Selects software that integrates rules-driven product management, product lifecycle management to drive efficiencies, shorten engineering times
Westford and Wakefield, MA — October 26, 2005 — Product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions provider MatrixOne Inc. and RuleStream Corp., a provider of rules-driven product management (RPM) solutions to the discrete manufacturing industries, announced the integration of the two companies' main products as part of an ongoing implementation at The Babcock & Wilcox Co. (B&W), which provides products and services to the power generation industry.
With the latest project milestone reached, B&W has brought together its RPM, PLM and manufacturing computer-aided design (MCAD) systems in an application that B&W engineers use to capture and reuse best practices and engineering resources.
B&W said the integration allows it to use existing company knowledge to create and manage raw material items. With thousands of possible part/spec combinations, the integration between RPM and PLM results in the creation of better quality parts.
"Leading manufacturers are already shortening engineering time through process improvement supported by new rules-driven software," said Marc Halpern, research director at industry analyst firm Gartner. "In the future, the integration between PDM and the rules engine will allow new products to be designed with CAD models using PDM-controlled parts and items that are based on specifications and the context of use. This will streamline the generation of project proposals, make estimates of project costs more accurate and maximize part reuse."
B&W engineers expect to be able to review their custom engineering designs, incorporate engineering changes — even those with complicated design dependencies — and ensure access to up-to-date product information from their MatrixOne PLM system and SolidWorks MCAD models.
"Implementing rules-driven product management at all stages of the engineering lifecycle is helping The Babcock & Wilcox Co. streamline a number of complex engineering processes," said Robert Nierman, CEO, RuleStream. "B&W is already realizing a reduction in engineering times by being able to quantify and replicate business and engineering rules using RuleStream. Combining a shorter sales cycle with full MCAD visibility and access to PLM information should provide B&W with a market advantage."
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