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Introduction
The level of engineering complexity in the automotive industry is increasing rapidly as cars become more software-driven and customizable. Meanwhile, global supply chains, distributed development teams, and rising quality requirements are putting pressure on data management throughout the product lifecycle. Using disconnected tools in this environment is inefficient and poses a real business risk, as it can result in fragmented data. However, effective engineering decisions depend on connecting product data, testing, and requirements.
Tristone approached this challenge from two angles: technical and organizational. Projects, testing, and engineering data had long been managed across multiple systems and regions, making it difficult to maintain consistency, traceability, and alignment. To address these issues, Tristone introduced Aras Innovator® as a central platform connecting projects, testing, and requirements. This transformed their fragmented processes into a unified, lifecycle-driven approach across teams and locations.
About Tristone
The Tristone Flowtech Group is a global automotive supplier headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. The company develops and manufactures fluid and thermal management systems for engine and battery cooling, as well as air charge and intake applications. As a full-system provider and development partner to leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), Tristone operates in a highly complex environment. Products must be tailored to specific customer requirements while meeting strict quality and performance standards.
Tristone supports customers across all major automotive regions with a global network of engineering, production, and research and development (R&D) locations. The company operates multiple plants, engineering centers, and customer programs and manages a large number of product variants, testing activities, and customer-specific requirements across its global organization.
| Employees | ~4,000 globally |
| Countries with operations | 15 |
| Revenue | ~€500M (2023) |
| Business model | Tier 1 supplier, multi-OEM |
| Core capabilities | Fluid & thermal management systems |
| Global footprint | Engineering, R&D, and production worldwide |
Pain points
Before implementing Aras Innovator, Tristone’s system landscape followed a pattern familiar in manufacturing: critical data was scattered across various tools, lacking consistent structure and connectivity. Project management relied on an outdated Microsoft Access database. CAD data was inconsistently managed across technical centers, ranging from local systems, such as Smart Team and Teamcenter, in some locations to simple, SharePoint-based storage in others. There was no standardized part numbering system. Meanwhile, laboratory testing was almost entirely managed in Excel with separate spreadsheets for test requests, test procedures, and lab activity tracking.
While each tool functioned properly on its own, there was no integrated view across the entire lifecycle. Projects, parts, and test activities were not consistently linked. In a global organization operating across 15 countries, even minor inconsistencies could have significant consequences.
Before, it was my Excel spreadsheet against your Excel spreadsheet, even though we were talking about the same project.
Tomasz Klassen, laboratory coordinator, Tristone
A single typo in a project name could break the link between datasets. With different teams, locations, and systems, working on the same project did not guarantee that everyone was looking at the same information. In a development environment involving multiple global sites, customer-specific product variants, and complex validation requirements, this lack of a shared foundation limited efficiency, slowed decision-making, and increased the risk of errors.
PLM requirements
To overcome these challenges, Tristone required more than just a new tool. The goal was to create a connected system that could integrate data, processes, and teams throughout the entire product lifecycle. Key requirements included:
- A single source of truth across projects, parts, and testing data
- Structured and traceable customer requirements
- Support for variant management across OEM specifications
- Integration with CAD systems, such as CATIA and NX
- Connection of testing with engineering and project management
- Scalability across a global, multi-site organization
Flexibility was a critical factor in the selection process. After evaluating Aras Innovator against competing PLM solutions, three criteria emerged as deciding factors: compatibility with CATIA and NX, configuration flexibility, and competitive pricing. Systems that were cumbersome and required significant development effort to adapt processes were ruled out early on. Aras stood out for its low-code architecture, which enables Tristone to modify data models, workflows, and applications without complex programming, allowing the company to continuously evolve its processes as requirements change.
We wanted something flexible, and Aras clearly offers a lot of configuration capabilities.
Adrien Gillot, Group CAD manager, Tristone
Successes with Aras Innovator
Today, Aras Innovator serves as a central hub for Tristone, connecting projects, testing, and engineering data across its global operations. Tristone currently has 150 Aras licenses. All project managers work within the platform, and approximately one-third of CAD designers actively save and revise 3D models in Aras. The company plans to achieve 100 percent adoption of CAD and change management in the coming months.
This transformation has impacted all major business areas:
Project management, for example, has evolved from static tracking to a connected, lifecycle-driven approach. Project managers now work directly in Aras Innovator, managing project structures, deliverables, and responsibilities within a unified system. Projects are no longer isolated timelines; they are now linked to engineering data, testing activities, and requirements. This provides:
- Real-time visibility into project status
- Improved coordination across functions
- Clarified dependencies and deliverables
Projects are now embedded within the broader lifecycle, enabling more informed decision-making at every stage.
