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01/11/2011
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At the recent Siemens PLM Connection Europe 2011 event in Linz, Austria, Mark Fletcher caught up with Chuck Grindstaff, CEO & CTO of Siemens PLM Software, to find out how the company is evolving its products to better cater for the diverse needs of the automotive industry.
 We like automotive... it makes us work hard," enthuses Chuck Grindstaff, CEO and CTO of Siemens PLM Software. "Automotive exercises every facet of what we do and is by far the most demanding sector we work in, primarily due to two things: the diversity of the product range and the complexity of the engineering behind them. The automotive industry has to hide all of that performance and function inside an aesthetic structure – and it is the myriad of ways that this can occur that gives designers the challenges they face.
"Other industries face these challenges individually – such as aerospace and marine," he continues. "Although they may win in the complexity stakes, the production runs and product variation are limited; while electronics face mass production issues, but with relatively lower complexity.
"It is fair to say that the automotive industry sets the baseline; other industries think they are trend setters, but it is the car industry that defines a lot of what we do."
Power and efficiency
Addressing customer needs, many of which stem from the automotive industry, the company announced two recent product upgrades at the PLM event. The latest release of NX (NX8) now includes more powerful and efficient modelling, drafting and validation solutions, along with expanded HD3D support for better design decisions.
Of particular interest now is the ability to split parts into 'sections' that can be worked on individually by separate designers and then recombined – introducing concurrent engineering into complex single assemblies. Other highlights include expanded HD3D and design validation, synchronous technology enhancements and improved feature modelling.
Tecnomatix 10, the company's digital manufacturing solution, was also announced, which now includes a new, more intuitive user interface, presenting information in-context to
a more integrated product-to-production environment and a new, direct connection to machine controllers, which will help eliminate errors before they are discovered on the shop floor.
Vital feedback
"Feedback from customers is vital in our product development," Grindstaff explains. "Our customers give us the suggestions that result in the incremental improvements that you see in our software; effectively refining and extending the paradigm within the system.
"What we did a few years ago," he elaborates, "is take a step back and approach the software from its fundamental principles. The big question was: 'Is parametric the way to go?' We asked the question of ourselves: 'What if we went in a different direction?' Our new approach is different, but not so much so that we upset our customers with the complexity of a completely different look, feel and way of working.
"The evolution of CAD and PLM is analogous to the change over from steam to the petrol engine," he explains. "The first petrol engines were not all that spectacular; it took a lot of development to get them to where they are now.
"I feel it is the same in the CAD industry, as software can only get better and I think we have only scratched 10% of the surface when it comes to the capabilities of our synchronous technology. The big issue is finding the balance of new features versus the usability of the software."
In his keynote speech, Grindstaff elaborated on the features-versus-function argument and how he thinks that synchronous technology will ultimately provide the differentiator. "As more functionality is added to software to cater for the growing needs of the market, you face the issue of the complexity hindering its use effectively – with very steep learning curves."
Active workspace
To counter this, Siemens PLM is introducing Active Workspace, which is designed to improve the quality and fidelity of the visual information – by creating a visually immersive and personal work environment. At its centre is advanced search functionality. What this will do is allow the designers to enter keywords, much like using Google, and then locate items within that design that match the keyword.
Visualisation has been enhanced with traffic light-like colour coding to give designers an instant and visual indication of any assemblies or parts that still have issues associated with them. Users are presented by a flat, but multi-layered, environment with visual keys that will allow them to drill down to get more information.
Not only that, but chat windows and collaboration notes can also be overlaid and multiple report formats presented, covering people, parts
and specifications. "The whole idea is that we want people to have access to the same level of design and collaboration data, but for them to feel like it is a trivial journey to get even the most complex information.
"The biggest evolution that we will see over the next few years will be the user experience and our Active Workspace concept is a great starting point."
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Author
Marl Fletcher
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