At its annual analyst and media conference in New York, executives from UGS Corp., already a $1 billion player in the product lifecycle management (PLM) market, predicted that the company will reach $3 billion in revenues by 2009. UGS also launched Teamcenter 2005, its integrated digital lifecycle management software suite. Teamcenter 2005 is UGS' comprehensive software portfolio that integrates idea management and requirements planning with comprehensive digital product development, digital manufacturing and digital lifecycle management processes. "This is a significant release," said Dick Slansky, senior analyst for ARC Advisory group, in an interview. "Everything that is needed for digital manufacturing is tied together." UGS has been working on this for a while, just as its biggest competitor Dassault Systemes is doing with its products. With Teamcenter 2005 "there is much more collaboration between different applications in the Teamcenter portfolio, and that is very important to users," Slansky said. Teamcenter 2005 could help UGS reach its formidable growth goals, but it will only be part of the strategy, according to Slansky. "The goal of $3 billion in revenues is pretty aggressive. The stars would have to align for that to happen, but it could," Slansky said. "UGS will not reach that goal if it just stays in the verticals that it traditionally has done very well in," such as automotive and aerospace. "UGS needs to branch out to other markets, which it has been doing." Over the past year, UGS has announced many customer wins in pharmaceuticals, retail, textiles and even shipbuilding. Most recently, UGS signed a software and services contract with Procter & Gamble (P&G) to implement a strategic sourcing application based on UGS' Teamcenter digital lifecycle management software portfolio. P&G will deploy the technology worldwide for its sourcing professionals and suppliers. In his opening address at the conference, Anthony "Tony" J. Affuso, chairman, CEO and president of UGS, cited other industries where UGS is making inroads. "Two years ago, UGS was not in the shipbuilding business. Over the last eight quarters, we have signed 12 shipbuilding contracts," he said. UGS technology "can handle millions of parts and do it quickly, and [the users] can see changes [to designs] immediately in 3D," an important feature for shipbuilders, he added. Still, tripling the size of the company will be a challenge. "In order to enter other verticals, UGS is going to have to win business away from some well-entrenched niche players and some heavy hitters," such as Formation Systems in the food and beverage industry and even SAP in some areas, Slansky said. "It will be a challenge, but UGS does have the resources to do it." Also, UGS named Paul Vogel senior vice president and managing director, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Vogel will replace Jim Duncan, a 19-year UGS veteran, who will retire within the next year. Vogel, most recently vice president of sales in Europe at B2B integration provider Global eXchange Services, has nearly 20 years of experience in the software and services industry at PeopleSoft, J.D. Edwards and IBM. "This is a growth market," Vogel said in an interview. "There are a lot of companies that want a piece of the pie. Some companies may slow the market by offering products that are not as complete or as ready as our products. My job is to build on our already strong customer base and make sure that the market does not get confused by other companies that are trying to enter the space." This article was repurposed from the August 2005 issue of Managing Automation magazine.