By: Kathryn G. Elagio
Is
it possible to innovate without boundaries? As PLM
(product lifecycle management) digital strategy is quickly becoming a core part
of addressing the needs of a growing manufacturing business in South East Asia,
running
a digitalised business is no longer just a consideration during a typical
use-case exercise. Business executives are now faced with making decisions on
solutions that go beyond previous limitations. Selecting the latest tools to
address a business process gap is now less about features and more about
functionality.
Siemens held its Industry Analyst Conference (SIAC) from August 27-30
in Boston. A follow up report by International Metalworking News for Asia
Senior Editor Kathryn G. Elagio who was a part of the media delegate reveals
the extent to which Siemens is poised to play a major role in navigating the best path to building, running, and
operating your own critical business processes.
In his
speech, “Innovate without Boundaries,” Tony Hemmelgarn, President and CEO explained
the transformative business value of the digital enterprise can only be realised
by dissolving the boundaries between people, processes and applications. “We
are integrating software applications into new solutions that reflect and support
our customers’ pursuit of more ubiquitous innovation,” he added.
Tony Hemmelgarn, President and CEO
Tony
quoted Mark Weiser, Chief Scientist at Xerox, Father of Ubiquitous Computing, “The
most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into
the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.” Mark’s
quote articulated a far more powerful role for technology. It speaks clearly of
what Siemens is trying to convey to everyone present during the conference in
Boston.
Technology
can and should extend beyond to become something far more powerful and Siemens
is an advocate that empowers you to be smarter, better, adept, more
accomplished.
The age of ubiquitous innovation
According
to Tony, the boundaries between systems are disappearing: Ideation, Realisation,
and Utilisation. The old rigid labels are dissolving, such as CAD, CAE, PLM,
CAM, EDA and etc. The question now is how do you connect? At Siemens, Tony
explained that they are focusing on optimising integrated solutions. “New data management
technologies can bring more data transparency, collaboration and connections,”
he stated.
Tony highlighted, “The new generation of PLM
systems place solid foundation behind data organisation allowing manufacturing
companies to manage data, collaborate and connect pieces of information using
new data management tools including flexible data models, database frameworks
and machine learning.”
Key integration initiatives
The
president and CEO outlined the key integration initiatives that can help
improve business processes: (1) Closed-loop Digital Twin: Use real-world
performance insights to change the way you do business. Integrating planning,
design, and engineering with ERP and production for >97% on-time delivery. (2)
Generative Engineering: Automate engineering exploration to find optimal
designs and systems orders of faster magnitude. (3) Electrical / Electronic
Integration: Optimise design and manufacturing of complex electrical,
electronic and mechanical systems. (4) Autonomous Mobility /Electrification:
Realise autonomous mobility faster by integrating design and validation of the
entire system in one environment. (5) Additive Manufacturing: Industrialise
additive manufacturing to design and produce useful parts at scale. (6) Digital
Factory: Build intelligently automated digital factories to achieve
configurable, flexible and personalised production. (7) IIoT/Edge: Leverage IoT
insights to increase productivity, optimise products and discover new business
models. (8) Electronics Manufacturing: Accelerate NPI by “left-shifting”
engineering and planning to achieve right-first-time manufacturing. (9) Cloud:
Bring continuous innovation to market faster with flexible cloud solutions and
rapid application development.
With the
growing expectations from manufacturing companies in South East Asia, it’s a
key opportunity for new-generation PLM systems to break into the marketplace.
Introducing a connected solution to a traditional industry with
long-established pricing and regulatory practices will be a real challenge. But
the region is ready to embark on a path to significant transformation that
powers greater agility and competitiveness.
It doesn’t matter if your
company is experienced with PLM digital strategy or new to the concept. PLM
digital strategy is quickly becoming a core part of addressing the needs of a
growing business.