I’m in Detroit today to attend Aras PLM user conference – ACE 2012. I’ve heard in the halls before conference that the theme of the conference – “Aras is different”. Few months before, Aras blogged about the same topic here. You can learn about the conference agenda by navigating to the following link. I wanted to give my top three points why I think Aras is different than the majority of PLM vendors on the market.
#1 Aras Innovator upfront cost is FREE
Yes, it is true. Aras Innovator can be downloaded from Aras Website and you can use it absolutely for free. So did I. Not all modules of Aras PLM are free. Some of them, coming from community need to be purchased (eg. CAD integrations and some others).
#2 Aras is CAD agnostic
Aras is not affiliated with any CAD and CAD vendor. After majority of PDM/PLM vendors were acquired during the decade of 2000s, Aras remains one of not many vendors featuring full PLM portfolio.
#3 Aras is Enterprise Open Source
Nobody else is doing so. Actually, I believe Aras invented this term – Enterprise Open Source. However, it is not a traditional OSS you may think about. Aras combine free license with significant investment in building of Aras community of developers. Under a specific license, Aras can provide you full source code of Aras Innovator.
What is my conclusion? I’m looking forward to learn more about Aras today and tomorrow. Last year, Aras did very bold claims about how Aras Innovator can replace Enovia, TeamCenter and Windchill. The jury is still out. So, I’m going downstairs just in few minutes to listen to Peter Schroer keynote and learn more.
Best, Oleg
In the early beginning, solutions for manufacturing were focusing primarily on machinery and mechanical design. The historical reason here is simple – mechanical design was a key element of manufacturing for many years. However, the era of ‘mechanical design only’ ends. We can hear more and more about various aspects of combined solutions – Siemens PLM was coming with mechatronics already a couple of years ago. Earlier this month, on PlanetPTC, I’ve heard many stories about software related aspects of product design.
I’ve been reading Design New article yesterday – Mentor Takes a Lifecycle Approach to Electrical Design. It talks about latest Mentor announcement related to the expansion of their Capital electric design platform. This is my favorite passage (actually quote by Martin O’Brien):
The new Capital suite delivers on all of its traditional capabilities in addition to new functionality for designing the architecture and aiding service technicians supporting the finished product in the field. It also encompasses enterprise data management and compliance functionality, serving as a single repository to help manage and support the highly specialized materials and workflows associated with seeing a complex electrical system through each phase of its lifecycle.
Does it mean Electric Design is going to PLM route now? This is an interesting question. In my view, PLM approach is very successful when we deal with complex product development issues. Remember aircraft design, product configuration, etc. These are examples where product lifecycle management presented significant improvement and good results. Electrical design was standing separate long time. The same was for electronic and software. Is it going to change now?
The picture is courtesy of Design News blog.
The complexity of products is the real issue we need to discuss and mention in this context. Everything becomes more complex now. Ford T was a simple car. Nowadays, products become really complex. The integration of various elements is key problem manufacturing are facing these days.
What is my conclusion? I can see Mentor is going down to the road and implementing many features and functions we’ve seen in traditional PLM products. Lifecycle, Technical documentation, multiple functional representations. The word “single repository” mentioned by Mr. O’Brien made me worry a bit. In my view, traditional PLMs found themselves in the “single repository” mouse trap by trying to integrate everything in a single database. The cost and complexity of implementations are growing. Is it something vendors like Mentor can avoid? Learn from other mistakes? Is it possible in software word?
Just my thoughts…
Best, Oleg
. I’d love to have your recommendation on future reading in product lifecycle management and beyond…
