Autodesk customer success story Alstom

The most important benefit of working with Autodesk is the almost daily contact we have with our DSS. He knows our processes and applications and can help us find just the right solutions to our challenges. He is a real time saver—much more like a colleague than a vendor or a customer service representative. —Christophe Aubry

MCAD Technical Manager Alstom Grid

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Introduction Alstom is a global leader in power generation, power transmission, and rail infrastructure. For more than 125 years, the company has delivered solutions that are innovative and, increasingly, environmentally friendly. For example, one of its divisions, Alstom Grid, designs, manufactures, installs, and services smarter, more stable, more efficient, and environmentally friendly electricity grids worldwide. For help with electrical substation design, Alstom Grid has relied upon several Autodesk software products—including Autodesk® Inventor® Professional and Autodesk® Vault®—since 2008.

Recently, Alstom chose to deepen its relationship with Autodesk by seeking assistance from the Autodesk® Enterprise Priority (EP) Support team in the development of customized workflows tailored to the company’s particular environment. EP Support is the highest level of support offered by Autodesk. It includes a dedicated Support Account Manager (SAM) and Designated Support Specialist (DSS), as well as access to Autodesk executives and product development teams.

Discover the power Global leader in power transmission and distribution builds strategic relationship with Autodesk

COMPANY

Alstom

LOCATION

Offices in 100 Countries

SOFTWARE Autodesk® Product Design Suite Autodesk® Inventor® Professional Autodesk ® Vault® SERVICES Autodesk® Enterprise Priority Support

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The challenge “Electrical substation design has very specific needs,” says Christophe Aubry, MCAD technical manager at Alstom Grid. Alstom Grid designers were already extremely competent in using Autodesk Inventor for 3D electrical substation design, but they sought help in fully integrating the software with their company’s processes and workflows. “They wanted to work with someone who not only understands Inventor, but also the key challenges that we are trying to overcome.”

Foremost among these challenges are standardization of design processes, workflows, and solutions and ensuring that all end users understand and follow them. Standardization plays an important role in helping businesses increase efficiency and accountability, while delivering more consistent products and services. Aubry’s role is in helping to define these standards and solutions—many of which center around interface, modification, and drawing management—and to deploy them worldwide to the company’s business units.

Image courtesy of Alstom Grid.

Autodesk customer success story Alstom

Autodesk, the Autodesk logo, Inventor, and Vault are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. © 2014 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

Autodesk conducted more than 20 interactive workshops focused on Inventor and custom workflows

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The solution To kick off the new relationship, Alstom Grid personnel visited Autodesk for a week, conducting meetings with executives, technical staff, and product developers, as well as with the SAM and the DSS. The SAM and DSS also spent time onsite at Alstom Grid. The primary Autodesk point of contact for Alstom Grid has been the DSS. His role is to not only understand Autodesk technical solutions, but also the specific needs of the customer. As a result, the answers and solutions that he can provide are highly customized. “The most important benefit of working with Autodesk is the almost daily contact we have with our DSS,” says Aubry. “He knows our processes and applications and can help us find just the right solutions to our challenges. He is a real time saver—much more like a colleague than a vendor or a customer service representative.” The DSS and other EP Support personnel were instrumental in the creation and refining of new standardized processes and workflows at Alstom. As a key part of that process, EP Support conducted more than 20 interactive workshops with Alstom Grid personnel, each focused on a specific topic related to Inventor and their custom workflows. “Once a workshop was over, we could call the DSS at any time to ask questions or discuss the solutions,” says Aubry. EP Support also provided valuable knowledge about the development roadmap for Inventor to help Alstom Grid adapt one of its custom-built plug-ins to a new version of Inventor. The plug-in was designed in-house to help designers add simple architectural features while designing electrical substations. “This functionality was

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essential to us,” says Aubry. “Autodesk EP Support helped Alstom Grid integrate the same functionality into the new version of Inventor in a way that continued to work with our new and existing workflows.” The result “Autodesk EP Support provided very valuable assistance in developing and securing our workflows,” says Aubry. EP Support personnel not only provided reactive assistance as needed, but also discussed upcoming product features, new functionality in Inventor, and alternative solutions that could improve the company’s efficiency and productivity. “Those discussions are very important to us.” Today, Alstom Grid enjoys a productive strategic relationship with Autodesk. “It is critical that we explore all of the functionality within Inventor,” says Aubry. “To really improve our skills and our processes, it is mandatory that we have a close relationship with Autodesk and an in-depth understanding of the Inventor roadmap so that we can plan on integrating new functionality and proactively improve our processes.” To learn more, please visit www.autodesk.com/support-offerings.

Image courtesy of Alstom Grid.

It is critical that we explore all of the functionality within Inventor. To really improve our skills and our processes, it is mandatory that we have a close relationship with Autodesk and an in-depth understanding of the Inventor roadmap so that we can plan on integrating new functionality and proactively improve our processes. —Christophe Aubry

MCAD Technical Manager Alstom Grid