PLM system integration for greater market success in mechanical engineering

Business processes in mechanical engineering: How integrated are data and systems?

To gain resilience amid global crises and shortages in skilled labor, mechanical engineering companies rely on synergies with research and industry partners and digitalizing their end-to-end business processes. Transformation is making strides in purchasing, marketing and sales but still lags behind in assembly and production.

Business IT for vertical processes like PLM systems, e.g. MES solutions and CRM software, helps machine and plant engineering firms get closer to realizing their digitalization goals. They also rely on ERP systems like SAP or Microsoft Dynamics to connect business processes horizontally, across business units.

But if they want to reap the full range of competitive benefits contained in these IT solutions, they must first achieve true, digital, end-to-end management of the product lifecycle. This requires full integration of data, applications and processes – between the various IT systems as well as horizontally and vertically.

Many companies have not yet reached this decisive milestone and must pay the consequences: Isolated information generates data silos, delays and errors. It also keeps these businesses from reacting quickly to changing conditions as they arise.

The quotation process as an example: Using a CPQ configurator to maximize the benefits of integrated product creation

To see just how relevant end-to-end processes are to your business success, let’s look at the interface between product development and sales at a machine tool company. Like many machine and plant engineering firms, the company in our example relies on a modular concept.

To stay on top of a variant-rich product portfolio and the complexities of the product creation process, our manufacturer leverages the 3DEXPERIENCE platform with SAP integration. For sales purposes, the company uses a configure, price, quote configurator (CPQ) which is connected to the development process via an integration solution.

Managing the quotation process in a variant-rich production context

The manufacturer relies on 3DEXPERIENCE to plan and configure the relevant machine tools and their variants and map them as virtual, end-to-end product specifications.

Via the integration, the configuration scope and all technical configuration parameters for each specific case are automatically transmitted to the CPQ configurator and supplemented with purchase options and price quotations.

When a customer requests a concrete offer, the sales team starts developing a production concept and calculating prices. Since their application is fully connected with the development process, they know they have all currently applicable variants, options and configuration rules at their disposal

This means that the sales unit is able to configure machine tools that match the customer’s requirements perfectly in terms of their predefined configuration and variant selection. Client-specific developments are only necessary where no other option is available.

Convincing prices, compelling visualizations, and impactful results

Thanks to their close connectivity with the development process, the sales team’s calculations are highly reliable. Sales can quote a competitive price and be certain that the margin is appropriate to the product development effort.

Additionally, integrated product creation lets the sales reps use a virtual twin to offer the client a realistic demonstration of the configuration’s capabilities.

Once the machine tool manufacturer receives the order, the subsequent handover to production follows the same, efficient end-to-end procedure:

The SPQ configurator transmits the selected product variant to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. The derived product configuration can be transferred directly to the ERP system as a bill of materials (BoM). If and when an additional, customer-specific development is needed, the automatically generated BoM can be supplemented by order-specific custom design requirements.

How CENIT supports consistent business and decision-making processes in mechanical engineering

Are you eager to implement end-to-end management of business processes, e.g. your SPQ scheme? CENIT’s PLM Integration Services are there to support you in integrating your business IT with the process-oriented way you manage your product lifecycles and can recommend best practices and state-of-the-art software solutions.

To assist you in designing consistent, end-to-end business and decision-making processes, CENIT has developed a Business Process Integrator and a SAP Integration for 3DEXPERIENCE. The scalable middleware architecture offers open standards and Security by Design – a seamless and secure way to interconnect your systems and business units.

End-to-end digital transformation for sustainable growth in mechanical engineering

Process digitalization is an excellent start. For mechanical engineering companies, the crucial follow-up step towards greater competitiveness is to integrate the systems that drive these processes.

End-to-end processes help you keep up with startup companies whose IT systems are integrated right from the outset. At the same time, you don’t leave the field to businesses from low-wage competitors because they don’t offer your level of efficiency.

Get off the one-way data highway and transform your mechanical engineering business into an agile and data-driven organization. Rise to the challenges of your industry with end-to-end data and a greater sense of unity among your business segments.

Do you have a concrete mechanical engineering success project in mind? Contact us now!