Download Slides >>> ZIP of ALL ACE SLIDES (warning, it's 30 Meg)
It was great to be back in the Detroit area, Troy Michigan, for ACE 2012 International. Our theme is “Be Different” which emphasizes how enterprises use Aras to differentiate, innovate and compete on process superiority.
It was our largest ACE ever with 300+ registered and sold out sponsorship. On behalf of all of us here at Aras, I’d like to personally thank everyone that joined us for making it a really great conference, and special thanks to the presenters and sponsoring partners.
The agenda was loaded with corporate case studies where leading companies shared how they are addressing their most complex challenges with our advanced PLM platform & solutions.
We had business and technology professionals from around the world that came to learn and collaborate on PLM best practices with Aras from global product development to outsourced manufacturing and systems engineering complexity.
Twitter users can see ACE conference comments at #ACE2012.
While we’re not able to bring back the energy from the conference (if you want that, you’ll have to come next year), what we can do is share some highlights along with pictures and presentations.
Peter Schroer’s Keynote
Peter Schroer, Aras CEO & Founder, jump started the day with a keynote that combined Aras corporate performance, community highlights, new announcements and innovation insights for everyone.
He noted our record sales in 2011 along with continued growth & expansion, and shared exciting news about the new Aras Japan subsidiary led by former SAP PLM executive Masahiko Hisatsugu.
Peter announced the new Aras Spectrum on Microsoft Azure, a cloud-based PLM solution environment specifically designed for the scalability, performance and flexibility required by global corporations with extended enterprise processes.
He emphasized what BE DIFFERENT means and why it’s important to your company’s ability to innovate and complete:
- Don’t be constrained by conventional wisdom, find the best solution to your challenges
- Don’t feel restricted to best practices, find what really works for your company
- Ignore the hype, and solve the real world problems
And he outlined Aras’s core values & beliefs and publicly demonstrated Aras’s commitment to openness by announcing Aras has signed theCodex of PLM Openness (CPO).
Download Slides >>> Peter's Keynote
Boeing’s Insitu Implements Aras Enterprise PLM
Boeing’s Insitu is one of the leading providers worldwide of unmanned aerial drone systems, and has been a technology pioneer in the small tactical unmanned aircraft industry for close to two decades.
Insitu has over 800 employees and is hiring. They explained how their processes are continuously adapting to new program requirements, globalization and market conditions which means that the solution flexibility in Aras was critical.
Their presentation covered PLM platform selection, replacement of a “big box” PLM system, initial rollout of configuration & change management in less than 60 days (with data migration) and future phases for risk mgt, program portfolio mgt, product options & variants, quality systems, MRO and more.
Download Slides >>> Boeing Insitu’s PLM Journey (so far)
GETRAG Ford Transmissions using Aras as PLM Platform for Global Process Standardization
GETRAG Ford Transmissions is the largest independent supplier of passenger car transmissions worldwide with 12,500 people across 22 sites and over 3 billion Euro in annual revenues.
GETRAG explained how they are using Aras as a PLM platform for process standardization across the company including Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) with Software Release Management, Defect Handling, Test Management, Task Tracking, ALM Reporting and more which was described as, “Very complex data structure.”
In addition, they have automated Drawing Management, Prototypes, Product Development Budget Planning, CMM and 8D CAPA (Corrective & Preventive Actions), and are currently implementing Engineering Change Management and migrating CATIA for product data management with a global roll-out.
GETRAG also described the personnel staffing for the project as well as some of the infrastructure, tools and methodologies they are using for this global PLM project.
Download Slides >>> GETRAG Ford Transmissions Global PLM Platform
CERADYNE using Aras PLM Solutions for Complex Materials
CERADYNE (NASDAQ:CRDN) is a vertically integrated developer and manufacturer of advanced ceramic components and systems for solar, industrial, defense, nuclear power, oil and gas, electronic, automotive/transportation and medical markets.
CERADYNE explained how Aras is the PLM platform for more than just PLM at the company. In addition to PLM and PDM, CERADYNE is using Aras together with SAP, Kronos and SharePoint to implement MLM (Material Lifecycle Management), ELM (Employee Lifecycle Management), MDM (Master Data Management).
They have really great vision of how all the solutions work together in an integrated manner and provide specific functionality to enable global process across 15 sites worldwide.
Download Slides >>> CERADYNE runs Aras PLM Solutions for Complex Materials
Maxion Wheels / Hayes Lemmerz International Drives Global PLM with Aras
Maxion Wheels / Hayes Lemmerz International is the world's largest producer of automotive and commercial highway steel and aluminum wheels with 20 facilities located in 12 countries and sales of $1.9 billion.
Maxion presented on the journey from spreadsheets to a global Web-based PLM solution with Aras. They shared specific examples of their successes on the globally standardized engineering change management and request for quote (RFQ) processes.
