Manufacturing Executive - January/February 2009 - (Page 29) But to date, no specific digital factory products that directly relate to the vision have been unveiled. “I’m having a tough time gauging how much progress they’ve really made,” Caie says. “They laid out a roadmap, but the hardest thing to do is integrate the mechanical worlds and the electrical world together into one model and one database. That’s where it’s at, and while I see the Rockwell and Delmia relationship addressing that directly, I see Siemens looking at Teamcenter [its PLM product] and trying to integrate a lot of information together. Siemens is focusing more on PLM so that they can get more unique applications to use their technology. I’m not saying it’s a bad strategy, but there’s a difference.” Yet, Caie says, Siemens has taken a conservative approach to disclosing details of products that are not ready for prime time. It’s a company that does not pre-announce, he says. In fact, Siemens did roll out something significant in April. At the Hannover Fair in Germany, the company announced its patent-pending “synchronous technology,” a feature-based modeling technology that lets a user change a 3D design without necessarily understanding how it was created. Models can be defined — or redefined — on the fly, and changes then propagate through the rules of the design, geometry, and editing tools. In May, Siemens rolled out versions of its Solid Edge CAD software and its NX 6 digital product development software, each with synchronous technology capabilities. Synchronous technology might play a role in the digital factory solution, but Project Archimedes, which Huber has said “was crucial to connect the UGS business with [Siemens’] core business, and a key to the success going forward,” is centered on Teamcenter PLM, which will act as the collaborative backbone. That, Huber says, is why Siemens acquired UGS. “Why did we buy and not just team up? Because it is very important to the core automation business,” he says. “We saw that if we bought UGS, we would have a major component in Teamcenter. It provides the ability to connect product design with machines using the same software.” For Huber and Tony Affuso, the former president and CEO of UGS, who now is chairman and CEO of Siemens PLM Software, the synergies between Siemens and UGS make perfect sense. But, then, they’ve been discussing this idea since May 2006, when they first met to talk about a strategic relationship. Siemens had already been using software from Tecnomatix, a company UGS acquired in 2005, which includes a lot of factory simulation technology to connect product engineering with process layout and design, process simulation and validation, and a manufacturing execution system (MES). So, a foundation was already in place. “As strange bedfellows [as Siemens and UGS] may have seemed, there really was a lot of history working around common goals and a common vision of integrating the virtual world with the physical world,” says Bill Carrelli, vice president of strategic marketing for Siemens PLM Software. Nevertheless, the acquisition announcement came as a big surprise to most employees, end users, and even analysts. And the Siemens board knew it had to educate everyone on the synergies and vision in order to avoid backlash in the form of employee attrition. More important, Siemens officials knew they couldn’t treat this acquisition in the same cookie-cutter way that they had treated earlier acquisitions. UGS had a very different business dynamic, and Siemens had to be careful to welcome the team in a spirit of cooperation, not dominance, officials say. Suddenly, the acquisition became a serious business endeavor. Karsten Newbury, vice president of integration at Siemens, was pulled in to help manage the post-merger process. A 12-year Siemens veteran, Newbury was running the U.S. process automation business at the time of the UGS purchase, but had also been at the center of some of Siemens’ smaller software acquisitions. For example, in February 2000, Siemens’ Energy & Automation group acquired Moore Products in a $170 million cash deal geared toward strengthening Siemens’ presence in the North American process control market for the oil and gas, pharmaceutical, and pulp and paper segments. A year later, in January 2001, Siemens Automation & Drives acquired the Orsi Group, an MES provider based in Genoa, Italy. Newbury helped facilitate both the Moore and Orsi acquisitions, understanding that Siemens wanted to be a stronger software company. Yet, he admits he didn’t see the UGS deal coming. “It was a big surprise for all of us,” Newbury recalls. “Nobody expected this type of acquisition,” referring to both the size of the deal and the type of products under the UGS umbrella. Game-Changing Event Yet, at the same time, Newbury says he realised the significance of the moment. “The prospect of changing the industry was an opportunity that was compelling to me. It’s not very often that you can play a part in changing the industry and the rules of the game” he says. Newbury called upon Siemens Management Consulting, an internal group that helped devel- IS TO THE “ THE OBJECTIVETHERE KEEP ALL OFTO BE PRODUCTS OPEN. IS NO PUSH PROPRIETARY IN CONNECTION POINTS. Chuck Grindstaff Executive Vice President of Products for Siemens PLM Software “
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