ERP Giant Infor Chooses Aras' PLM Technology
Infor's CEO Charles Phillips, Aras user.
The most interesting ERP and PLM event in Europe during the past week was Infor’s European Inforum in Paris, France.
ENGINEERING.com’s PLM TV News team was there and will publish a TV report in two weeks.
Infor’s CEO, Charles Phillips, has declared that they are the “World’s First Industry Cloud Company”. And in Paris, he claimed that the company’s big bet on the cloud is a success, with 4,500 customer companies and over 45 million users.
“We´re always one step ahead of competition,” he asserted from the stage in Palais de Congress in downtown Paris, adding that the big differentiator between Infor’s Cloud venture when compared to tough competitors like SAP and Oracle is that “we’re the only company with a fully functional ERP suite in the Cloud.”
The others, he indicated, only have point solutions.
It is true that Infor has made a couple of very interesting PLM ventures. Presently they have three different PLM systems connected to their suite of software.
The latest integration is a version of Aras Innovator.
The background is that Aras announced an OEM Licensing program last year. This means that other vendors can license parts of or the whole suite of its PLM tools.
OEM integration is a strategic growth initiative that will enable Aras to bring its technology to new markets and expand their community faster than they could have done on their own.
"New OEM partners will allow us to focus on the key business applications for our primary PLM user base, while leveraging our core technologies into new markets that we haven't even considered yet," said Aras CEO Peter Schroer.
He further claims that the company's core technology is well-suited for providers of ERP, MES, SCM and other global enterprise applications.
Infor is rebranding Aras as "Infor PLM Innovator – powered by Aras" and integrating it with its Infor 10x platform technology and ERP systems.
So what differentiates Aras’ technology from that of their competitors?
A couple of capabilities stand out, the most important one being that "Innovator" is engineered to be highly customized and maintainable.
Unlike traditional object-based systems with static data models, the Aras architecture is built around a modeling engine coupled to a web services catalog of PLM services. The modeling engine allows dynamic creation and maintenance of business objects, which are linked as required to the appropriate web services.
"This creates a clear separation between business logic and the web services, enabling real-time, drag and drop changes to applications - no coding required, and it means our PLM can be easily upgraded without impacting previous customizations.", explained Schroer.
Aras Innovator Gets the Cloud Treatment
In other Aras and cloud related news, Aras announced on Wednesday the availability of its PLM suite, Aras Innovator PLM as a Managed Service, a virtual private cloud with full managed services.
The new offering, which will be delivered by cloud services vendor CloudOne, combines the secure infrastructure and comprehensive services required by global companies with the complete PLM functionality, customization and integration capabilities of Aras.
According to Aras, the solution will offer complete PLM functionality, but will be up to six times faster to implement than on-premises alternatives. In addition, CloudOne is offering 24/7 support with contractual service level agreements.
“Our customers are getting a white glove service powered by a team of IT specialists that are experts in the infrastructure, cloud security, and maintenance required for Aras Innovator,” said John McDonald, CEO at CloudOne.
Toyota Lanka Expands with IFS
Swedish enterprise application developer IFS recently announced that Toyota Lanka, a subsidiary of Toyota Group, has successfully rolled out the enterprise suite IFS applications at four strategic business units in Sri Lanka.
Toyota Lanka is not a new customer for IFS; it has been using IFS Applications for over 11 years, having upgraded its IFS solution twice during this time.
The ERP suite IFS Applications supports processes such as sales, supply chain, warehouse management, service management as well as finance and human resources.
The solution is also designed to facilitate future business change and expansion, useful for adapting to new technological advances in the automotive industry.
The new version of IFS Applications delivers an enhanced user interface in combination with improved backend capabilities that will increase processing speed and data transformation to enable informed decision-making and reduced service delivery times at each customer touch point.
“IFS Applications has lived up to our high expectations and has helped us map our future business requirements,” Toyota Lanka COO/CEO Manohara Atukorala said. “The intuitive and user-friendly IFS solution helps us make informed decisions while focusing on providing an excellent customer experience.”
Posco Bets on 3DEXPERIENCE
Dassault Systèmes is a leader in the PLM market, but when it comes to “the step beyond PLM,” Dassault’s 3DEXPERIENCE platform, the real success stories have been few and far between.
At least, this is true when it comes to the full implementation of the system.
However, this trend might just be turning around.
Yesterday the company revealed that POSCO, one of the world’s largest steel producers, is using the 3DEXPERIENCE platform for its virtual commissioning and training systems to digitize and simulate its manufacturing operations, processes and equipment.
Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform provides powerful digital production and simulation applications to create a “virtual twin,” which is a virtual 3D replica of an actual physical structure, in order to better manage products, processes and plants.
With this “virtual twin,” companies can simulate the complex production processes of a smart factory through accurate data interpretation management. That can allow them to troubleshoot manufacturing problems before they occur.
Companies can also capture and share knowledge, manage equipment specifications from planning to building phases, and better plan for manufacturing investments.
"We expect to decrease the number of field tests and field trial periods with our virtual commissioning system and virtual training system, as we can pretest systems and equipment virtually before deploying them in the field for real,” said Yongsoo Kim, senior researcher with POSCO Engineering Solution Center. “We will continue to advance the development environment with Dassault Systèmes' cooperation.
About the Author
Felix Nilsson is PLM editor at VerkstadsForum, who works with both printed and online media. He also works as a reporter for PLM TV News.