In addition, they shared practical PLM best practices that helped them achieve success in their roll-outs, as well as, the improvements made in executive visibility and metrics with business intelligence.
Solution Showcase
This continues to be our most popular session and this year it was “All Software, No Slides”.
People got 5 minutes to show off the solutions, add-ons and enhancements in Live Demos. It’s a great way to get a quick overview of some of the solutions that global companies have developed on the Aras Innovator platform.
Some examples include the CATIA Connector from T-Systems and the Integrated Systems Management solution that was done for General Motors by IBM.
Another favorite was the award winning AML Studio which was put together by GENTEX Corporation, it got several rounds of applause during the demonstration.
We saw over 20 demos and they represent just a fraction of the over 100 applications available as both open source and commercial products on the Aras platform.
Collaborate & Contribute Awards
Every year three members of the corporate community get special recognition for their contributions based on Significance, Popularity and Impact. The winners of this year’s Collaborate & Contribute award were:
GENTEX Corporation - AML Studio Editor Minerva - Alternative structure browser for large assemblies
We’d like to thank ECCO, GENTEX and Minerva for making these contributions which enhance the Aras solutions for everyone. And I’d also like to recognize the other nominates, as well as, the hundreds of other people around the world that made contributions this past year. It’s something to be proud of, Bravo.
As international participation continues to increase, I find that a lot of people don't realize that there are a number of different ways to make contributions. Some of the options include:
- Submitting ideas
- Making requests
- Commenting in the Aras Forums
- Contributing specifications
- Form designs
- Use cases
- Workflows
- Business rules
- Data models
- Collaborative development
- Prototyping
- Developing solutions & add-ons
- Scripts / methods and code samples
- Doing interfaces & integrations
- Testing & verification
- Creating documentation
- Doing translations
- Sharing Your Story
Breakout Sessions, Workshops and Other Sessions
This year we ran three tracks in the afternoons both days so there were even more breakouts and workshops and on the last day we went over solution vision and roadmap which is a high point for many. Here are the session slides:
Download Slides >>> The Aras Vision & Roadmap
Download Slides >>> What's New in Aras Innovator
Download Slides >>> Leveraging the Cloud for PLM
Download Slides >>> Aras PLM Corporate Community
Business Track
Download Slides >>> Managing Electronic & High-Tech Products and Processes in PLM (by Minerva)
Download Slides >>> PLM Project & Portfolio Management with Integrated Requirements at Boeing
Download Slides >>> Requirements Management in Aras PLM
Download Slides >>> PLM Formula & Recipe Management at American Italian Pasta Company
Download Slides >>> Innovative PLM Manufacturing Applications in Aras
Download Slides >>> The Power of Enterprise Search in PLM (by Alcove9)
Technical Track
Download Slides >>> Advanced CAD Integrations in Aras
Download Slides >>> Custom PLM Business Process Management with Aras
Download Slides >>> Tuning & Optimizing with Custom PLM Solution Add-ons by Amscan
Download Slides >>> Viewing, Mark-up and Secure Social with Aras
Download Slides >>> Workshop on Application Lifecycle Management with PLM
Download Slides >>> Developing PLM Deployment Use Cases
Basics Track
Download Slides >>> Introduction to Aras PLM Software Solutions
Download Slides >>> PLM Integration Basics with Aras
Download Slides >>> Aras EPLM for SolidWorks EPDM
Download Slides >>> Aras PLM Deployment Methodology
Download Slides >>> Right-sizing Aras PLM Deployments for Scalability
Download Slides >>> Medical Devices PLM Implementation by Carestream Health
There was also a good overview by CIMdata “Be Different” -- The ACE 2012 International Conference…A CIMdata Commentary
The networking receptions were especially energetic this year and many of us stayed later than we wanted, but we had a great time.
Our 30 minute breaks were a big hit again, plenty of time for networking. There was a ton of collaborative discussion and lots of connections were made between companies.
If you met someone and didn’t get their card or contact info, and would really like to get in touch with them feel free to send me an email. I’m happy to make the connection… already had a few of those.
All in all, everything came together really well at ACE this year. 98% people responding to the post conference survey indicated that they “achieved their personal goals at ACE”.
Thanks again to everyone for coming and especially to the sponsoring partners including Actify, Alcove9, Broadway Consulting Services,Fisher-Unitech, Focus PLM, Ilesfay Technology, InspectionXpert, Kalypso, Minerva, Panso Solutions, PLM-TEAM, PROLIM, PSC Group, Razorleaf, SofTech, T-Systems International, Trubiquity, vdR Group, and xPLM. Their participation really helps us keep it a free conference.
We look forward to seeing you at next year’s ACE International conference, and stay tuned for local and regional ACE sessions in the newsletter and on the web site throughout the year.
Download Slides >>> ZIP of ALL ACE SLIDES (warning, it's 30 Meg)