PTC Navigate, Industrial Innovation and future of PLM overlays

Yesterday, I shared my thoughts about Aras PLM replacement strategy. Check this link for more information. Today, I want to share an opposite view from PTC. I had a chance to attend think tank session organized by Zerowait-state and PTC. We discussed the reality of modern PLM including technology, competition and transformation of PLM companies.

Very often, PLM is strongly associated with engineering processes and tools. CAD and PLM are strongly bundled. Leading PLM vendors (Dassault, Siemens PLM, PTC) are providing vertically integrated solutions with fairly standard set of functionality for CAD, PDM and PLM.

The topic of IoT PTC transformation is a factor that is changing a traditional status quo. Check the following slide. What I’ve learn is that PTC is position themselves as Industrial Innovation platform. If you following terminology, it is a change from IoT platform. The later place is belonging to large players with horizontal technologies – Microsoft, IBM, etc. PTC is focusing on a data as a central piece of information in industrial company and its lifecycle.

You can ask, where is a difference from previous PLM? My hunch, it comes from variety of data sources not limited to engineering and product development. It includes everything – connected product, analysis, factory operations, supply chain.

And this is where PLM overlays are coming into place. PTC Navigate, the product that was introduced about 2 years ago is positioning is a key technology that will allow to PTC to embark into a journey of collecting information from multiple systems and integrating it into a cohesive information view lenses.

PTC Navigate provides a simple and streamlined user interface to users who need to access Windchill, but not only, data without complication of existing overblown PLM interfaces. It is about search and obtain data. Check the following video. Presented as a new, instant and intuitive user interface, PTC Navigate is a way to access data outside of engineering

What is my conclusion? I can see how large PLM vendors will play an overlay strategies exactly in the same way Aras is doing so. While replacement of PLM can be a painful and challenging decision, overlay is much simpler. Overlay strategy can be found in offerings of other PLM players – Teamcenter ActiveWorkspace and Enovia 3DXperience. It seems like PTC Navigate is potentially a tool with a broader set of functions allowing to connect to multiple sources of information. It can play a role of information umbrella and to balance competitors such as Aras from challenging existing PTC accounts. However, the devil is in details. An efficient overlay is complex to build and to connect to other systems in a seamless way. To provide rich set of tools in PTC Navigate can become a critical aspect of overlay efficiency.  Once it is done, it can become a powerful tool for vendors like PTC in highly competitive game to keep winning large industrial and manufacturing clients. Just my thoughts…

Best, Oleg

Want to learn more about PLM? Check out my new PLM Book website.

Disclaimer: I’m co-founder and CEO of OpenBOM developing cloud based bill of materials and inventory management tool for manufacturing companies, hardware startups and supply chain. My opinion can be unintentionally biased.