"Out of the Box Works for No One" – A Conversation with Dr. Martin Eigner

Dr. Martin Eigner recently joined our Board of Advisors and we’re very excited to welcome him to the Aras family.  Dr. Eigner brings a wealth of PLM industry and technology knowledge to Aras, as well as his expertise in model-based engineering.

In 1985, Dr. Eigner successfully founded EIGNER + PARTNER INC., which was later acquired by Oracle.  In 2003, he launched EIGNER Engineering Consult, a consulting services firm focused on PLM.  Currently, he holds the chair in virtual product development at the University of Kaiserslautern.

I recently sat down with Dr. Eigner and asked him his thoughts on Aras and the PLM industry.

BC: What are the most important attributes for a company to evaluate when choosing a PLM system?

1. EIGNER: The kernel PLM functions are very similar from all competing PDM / PLM solution providers and from functionality it’s not a big criteria to differentiate each other. The user interface, performance and customization is important. Customization is very important because I do not believe even for small customers that you can buy PLM solution out of the box. That is a dream. You have to customize it.

The real differentiator of existing PDM systems is the amount of money and capacity to customize a PLM solution. So I think usability, performance, upgrade capability and how easy it is to customize and maintain the customized solution are the most important points. They have the strongest impact on the total cost of ownership.

 

BC: With that said, what are the benefits of Aras?

ME: I think in all these topics [performance, usability, upgrades, and customizations] Aras is leading. There are independent tests which show the system’s performance. We did internal tests at my university and found Aras to be the easiest to customize and upgrade. That is a big difference to the competitors. Customization is the most important aspect of PLM. Out-of-the-box works for no one.

 

BC: What makes Aras different than other major PLM vendors?

ME: The criteria for difference is the technology – I think Aras is the leading edge technology in the PLM community. It is the easiest to customize and adapt models. Aras may have less function than other systems, but it is easier to bring in these functions into a harmonious environment. You need a tight integration, which is something no other provider can offer. The way I see it, we don’t sell function. We sell process support and process optimization – we would like to optimize a company’s design process.