UGS this week announced a new version of its collaborative product data management software for mid-size businesses that delivers new functionality geared toward simplifying the process of designing and building products.
Teamcenter Express version 2 follows version 1 by just over a year, and features four main updates, according to Bruce Boes, vice president of marketing for UGS's Velocity product line.
The new Express Review Package Exchange allows users to create a "package" that contains 2D or 3D CAD files in addition to other technical documents related to a particular product. Teamcenter Express users can then send that package to colleagues and track its subsequent path.
Recipients of the package can review the documents, mark them up, and return them to the project manager. "In this context, we're able to continuously understand the relationships between those things that ... come back and what was there originally," Boes told Managing Automation. "It's all linked back to the original document."
Those involved in the collaborative process who do not have Teamcenter Express can download the Express Review Tool for free from UGS's Web site. Boes noted that packages can also include Adobe PDF files, which can be reviewed and marked up with Adobe tools and then returned as part of the package.
The second major addition to the mid-market cPDM product is Teamcenter Express Manufacturing, which, according to Boes, represents the early stage of integration between Teamcenter Express and CAM and NC programming . Engineers using NC programming, he said, can now manage all of their files in Teamcenter Express. "Basically, this provides a complete integrated process of CAD and CAM across the organization," said Boes, who also noted that tool and fixtures libraries and processes fall under this purview.
Teamcenter Express version 2 also has been expanded to provide integration with additional ERP systems, Boes said. In addition to existing integration with Microsoft's Dynamics GP and Dynamics AX systems, the new release works with Dynamics NAV and SAP, including mySAP All In One, mySAP 2004 and 2005, and R/3 4.6c and 4.7 Enterprise. The integration expansion means a Teamcenter user interface appears in the ERP application.
The last of the four central debut features in version 2 is Express Translations. This function, Boes said, helps product managers and others set up an automated workflow-driven translation. The tool leverages translators found in other UGS products. The translators that allow users to read competing file formats have been in Teamcenter from the beginning; the new wrinkle in version 2 is the ability to, for instance, set Teamcenter Express to automatically translate a file when it is opened, saving the time of manually initiating the translation each time.
UGS has scheduled the new Teamcenter Express release, which is deployed on premises in all cases, to ship at the end of this month. Boes said version 2 will be sold in the same manner as its predecessor, with a base model, called Consumer, allowing viewing only; the Author model, which gives users the ability to create and mark up files; and the Professional model, with additional visualization and collaboration tools included. The Author model, which is the most popular, sells for $1,650 per named license.
Manufacturing integration is not included in that cost, and Boes said no price has been set to date.
Teamcenter Express forms the cPDM cornerstone of UGS's Velocity Series of PLM products tailored to mid-market companies, which Boes defined as those with between 50 and 250 engineers on staff. The other components of the Velocity lineup are the 3D CAD product Solid Edge; Femap, a modeling application that enables engineers to simulate component or assembly designs; and NX CAM, which aids in computer-assisted manufacturing for programmers working in NC. The Velocity products can be purchased alone or as a suite.
The Teamcenter Express product exists in a category of PLM that is enjoying strong market attention and is expected to continue that pace in the next few years, according to industry analyst firm CIMdata. "CIMdata research indicates that the cPDM portion of the PLM market exceeded previous forecasts for growth and reached $6.1 billion in 2005, representing an increase of approximately 14.7% over 2004," CIMdata announced in a report released earlier this week. "The cPDM segment is expected to continue its strong growth to $6.8 billion in 2006 and reach $11.6 billion by 2010 for a CAGR of approximately14%."
"The focus for Teamcenter Express is the smaller customer who isn't looking to do everything under the sun," Boes pointed out. He said UGS is indeed seeing rising interest in product data management in the market. "What we think is driving people toward PDM in general is the overall increasing level of complexity in their products," he said.
Considering that some geographies -- notably Asia and Eastern Europe -- are just getting started with software that brings cPDM under one umbrella, the potential appears great for UGS and its fellow PLM vendors.