VW and Audi development and engineering to come under Siemens

VW Aktiengesellschaft has ordered the former UGS PDM (product data management) system, which will eventually be rolled out for 45,000 users throughout the entire vehicle design and manufacturing process. The organisation says it expects to create transparency in its processes, so that mandatory information on, for example, product maturity, productivity and cost becomes available at every point in the process. It’s the realisation of VW’s K-PDM enterprise-wide project for PDM, developed over several years, which is all about establishing efficient and globally consistent processes – via accurate data and synchronous supply for all brands, locations, sectors and levels, including suppliers and development partners. That also includes integration with VW’s existing IT landscape, which is to optimised under a major consolidation project. VW concedes that it’s going to take a few years, but says it will migrate locally as car projects are committed, eventually rolling the new IT landscape out throughout the group.