Microsoft Office SystemCustomer Solution Case Study

Product Lifecycle Management Solution Increases Productivity with Familiar

“We’re continuing to see rapid global adoption largely because of our competitive advantage in uniting that familiar Office user interface with Teamcenter functionality.”

Bill Boswell, Senior Director, Teamcenter Product Marketing, Siemens PLM Software

Siemens PLM Software offers Teamcenter, a product lifecycle management (PLM) solution that customers use for global collaboration during product development and launch. The company opted to integrate Teamcenter with Microsoft® Office programs to extend the power of PLM to departments throughout the enterprise for faster overall product development. Users also can take advantage of the familiar interface for increased productivity.

Business NeedsBringing a new product to market—from concept to launch—requires a coordinated effort among numerous company departments, from design to manufacturing to distribution. This effort can be especially daunting when various departments are geographically dispersed, as is often the case in today’s global economy. Short timelines, complex products, and intense competition can make product lifecycle management (PLM) challenging.

And yet innovation is what sets companies apart, especially in challenging market and economic conditions. To effectively develop new offerings, companies need to facilitate collaboration among stakeholders

worldwide, foster the exchange of ideas, and encourage the reuse of proven parts, equipment, and processes for cost-efficiency. Capturing knowledge and expertise for continuous improvement helps innovators succeed, along with a foundation for tracking regulatory compliance and a conduit for integrating design information with manufacturing best practices.

A number of solutions provide such capabilities but are massive enterprise software systems that can be complicated and require specialized training to use. And when employees are unable or unwilling to use PLM solutions, companies suffer from a lack of productivity and gaps in collaboration. They also may incur

unbudgeted costs for error resolution caused by a lack of visibility and access to information. To reduce product development timelines and keep costs to a minimum, companies need PLM solutions that are easy to use and quickly extend PLM practices throughout the organization.

SolutionSiemens PLM Software developed a unified suite of PLM offerings that address the shortcomings of other enterprise software solutions on the market. The suite, called Teamcenter, connects people with the product and process knowledge that they need to effectively function in a globally oriented product lifecycle.

Partner: Siemens PLM SoftwareWeb Site: www.siemens.com/plmPartner Size: 8,000 employeesCountry or Region: United StatesIndustry: Professional services

Partner ProfilePlano, Texas–based Siemens PLM Software—a business unit of the Siemens Industry Automation Division—is a leading global provider of product lifecycle management software and services.

Software and Services Microsoft Office

− Microsoft Office Professional 2007

− Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

− Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007

Microsoft customer successes, please visit: www.microsoft.com/casestudies

A Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner, Siemens PLM Software differentiated Teamcenter from other PLM solutions by integrating it with Microsoft Office products to help enhance and accelerate product innovation, design, manufacturing, and delivery. Teamcenter is therefore considered an Office Business Application (OBA) because it makes information from many sources available through the familiar Office user interface. “We wanted to build on Office products because so many employees everywhere already know how to use them, and therefore, they promote productivity for our customers,” says Bill Boswell, Senior Director, Teamcenter Product Marketing for Siemens PLM Software. “Employees can struggle just to log on to a traditional enterprise PLM system, but with Teamcenter, they can search for documents and collaborate with coworkers without leaving the comfortable Office environment.”

For instance, Teamcenter tasks arrive in a user’s Inbox within the Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007 messaging and collaboration client. And teams can use Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007 to locate internal subject-matter experts, share product ideas, evaluate feedback, and other worldwide collaboration efforts. Based on Office SharePoint Server 2007, the Teamcenter Community feature includes Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 functionality. Using its instant messaging and audio, video, and Web conferencing capabilities, stakeholders can communicate by whatever means makes the most

sense for a given part of the PLM process.

Teamcenter users can access its functionality directly from the Office Fluent™ Ribbon user interface in Microsoft Office Professional 2007 programs. They also can embed Teamcenter files, including computer-aided design—or CAD—models and other content, into Microsoft Office Word 2007 documents and Office Excel® 2007 spreadsheet software worksheets.

BenefitsSiemens PLM Software is making it possible for customers to accelerate innovation, optimize resources, ensure quality, and compress their time-to-market. Customers find that, with Teamcenter integrated with Office programs, the solution is even more accessible and adoptable. Benefits include:

Faster product development for customers. With Teamcenter, employees and suppliers alike have access to the consolidated, up-to-date product and process information that they need. “Our customers can accelerate overall product development by 25 percent, reduce the time they spend searching for information by up to 65 percent, and improve change processes by up to 30 percent—all of which help deliver the right products to their customers at the right time,” says Boswell.

Extension of PLM to entire enterprise. Teamcenter users can

collaborate in a single virtual environment, which helps ensure that products are better aligned with customer needs and that the company can react more quickly to issues. “Companies need to be ready with the right products as the economy recovers,” says Boswell. “By having a familiar environment in which employees can work together—not just engineers, but also those in marketing, accounting, sales, and so on—companies can streamline processes to ensure that products are successfully introduced to the market.”

Lower total cost of ownership for customers. Companies can enjoy a low total cost of PLM system ownership with Teamcenter because it minimizes the need to build interfaces and do custom coding, which can add significantly to the expense of a PLM system. Says Boswell, “Our approach, which provides PLM functionality directly within Office programs, decreases the cost of customization, resulting in an approximate 25 percent reduction in implementation and maintenance costs.”

Broad market opportunity. As of the end of 2008, more than 56,000 customers hold more than 5 million licensed seats of Teamcenter worldwide. “Microsoft Office programs are some of the most widely used out there,” says Boswell. “We’re continuing to see rapid global adoption largely because of our competitive

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published July 2009

advantage in uniting that familiar Office user interface with Teamcenter functionality.”

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published July 2009