Company Now Offers Industry Leading Solution to Help ETO Manufacturers Streamline Their Business Processes for Custom-Built Products
PLANO, Texas — (BUSINESS WIRE) — October 6, 2009 — Siemens PLM Software, a business unit of the Siemens Industry Automation Division and a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services, today announced the purchase of the Rulestream® software technology and brand assets, a leading engineer-to-order (ETO) software application for streamlining the business processes associated with custom-built products. Siemens PLM Software will offer the solution to its customers under the Rulestream brand name and assume full responsibility for ongoing software development and support.
“For more than eight years, Rulestream software has employed effective knowledge capture and reuse to help companies rapidly engineer products to customer specification. They have achieved greater engineering throughput, higher sales win rates, better margin security, shorter lead times and lower costs,” said Chuck Grindstaff, executive vice president of Products and chief technology officer of Siemens PLM Software. “The Rulestream technology’s ability to assist in simultaneously increasing revenues and lowering operating expenses makes it a compelling solution for the marketplace. As the newest member of our product family, it will serve as an ideal complement to our comprehensive suite of product development and lifecycle offerings.”
A comprehensive approach
ETO business processes are employed by a large and growing number of manufacturing industry segments, including power generation, HVAC, fluid flow technologies, heavy equipment, machinery, and the automotive and aerospace supply base. The increasing demand for customized or customer-specific product configurations creates a common set of challenges for these companies. There is constant competitive pressure for ETO manufacturers to increase the number, accuracy and win rate of their bids, while reducing order engineering lead time and optimizing resource utilization in manufacturing.
Rulestream addresses the unique challenges faced by ETO manufacturers with a comprehensive solution spanning sales, engineering and manufacturing. By capturing engineering knowledge and using it to automate key business processes across the enterprise, Rulestream streamlines the “inquiry to quote” and “order to release” processes for even the most complex products, so manufacturers can sell according to their engineering and manufacturing capabilities.
“We need to come close to a final design quickly to develop proposals and capture new business while estimating our costs accurately,” said Kip Alexander, senior technology manager, The Babcock and Wilcox Company. “With Rulestream we are able to do this, reducing proposal development from weeks to days. It allows our engineers to address design constraints in an automated fashion and prepare final designs in one-tenth of the time.”
Building customer value
Through ongoing software enhancements and support, Siemens PLM Software will continue to build business value for both current and future Rulestream customers. The company also plans to tightly integrate Rulestream with NX™ software, its digital product development offering, and Teamcenter® software, its digital lifecycle management portfolio. The addition of Rulestream to the Siemens PLM Software product line will reinforce and augment the investments made in Rules Based Design and Knowledge Based Engineering through the NX and Teamcenter application suites.
“Today’s announcement is good news for companies employing ETO business practices and/or building custom products,” said Ed Miller, president, CIMdata. “Siemens PLM Software’s high quality reputation for product development along with its open approach to doing business should help enhance the market status of Rulestream. The solution fits nicely into the Siemens PLM Software product mix and should enable a unique value proposition for its customers.”
Terms of the transaction announced today were not disclosed. Rulestream is available immediately from Siemens PLM Software. For more information, please visit www.siemens.com/plm/rulestream, or contact your local Siemens PLM Software sales office.
About Siemens PLM Software
Siemens PLM Software, a business unit of the Siemens Industry Automation Division, is a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services with nearly six million licensed seats and 56,000 customers worldwide. Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Siemens PLM Software works collaboratively with companies to deliver open solutions that help them turn more ideas into successful products. For more information on Siemens PLM Software products and services, visit www.siemens.com/plm.
About the Siemens Industry Automation Division
The Siemens Industry Automation Division (Nuremberg, Germany) is a worldwide leader in the fields of automation systems, low-voltage switchgear and industrial software. Its portfolio ranges from standard products for the manufacturing and process industries to solutions for whole industrial sectors that encompass the automation of entire automobile production facilities and chemical plants. As a leading software supplier, Industry Automation optimizes the entire value added chain of manufacturers – from product design and development to production, sales and a wide range of maintenance services. With around 42,900 employees worldwide Siemens Industry Automation achieved in fiscal year 2008 total sales of EUR8.7 billion.
Note: Siemens and the Siemens logo are registered trademarks of Siemens AG. Rulestream, NX and Teamcenter are trademarks or registered trademarks of Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. All other trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks belong to their respective holders.
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Siemens PLM Software
Jim Phelan, 314-264-8216
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