Aras®, the leader in open and upgradable product lifecycle
management (PLM) software for the enterprise, today announced the results
of a PLM Benchmark Survey for Enterprise Organizations. The findings reveal
a significant gap in manufacturers’ readiness for Digital Transformation as
a result of disconnected product processes and poor enterprise-wide
adoption of product lifecycle management systems. Many manufacturers either
don’t use the software to its full potential or are hindered by legacy
architectures that are not easily upgradable to support their current
product processes.

ANDOVER, MA and San Francisco, CA, GE Minds + Machines—October 26, 2017— Aras®, the
leader in open and upgradable product lifecycle management (PLM) software
for the enterprise, today announced the results of a PLM Benchmark Survey
for Enterprise Organizations. The findings reveal a significant gap in
manufacturers’ readiness for Digital Transformation as a result of
disconnected product processes and poor enterprise-wide adoption of product
lifecycle management systems. Many manufacturers either don’t use the
software to its full potential or are hindered by legacy architectures that
are not easily upgradable to support their current product processes.

Disconnected Product Processes Hinder Innovation

Driven by increasingly complex and connected products—from smart industrial
equipment to autonomous cars—global manufacturers rely on PLM systems to
manage product lifecycle. However, the survey revealed that only 37 percent
of respondents were satisfied with their PLM deployments, and only 54
percent believe PLM helps them achieve their goals—largely because they are
under-utilizing the software:

  • Systems engineering should be a core use case for PLM – but only 19percent use PLM for systems engineering
  • Configuration management and change management are central tenets ofPLM functionality – but only 42 percent of organizations are using PLMin this manner
  • PLM must encompass multiple design disciplines and domains – but only51 percent of respondents are able to use PLM to collaborate acrossfunctions, suggesting that product data is siloed or housed innon-product development systems
  • Most PLM system vendors are primarily providers of CAD tools – but only31 percent of respondents use PLM for MCAD/ECAD data

“An effective PLM system is not only essential for any company
manufacturing smart, connected products, it is a critical foundation for
their future innovation,” said Peter Schroer, CEO of Aras. “Manufacturers
need to transform their product processes to unlock opportunities with
Digital Thread and Digital Twin. They can’t get there with disconnected
processes, silos of data, and overuse of Excel. They require a digital
transformation platform approach to PLM that enables flexibility, includes
users across the extended enterprise, and is easily upgradable as processes
and functionality evolve.”

The PLM Benchmark Survey findings are available in the eBook:
Challenges in PLM for Enterprise Organizations.


Connecting the Enterprise with a Product Innovation Platform


As global competition continues to increase, manufacturers recognize the
need to transform their product processes to manage product complexity and
unlock new opportunities with Digital Thread, Digital Twin, and IoT.
However, many large organizations find themselves paralyzed by old IT
architectures or use of legacy PLM systems that have largely not changed in
the past 30 years. The result is siloed processes and inability to
effectively manage cross-discipline design. These manufacturers risk being
outperformed and must build a new technology foundation for innovation.

Towards this end, leading industry analyst firm CIMdata released its
position paper, “Product Innovation Platforms: Definition, Their Role in
the Enterprise, and Their Long-Term Viability” to help industrial companies
plan for a new generation of technology to enable today’s complex,
connected products. CIMdata’s notion of a product innovation platform – an
innovation-enabling business platform that would support all
product-related disciplines and users through the entire product lifecycle
– provides a starting point for organizations discussing digital
transformation. Aras recently received top scores in CIMdata’s assessment
against the Product Innovation Platform criteria. The full CIMdata position
paper is available
here.

Aras at GE Minds + Machines

Aras is exhibiting at Innovation Alley at GE Minds + Machines, the premier
Industrial Internet event, on October 25-26 in San Francisco. To schedule a
conversation or demo, please visit
Aras @ GE Minds + Machines.

About the PLM Benchmark Survey Design

Between September 2015 and January 2017, Gatepoint Research invited
selected manufacturing industry executives to participate in a survey
themed Challenges in PLM for Enterprise Organizations. Three hundred
executives ranging from CxO to Manager participated. Two-thirds of
respondents represented Fortune 1000 companies with revenues over $1.5
billion.

About Aras

Aras enables the world’s leading manufacturers of complex, connected
products to transform their product lifecycle processes and gain a
competitive edge. Aras’ open, flexible, scalable, and upgradable PLM
platform and applications connect users in all disciplines and functions to
critical product information and processes across the extended enterprise.
Aras customers include Airbus, BAE Systems, GE, GM, Hitachi, Honda,
Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and Microsoft. Visit www.aras.com and follow
us on Twitter @aras_plm and

LinkedIn.