PTC: Converging the physical and digital realms of PLM
Mr.Pramod Prabhakaran, the Business Transformation Manager
while trends paint an encouraging picture of the PLM market, there exist several challenges; the foremost one being the fact that most solutions are traditionally limited to design and manufacturing. Additionally, digital data has always remained consolidated at one location during the design and manufacturing phases. Consequently, the gap in terms of the information access is likely to broaden during production and while product is in the field. This may again require the physical presence of personnel on-site for analysis and trouble shooting. The need for getting data insights was never as critical as it is now to understand the behaviour of product under different conditions, different geographies to facilitate design improvements, product quality even to the extent of creating altogether new business models. One solution to enable this is the convergence of physical and digital worlds, which is also another challenge that has been largely left unaddressed with only a few venturing to bridge this gap. PTC is a pioneer and market leader in PLM space enabling this physical, digital convergence and thereby transforming the way products are created, manufactured, operated and serviced.
End-to-end PLM solutions
Exerting a great command over the PLM market since its inception in 1985, PTC has been successfully enabling customers to stay ahead of the curve with their state-of-the-art technology solutions. Evolving through time, the solutions delivered by PTC today are powered by disruptive technologies such as IIoT,augmented reality, additive manufacturing, digital twin, and Industry 4.0, topped off with the company’s unmatched domain expertise. By providing a complete suite of PLM solutions that monitor the entire lifecycle of the products right from conceptualization and requirements to systems engineering and core engineering, from manufacturing to quality assurance, from sourcing to after market functions, PTC breaks down silos and accelerates product development. Realized through the product PTC Windchill, one can now collaborate on manufacturing and service strategies while concurrently engineering their products, all on the one PLM platform. This not only guarantees a quicker life cycle and less development time but also ensures that correct information is made available to stakeholders on a prioritized basis. Mr.Dhirendra Kulkarni, Presales Senior Director @PTC shares that being implemented in some of the most prominent organisations in various verticals including many Aerospace and Defense organisations including NASA which works with highly sensitive information, PTC has developed Windchill with several security measures such as access controls and role-based dashboards which not only safeguards data from any form of unauthorised modification but also restricts access to projects. Clients can also further secure the information with the implementation of firewall, reverse proxy, HTTPS, and SSL configuration to further strengthen the security architecture.
Paving the way for a connected PLM approach, PTC has successfully addressed the challenge of physical and digital convergence through their Industrial Innovation Platform, ThingWorx. Taking us through the platform, Mr. Pramod Prabhakaran, the Business Transformation Manager @ PTC, explains that, ThingWorx, coupled with Windchill, helps to gather physical data and insights, and implement corrective measures through real-time monitoring. Riding on the power of IOT, ThingWorx helps to understand how the product works under varied geographical and climatic conditions that affect the life cycle of the product. As opposed to the narrow PLM approach, with ThingWorks and Windchill one can experience a complete digital thread right from engineering, manufacturing, and sourcing to feedback for quality and service enhancements, making it a product lifecycle management platform in its truest sense.
" The solutions delivered by PTC today are powered by disruptive technologies such as IIoT,augmented reality, additive manufacturing, digital twin, and Industry 4.0,topped off with the company’s unmatched domain expertise"
Whether it is ERP, CRM or SCM, integration with PLM is a must for quick and right decisions in the age of Industry 4.0.A part of PTC’s PLM application suite and developed on ThingWorx, PTC Navigate is yet another offering that enables organizations with easy connectivity. The solution facilitates the flow of accurate information from multiple business systems and the PLM solution at a fast pace. Furthermore, without a 3D application installed in every system, most vendors are limited to using PDF or other non interactable tools to understand the design and process workflow. This is where PTC's CreoView, a collaborative design viewer comes into the picture. It is a low cost, lightweight tool that provides visibility to various design data; thus, enhancing understanding while also allowing users to interact, review and speed up the redesign and manufacturing process, all without the need to install any native 3D applications. This is further extended by embedding publishing of augmented reality experiences within Windchill environment to facilitate collaborative design review.
Focus on Customer Success
Providing insight into the company's approach to the implementation of the solutions, Pramod says, “It is not just enough to have a great product. It is important to ensure that these great products are implemented with PTC created best practices and industry best practices while also ensuring that the customers derive maximum benefit out of it."In alignment to this belief, PTC has set up an organization called Customer Success. Together with the authorized system integrators spread across the globe, PTC's Customer Success teams ensure that customers are able to adopt and optimise on the solutions with ease while being facilitated with the right processes, best practices, and the right support.
PTC has been at the forefront of technology since the beginning. With its foundation in CAD and PLM, PTC has been making continuous investments in R&D to further enhance the capabilities of their solutions. Marching forward, the company can be expected to continue delivering requirement specific products. Winding up, Dhirendra shares, “We stand at the new frontier of innovation where the industrial revolution is colliding head-on with the digital revolution. PTC, in alignment to this new direction, is supporting customers in their digital journeys through the 4th industrial revolution.”
" The solutions delivered by PTC today are powered by disruptive technologies such as IIoT,augmented reality, additive manufacturing, digital twin, and Industry 4.0,topped off with the company’s unmatched domain expertise"
Whether it is ERP, CRM or SCM, integration with PLM is a must for quick and right decisions in the age of Industry 4.0.A part of PTC’s PLM application suite and developed on ThingWorx, PTC Navigate is yet another offering that enables organizations with easy connectivity. The solution facilitates the flow of accurate information from multiple business systems and the PLM solution at a fast pace. Furthermore, without a 3D application installed in every system, most vendors are limited to using PDF or other non interactable tools to understand the design and process workflow. This is where PTC's CreoView, a collaborative design viewer comes into the picture. It is a low cost, lightweight tool that provides visibility to various design data; thus, enhancing understanding while also allowing users to interact, review and speed up the redesign and manufacturing process, all without the need to install any native 3D applications. This is further extended by embedding publishing of augmented reality experiences within Windchill environment to facilitate collaborative design review.
Focus on Customer Success
Providing insight into the company's approach to the implementation of the solutions, Pramod says, “It is not just enough to have a great product. It is important to ensure that these great products are implemented with PTC created best practices and industry best practices while also ensuring that the customers derive maximum benefit out of it."In alignment to this belief, PTC has set up an organization called Customer Success. Together with the authorized system integrators spread across the globe, PTC's Customer Success teams ensure that customers are able to adopt and optimise on the solutions with ease while being facilitated with the right processes, best practices, and the right support.
PTC has been at the forefront of technology since the beginning. With its foundation in CAD and PLM, PTC has been making continuous investments in R&D to further enhance the capabilities of their solutions. Marching forward, the company can be expected to continue delivering requirement specific products. Winding up, Dhirendra shares, “We stand at the new frontier of innovation where the industrial revolution is colliding head-on with the digital revolution. PTC, in alignment to this new direction, is supporting customers in their digital journeys through the 4th industrial revolution.”
