Integrated engineer-to-order controls on the rise

PLM (product lifecycle management) is becoming one of the hottest subjects of this decade. That’s because manufacturers need to improve controls over product development and production, while managing more and faster variety and outsourcing. PLM and engineer-to-order software developer Anisa group’s chairman and CEO, Ross Telford, describes it as manufacturers’ need for “a shorter flash to bang time.” With pressures on for product certification and regulation, and a need to minimise warranty costs and improve service in the field, he notes an increasing requirement for as-built and as-maintained data, as well as feedback into the design loop. “Companies also need more control over their IPR and more integration because a lot of product is being manufactured abroad,” he says. “You can’t just stroll down to production and ask for a change.” The argument is that PLM and integrated engineer-to-order functionality are increasingly prerequisites, even among SMEs, and particularly those in the demanding automotive and aerospace industries. “We have everything from very large companies, like the Atomic Weapons Establishment and MoD buying PLM, down to a company making replacement seals for gas and water industry users. They are installing full end-to-end PLM environments.” Citing the latter, he explains: “For their business it’s essential: when they’ve manufactured a new product to-order to replace an existing seal because there’s nothing else around, they need records of what they did. They compared it to an investment in machine tools.” Telford expects continued growth for Anisa group companies as a result. “On NT CADCAM, selling CAD/CAM software and partner products focused on SolidWorks, we’re looking for 20% growth over the next 12 months.” As for its Open Business Solutions company, he says that while the manufacturing side is “doing OK”, the logistics side of the business is “doing very well, with 10% plus this year.”