Testing and Lab Management have undergone the most significant transformation. Previously, every aspect of laboratory activities, including test requests, procedures, and tracking, was managed through disconnected Excel spreadsheets. There was no single source of truth, nor any consistent links to projects, parts, or requirements. Scaling this approach across multiple labs and regions was becoming increasingly difficult. However, Aras Innovator now makes it possible to manage every test request and technique within a single system. The shift has been complete and immediate.
We now manage all our testing requests and techniques in Aras. The major advantage is: The data is fully linked.
Tomasz Klassen
Test activities are now:
- Centrally managed
- Linked to projects and parts
- Connected to customer requirements
- Coordinated through planning and resource management
This creates continuity across the lifecycle. Teams can reuse structured data to reduce effort and improve consistency across locations, eliminating the need to recreate context for each test. Additional capabilities are in development, including customizable test result forms, automated test report generation, and an expanded planning module that covers all test types within the Tristone group.
As a multi-OEM supplier, Tristone faces challenges in requirements and variant management due to the variability of its products. Customer specifications are often delivered as complex documents, each with its own structure, terminology, and requirements. These documents must be transferred into a consistent engineering and validation process across multiple sites.
With Aras Innovator, these specifications are converted into structured objects within the platform. Each test and variant is identified, which allows the team to estimate resource requirements, calculate costs, and plan activities more effectively. This provides:
- Systematic management of product and test variants
- Standardization of validation processes
- Improved planning and cost
- Consistent alignment across global teams
For the same part, we might receive completely different testing requirements from different customers. Thanks to the structured approach in Aras, we can now define a standardized way of testing, with criteria we can tune for each customer.
Adrien Gillot
This structured approach also generates compounding efficiency gains: data created at earlier stages of the process is automatically available in later steps. For example, planners no longer need to collect sample counts, part specifications, and standard test descriptions from different files and folders. This groundwork has already been completed, so planners can concentrate on tasks that require human judgment, such as optimizing test timing and sequencing.
Easier collaboration around shared data represents a significant change in how teams work together. Previously, collaboration meant exchanging files and reconciling different versions. Often, teams would discover that they were working with different data without knowing it. Now, teams work on shared data within a common system.
This includes CAD data, which is now accessible to all users directly within Aras. Any team member can view and measure CAD data within the platform without requiring additional specialized tools. Standardized part numbers, consistent test procedures, and unified CAD management are gradually becoming the norm across the group.
We all have the same view of the same item. We’re looking at the same thing.
Tomasz Klassen
Results
Tristone’s transformation is yielding clear operational benefits. By establishing a single source of truth, the company has improved data management and organization across its global operations. Projects, tests, requirements, and variants are now consistently connected and structured. Instead of managing thousands of tests per year through a patchwork of spreadsheets, Tristone now uses a single, coherent system.
Testing has evolved from an isolated activity into an integral part of the product lifecycle. The results include fewer errors caused by disconnected and manual processes, greater traceability across projects, parts, and tests, more efficient planning and execution of testing activities, enhanced collaboration across global teams, and significantly greater confidence in data and decision-making.
Looking ahead
As part of its long-term digitalization strategy, Tristone is expanding its use of Aras Innovator. Immediate priorities include completing the rollout of CAD and unified change management to ensure 100 percent adoption soon. The team is also continuing to develop testing capabilities, such as result forms and automated report generation.
Looking further ahead, the team is exploring the use of Aras web services and Aras InnovatorEdge to develop mobile applications for laboratory environments. These applications would allow technicians to scan barcodes or QR codes, retrieve test information, update test status, and check inventory without using a desktop computer.
It would be great if we could bring that system to mobile devices so users could scan a barcode, update the test status, and access information in the field.
Tomasz Klassen
Conclusion
Tristone’s journey highlights a key challenge in modern product development: no longer managing individual processes, but connecting them. Tristone has successfully overcome this challenge, reaping benefits across three dimensions:
- Aras’ low-code configurability means the platform adapts to Tristone’s evolving needs without programming projects or lengthy implementation cycles.
- A single source of truth has transformed collaboration. Engineering, testing, and project management now use the same data, make decisions based on the same information, and build on each other’s work rather than reconcile conflicting versions.
- Any team member can see how parts are designed and verify dimensions directly, thanks to universal access to CAD data within the platform.
The transition from “my Excel spreadsheet versus your Excel spreadsheet” to a shared reality across the entire lifecycle is well underway. As adoption deepens and new capabilities come online, the connected foundation that Tristone has built will continue to benefit every team, location, and customer program the company supports.