More than 3,000 Volkswagen Group employees to use PTC's solutions to support global integrated product development processes
Needham, MA — March 20, 2006 — The Volkswagen Group, one of the world's leading automobile manufacturers, said today it has expanded its deployment of PTC solutions into all powertrain divisions across the Volkswagen Group to enable global standards for integrated product creation processes within the different brands.
Volkswagen expects PTC's product Windchill to drive substantial improvements in real-time monitoring and documentation of projects. The PTC solutions will be used by more than 3,000 Volkswagen Group employees around the world who will work on a single integral platform for visualization, content and process management, both within the engineering department and throughout the extended enterprise.
"Using PTC solutions to connect design, prototyping and testing within a single product development system, we expect to improve our overall product quality," said Dr. Frank Metzner, head of Powertrain-Module-Management, Volkswagen AG. "Furthermore, we will be able to automate our development processes and monitor projects in real-time, which will lead to shorter cycle times."
The Windchill deployment is an expansion of Volkswagen's current use of the PTC Product Development System, which includes Pro/ENGINEER for 3D design, ProductView for visualization and Windchill for content and process management and collaboration.
The roll-out starts simultaneously within AUDI and at Volkswagen followed by Skoda in the Czech Republic and the Americas Region of Volkswagen and further international brands like Seat and Lamborghini. Since the end of 2005, PTC's Windchill has been used by more than 1,200 employees of the Volkswagen and AUDI brands.
"The global deployment of PTC solutions is strategically important for us to improve the leverage of existing knowledge and information in the powertrain process in our subsidiaries all over the world," said Dr. Trac Tang, Group PIO Product Process of Volkswagen AG.
C. Richard Harrison, president and CEO of PTC, commented, "Our Product Development System allows customers to optimize the content creation process, content and process management, and collaboration throughout the value chain. Volkswagen's continuing commitment to our Product Development System demonstrates how valuable it is for the automotive industry with its constant pressures to launch innovative products in shorter cycle times with lower costs."
Volkswagen Group has been a PTC customer since 1995. Pro/ENGINEER is being used for the complete development process on the powertrain, gearbox and partially suspension, from concept to manufacturing by more than 700 users across globally dispersed locations. In addition, the Group has deployed 2,000 ProductView seats across various divisions so that both computer-aided design (CAD) and non-CAD users can concurrently visualize all developed automotive sub-assemblies, like engines, gearboxes, car body parts and electronic components. All visualization data is stored in a central repository, so that all Volkswagen and AUDI suppliers can easily access this information in the course of their development activities.
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- — For more information on mid-market companies using product lifecycle management solutions to gain competitive advantage, see "Stuck in the Middle" in the April/May 2004 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.