EDA Beats cPDm - The Biggest PLM-Related Investments in 2014
What are the main areas of PLM in terms of market investments into software and services?
PLM analyst CIMdata has a fine tradition of investigating these matters and publishing the results in a series of annual studies.
In one of the latest reports, CIMdata - 2015 PLM Market and Solution Provider Analysis Report, CIMdata has listed the distribution of market investments in PLM's various sub-segments.
Avid market watchers might be unsurprised by the fact that Electronic Design Automation (EDA) solutions top the list, representing nearly 20% of the 2014 PLM related investments. EDA is a category of tools used for the design and construction of electronic systems from the printed circuit board (PCB) for integrated circuits.
The fact that this is now the largest area in many ways mirrors how today's products have generally evolved towards an increasing content of electronics and software, at the expense of mechanics.
Here’s the breakdown of global PLM investments in 2014:
- EDA (Electronic Design Automation) 19.8% - $7.436 billion
- SI/Reseller/VAR 15.9% - $5.966 B
- cPDm (collaborative Product Data management) 13.8% - $5.202 B
- Simulation & Analysis (CAE) 12.4% - $4.652 B
- AEC (Architecture Engineering and Construction) 9.6% - $3.600 B
- MCAD (multi-discipline Mechanical CAD) 9.1% - $3.442 B
- MCAD (designed focused) 6.9% - $2.589 B
- Focused Apps 4.9% - $1.840 B
- NC (non-bundled CAM) 3.1% - $1.157 B
- DM (Digital Manufacturing) 1.6% - $603 M
Aras CEO Confirms Deal with Microsoft Phones
Peter Schroer, president of PLM developer Aras.
In an exclusive interview with VerkstadsForum’s editor-in-chief Verdi Ogewell, Peter Schroer, president of the fast-growing PLM developer Aras, confirmed that the company has signed a major agreement with Microsoft Phones.
"We have not gone out with any press release about this, but it no longer appears to be a secret that the system is up and running at Microsoft Phones after a record-fast implementation process of just over four months," said Peter Schroer.
He did not give any specifics on the value of the deal. However, according to sources at Microsoft, the deal has an estimated worth of between $10 and $15 million.
In related news, Aras recently announced that its PLM solution Aras Innovator is available on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.
According to the press material, “Aras on Azure includes multidisciplinary bill of materials (BOM) management, configuration management, change workflows, stage-gate projects, CAD integrations and more.”
But this is not the only thing that the open source PLM company has done in recent months. Another example is European aircraft manufacturer Airbus investing in Aras Innovator to manage their company wide engineering processes. In total, this deal is set to support about 30,000 users.
For more in-depth information about this, don’t miss the upcoming TV report and the interview with Peter Schroer, which will be posted on ENGINEERING.com in the coming weeks.
New Vertical Solution from Dassault Systèmes
Taking a look across the pond, French PLM juggernaut Dassault Systèmes is continuing to release new software in line with its “Industry Experience Solutions” initiative. “Build to Operate” is the company’s 14th vertical solution, and is aimed at large OEMs in Aerospace and Defence.
According to DS, "the Build to Operate Industry Solution Experience, along with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, accelerates meeting production targets and increases manufacturing capacity.”
The background to DS’ efforts to develop this solution is that over the coming decades, airline fleet modernization and aircraft retirement will continue to feed the growth of commercial aviation. This drives the need for continuous improvement of both new and existing production lines.
For aerospace and defense companies,“Build to Operate”, based on DELMIA Apriso, offers Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) capabilities to monitor, control and validate all aspects of manufacturing with digital precision throughout their supply chain on a global scale.
In June, Dassault announced that Airbus Helicopters, a division of Airbus Group, has chosen Dassault Systèmes’ “Build to Operate.”
PTC Deepens Strategic Partnership with GE
Last week, PTC announced that it is “forming a broad strategic alliance with GE to pursue brilliant factory opportunity.”
What this means is that PTC’s IoT application platform, ThingWorx, will become a part GE’s Brilliant Manufacturing suite. The new solution will blend GE’s software capabilities on the manufacturing plant floor with the flexible dashboards and integrated data analytics of ThingWorx.
“It is significant validation that such an industry leader has chosen to deploy our ThingWorx technology at scale. We look forward to collaborating with GE to deliver the promise of the Internet of Things to manufacturers around the globe.” said Jim Heppelmann, president and CEO of PTC.
For PTC, the announcement is another step in their partnership with GE, and a way for PTC to strengthen its manufacturing credentials as well as broaden its involvement in the Internet of Things market.
Verdi Ogewell offered an analysis of the partnership in this article. PTC’s upcoming event LiveWorx Europe will definitely offer new insights into PTC’s plans for IoT.
Casting Simulation: Altair Acquires Click2Cast
American CAE developer Altair acquired Spanish Click2Cast. This acquisition adds capabilities for calculation, analysis and simulation of casting to the company’s solidThinking and HyperWorks solutions.
Although, it should be mentioned that Click2Cast technology has been available for HyperWorks users through Altair's Partner Alliance since 2013.
With this acquisition, Altair gains a new "bridgehead" in Europe, since Click2Cast is based in Barcelona.
Altair is also continuing to expand its partner network, and has added the newly formed Swedish company LW Engineering Software to its roster. The Swedish company's solution LW Finder can identify appropriate locations when using strain gauges to measure structural loads.
The solution minimizes measurement errors by identifying the ideal locations for these strain gauges, even in situations where the construction is complex and subject to multiple load cases. With this information, users can achieve a higher quality of load data with fewer tests result, saving time and money.
World Class Simulation at Volvo Cars, Porsche and Ferrari
Earlier this week, simulation software and simulator developer VI-grade announced that Volvo Cars has installed its simulator platform Driver in Motion (DIM).
The new simulator is developed by VI-grade, along with partners including application developer Saginomiya. This respected Japanese simulation developer accounted for important features like a system for automatic controls and tests.
Saginomiyas "Dynamic Servo" has evolved to become an almost ideal test system for core technologies like electric and hydraulic hybrids, as well as the development of next generation simulators.
This system is already in use by performance car makers such as Porsche and Ferrari. The newly installed simulator is a turnkey solution and is located at the Volvo Cars plant in Torslanda in Sweden. It will be used to test and optimize the driving dynamics of the new vehicles, as well as for testing new control algorithms for active safety.
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