February 7, 2011
Aston Martin is standardizing its global sports car development process by using new product lifecycle management software to aid computer design, increase productivity and let brand engineers and designers collaborate more easily with each other in the field.
The new, easy-to-navigate software from Siemens is designed to help employees work in a quick and efficient manner. Its universal accessibility lets them collaborate with others in the auto industry.
“It’s a constant path of innovating through design alternatives,” said David Taylor, senior director of portfolio solutions marketing at Siemens PLM Software, Plano, TX. “Our software is very effective in letting designers go through the innervations they want to pursue as quickly as they can.
“We make it so that they don’t have to navigate through the software, but just go through their designs,” he said. “It also provides them with tools to modify geometry for past designs.”
Siements PLM Software is a business unit of Siemens Industry Automation Division, based in Nuremburg, Germany.
Siemens software
Aston Martin is using Siemens' NX software, which facilitates computer-aided design and integrated manufacturing and engineering analysis to better globalize the brand’s development process.
The automaker will also be using Teamcenter software, which will help it to manage its products and process knowledge.
“If I’m sitting in Detroit, I can collaborate with a guy sitting in Munich and we both have the same set of information available to us, allowing us to collaborate very effectively,” Mr. Taylor said. “In order to compete effectively, automakers have to distribute globally.
“Brands can’t work in a collocated fashion anymore, and our software makes it so that they can work globally with others,” he said.
The brand began its competitive product lifecycle management technology evaluation two years ago.
Luxury automakers such as Cadillac have also been using the software, and Siemens has more than 69,500 customers worldwide.
“Because of our experience, the software does a nice job at meeting the automakers' unique needs,” Mr. Taylor said. “We understand the auto industry and the software is able to work and deliver results in the way that automakers need it to.
“Aston Martin is taking advantage of the software because it fits its business well,” he said.
Branding techniques
In addition to the brand's bolstered software, Aston Martin has been driving productivity in other channels, as well.
The brand recently leveraged two new vehicles with short, innovative videos and a social-media push (see story).
It has also upped its mobile strategy with the launch of a new application in December (see story).
As a prestige automaker, Aston Martin’s specific demands and high expectations help Siemens round out its thinking by helping it to align its software to meet a luxury brand’s needs.
“Aston Martin’s business is a little different than mainstream,” Mr. Taylor said. “The way they work is a little bit different and there are unique challenges that they face, and having them as a customer is helping us make sure that our software aligns better to that kind of customer.
“It will help drive us in a way that will better connect us with future customers,” he said.
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