PEP is an industry-specific PLM solution with preconfigured processes and methods optimized for the supply industry. Among other things, it offers modules for product structure and variant management, configuration and change management, master data management, but also for requirements management, project control and cost management. Webasto thus simplifies variant handling, for example, by no longer defining color variants of roof systems during development, but only during production coordination, explains Ansgar Villis, Deputy Managing Director of ILC GmbH and project manager in the Webasto project.
Cooperation with PROSTEP
The partnership with PROSTEP was very helpful in winning and carrying out the demanding PLM project, as Villis continues. The company is a recognized integration specialist with a wealth of industry experience, process know-how and technological expertise, as well as strategic partnerships with leading CAx and PLM manufacturers, Ortiz confirms. Based on the OpenPDM integration platform, the company has developed standardized connectors for 3DExperience and 4PEP, which can be quickly adapted to customer-specific requirements. Based on PROSTEP technology, Webasto also intends to integrate the Rational RTC software, which is used in the electronics sector for configuration and software management.
In close cooperation with ILC, PROSTEP implemented the data mapping for the various integration cases – starting with the transfer of design orders to the 3D Experience platform. During the pre-delivery of development stages for the procurement process, models and drawings are then converted into the neutral formats JT and 3D PDF, transferred to 4PEP and stamped with the note that they may only be used for requests. Once the design is complete, OpenPDM triggers a complex approval workflow in 4PEP that integrates purchasing, manufacturing, costing and controlling. If everyone approves the release, the integration platform reports the status change back to 3DExperience and ensures that the derived neutral formats are automatically re-stamped. The most complex integration case is the exchange of change orders, because with Webasto individual parts can be changed without immediately versioning the product structure or the parts list. This only happens when the parts are installed.
The integration cases must be partially readjusted, firstly because the new development environment is still under construction and secondly because the processes to be mapped are extended so that changes to the processes in 3DExperience and 4PEP occur. The flexibility of the integration platform, which allows changes or extensions to be implemented with minimal effort, has therefore proven to be an advantage, as Ortiz emphasizes: “OpenPDM is a very robust platform that has been in reliable operation since it was first launched.
The challenge of data migration
In the first project phase, the new CAD and PLM solution was implemented together with the integration platform in the convertible division and tested in a pilot project, which will be followed by others. “However, everything we do here is coordinated with the other divisions, which are already working with the new systems and can contribute their experience,” says Ortiz. This is important in order to standardize processes across all divisions.
One of the potential hurdles that arose during the pilot project was the coordination of the product structures between the participating systems 3DExperience, 4PEP and SAP. In principle, Webasto wants to manage E- and M-BOM in 4PEP to ensure consistency between development and production. Which of the three systems, however, is to assume the leading role in the case of changes has not yet been finally clarified. It will be a compromise to ensure the strongest possible link between the systems, without limiting their flexibility too much, as Ortiz says.
The pilot project also showed that the effort for data migration was greater than expected. “Existing parts and standard components lacked certain attribute information that the new systems and processes expect,” says Ortiz. “Another critical topic is the handling of the kinematics functions, which are very important for the convertible division. It has changed greatly from CATIA V5 to V6, so that the changed processes had to be taken into account during the migration.”
Points in the direction of digitization
At the end of this year, the second project phase will start with a pilot project in the field of roof systems. The biggest challenge will be to completely migrate the Windchill data to 4PEP and then to correctly link it to the CAD data via OpenPDM, which will be migrated in parallel from ENOVIA VPM to 3D Experience. A lot of information, which is represented in the form of tables on the drawings, must be transferred to the models or the PLM system. “Our goal is to no longer have drawings in PLM, but only models and information from which the representations can then be derived,” concludes Ortiz. “The PLM project should help us set the course for digitization and industry 4.0.”
By Mirko Theiß
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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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