Interesting article which shows how PTC recognizes value in all areas of product life cycle managment, especially servicing the product. Big change from several years ago when traditional PLM software was more product development centered. I can see where PTC and other CAD software providers will continue to branch out and add other life cycle management modules to their product offerings.
You nailed it, Greg. The PLM vendors definitely see opportunity (to of course, satisfy a need to drive revenue) by extending the vision of a lifecycle-centered platform to other product-related areas outside of straight engineering and R&D. Service actually is a really good complement in that much of the data and materials needed to improve service are rooted in the engineering area and a lot of what's collected and unearthed by service professionals can really be instrumental in evolving future iterations of a product.
Also, will be interesting to see how traditional ERP providers (like SAP, JD Edwards...) will respond. Will alliances with certain providers also be formed in the future?
Another good point. Several of the ERP vendors (SAP and Oracle, in particular) offer PLM capabilities as part of their enterprise suites. This would be a natural area for them to expand and frankly, one where they might have more depth in terms of domain expertise and capabilities compared with the more engineering-oriented PLM providers.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
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For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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