Happy New Year! I hope everyone has made it through their first week back to work after the holidays. Often the first week back is a reset - a bit of time to reflect on the last year and think about what is coming. For Aras, that unfortunately is not the case...
We are still running full speed. It is a great "problem" to have. Tiresome, yes. But exciting.
Here are a few points of reflection and what is coming.
New Customers
We are very fortunate and happy that Industries understand that the Aras PLM platform gives them the technology and capability that they need to power their business of Engineering. In 2016 we saw the Aras Community grow with a large number of additions across many different and interesting industries. Here is a small sampling:
| Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding | Pabst Brewing | Saab AB | Fuji Film | Parata | Doosan Heavy Industry |
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Best of all we closed 2016 with some additional wins that will become formal in the next few weeks. Also our sales pipeline is full with many other firms that have real problems to solve. The engines are roaring at Aras, keep your ears open.
Thanks to all of our existing and new customers - I cant list you all. We appreciate your being part of our community!
Aras-IBM Reseller Agreement
Aras and IBM inked a reseller agreement to enable Digital Transformation and IoT. As businesses look to transform business models using IoT, complexity continues to increase exponentially due to the merging of software, data services and online connectivity. To deliver dependable IoT implementations companies are undertaking a digital transformation involving product development, manufacturing and supply chain process automation, which is profoundly impacting the business of engineering.
“Global companies need a new and better way to integrate the complex hardware and software processes necessary to develop the smart, connected products of the future,” said Dibbe Edwards, VP, Watson IoT Continuous Engineering Offering Management & Delivery. “We’re excited to get back into the PLM market by partnering with Aras to help customers drive IoT enablement and realize a Digital Thread across disciplines and throughout the lifecycle.”
What's New in Aras Innovator
In 2016 we released four service packs. That is a big deal - we have taken a service pack approach with our move to Aras Innovator 11. Instead of waiting for years to get the next major revision of software we get it to you faster and in smaller, easier to upgrade bites.
Aras Innovator 11 Service Pack 5 was an open release that is part of our Enterprise Open Source offering. This service pack was our largest service pack release to date. It was so comprehensive, it could have been called Aras Innovator 12! This SP added numerous upgrades to our Platform such as Content Modeling Framework, Command Bar Modeling, as well asl usability and style updates.
In addition to Service Packs we also released new applications. Technical Documentation, Quality Planning and Manufacturing Process Planning were all built and released. Each of these applications was built from the ground up on the Aras Innovator Platform. This is an important detail. By being built on our platform instead of acquired and integrated, our customers are guaranteed compatibility with ALL other Aras applications and customizations. This is also the key enable of the digital thread that is critical for product traceability.
We also spent considerable time developing integrations with Application Lifecycle Management(ALM) and Model Based Systems Engineering(MBSE). Our team has developed new data models as well as connection methods to integrate cross functional, domain specific users within the PLM Platform.
Partner News
Elysium has developed the xPDM for Aras connector solution, an integration for data exchange between Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform and the Aras Innovator PLM platform. Many of our customers choose Aras to be their PLM Platform and continue to extract value from their legacy CAD management systems. In these instances, design data from CAD is connected with engineering business processes across product development, manufacturing, quality, suppliers and field service with the Aras PLM Platform.
Zuken and Aras have entered a partnership to seamlessly connect Zuken’s DS-2 solution for engineering data management and the Aras PLM platform. Together, Zuken and Aras will take a new approach which better integrates MCAD and ECAD concurrent design workflows at the enterprise level for global companies with complex mechatronic environments and systems engineering requirements.
We have also added new partners such as Praeses Business Technology, ARCOS Innovations, and CGI Business Consulting
New Community Site
We launched a new community site to bring fresh new capabilities to our community. As a community member you have access to our blogs, knowledge base, and forums.
The new site includes a number of features to enhance the user experience including github integration, social login, and multi lingual capabilities.
This is an ongoing project for us - keep an eye out for new additions.
Keep an eye on Aras in 2017. We have a lot of great prospects and exciting opportunities.
Thanks for reading. More to come.
-D