business strategy: integrating mechanical,...
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January 2014, IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI245545
Business Strategy
Business Strategy: Integrating Mechanical, Electrical/Electronic, and Software Development in an Era of Smart Products
Amy Rowell Melinda-Carol Ballou
IDC MANUFACTURING INSIGHTS OPINION
The emergence of software as an essential component of engineered products is disrupting how the
manufacturing industry develops and sources components. Engineered products are less "hardware"
and more "software" and, as a result, require an evolution in engineering and manufacturing processes
and approaches. Moreover, because of the potential impact of faulty software on product safety and
quality, manufacturers will need to rapidly acquire the capability to manage the software life cycle and
supply releases along with their production processes. In particular, manufacturers of complex,
"software-driven" products must:
Break down divides between mechanical, electrical/electronic, and software domains.
Optimize product performance, integration, and quality by unifying interdependent mechanical, electrical/electronic, and software subsystems — many of which may be designed and manufactured by suppliers.
Synchronize all aspects of complex product and process design to push systems engineering and design issues as far upstream in the product development process as possible.
Manufacturers can begin to address these challenges with the functionality that product life-cycle
management (PLM) software and service providers are delivering. However, to truly be effective at
integrating and managing software development as part of the product development process, PLM
tools and processes must evolve in a number of ways:
Migrate from their "engineering oriented" roots to becoming more "software oriented."
Facilitate the multi-disciplinary collaboration and the underlying technology integration required to support a systems-driven approach.
Either incorporate or be more tightly integrated with application life-cycle management (ALM)software to handle the embedded software management capabilities required by these
increasingly complex, "software-driven" products.
Ultimately, as products continue to grow in complexity, manufacturers' ability to collaborate across
disciplines and to support multi-disciplinary decision making in product development — using tools and
strategies such as PLM, ALM, and a systems-driven approach — will become increasingly important, not
only to improve time to market and to achieve competitive advantage but to manage and mitigate risk.
©2014 IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI245545
TABLE OF CONTENTS
P.
IDC Manufacturing Insights Opinion 1
In This Study 1
Situation Overview 1
Software as a Critical Component in Many of Today's Products 1
The Challenge: Understanding the Product and Organizational/Process Issues 3
The Approach 5
Adopt a Systems-Driven Approach to Product Development 5
Future Outlook 6
Bring Software Development to the Forefront of the Product Life Cycle 6
Treat Software as a "Part" 6
Leverage PLM to Facilitate Collaboration Across Design and Software Engineering 7
Integrate PLM and ALM to Keep Software Development in Sync 7
Leverage PLM, ALM, and Systems Engineering to Implement "Smart Service" Strategies 8
The Role of Key Software and Service Providers 8
Role of Engineering-Oriented PLM Software Providers 8
Role of ALM Software Providers 11
Role of Systems Engineering Software Providers 14
Role of Service Providers 14
Essential Guidance 15
Actions to Consider 15
Learn More 16
Related Research 16
©2014 IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI245545
LIST OF TABLES
P.
1 PLM Providers: Approaches to Integrating Mechanical, Electrical/Electronic, and
Software Development 9
2 ALM Providers: Approaches to Integrating Mechanical, Electrical/Electronic, and
Software Development 13
©2014 IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI245545
LIST OF FIGURES
P.
1 Growth of Embedded Software Applications in Automobiles, 1997–2005 2
2 Lines of Software Code in Vehicles and Aircraft on the Rise, 2005–2010 3
©2014 IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI245545 1
IN THIS STUDY
This IDC Manufacturing Insights report presents the business transformation steps that manufacturers
must take to support the development of increasingly complex products, especially "smart" products
containing embedded software and/or electronics. More specifically, this report presents the role of
systems engineering and PLM and ALM software and service providers in helping manufacturers take
these steps by more closely integrating their mechanical, electrical/electronic, and software
development activities.
SITUATION OVERVIEW
The emergence of software as an essential component of engineered products is disrupting the
manufacturing industry. In this era of "smart" products (e.g., smartphones, smart cars, and even smart
appliances), more and more products contain increasing levels of embedded software and/or electronics
designed to make them more connected, more responsive, and even more autonomous. These
engineered products are increasingly less "hardware" and more "software" and require an evolution in
engineering and manufacturing processes and approaches. Moreover, the potential impact of faulty
software on product safety and quality is significant. In addition, increased complexity for coordination of
"systems of systems" with one another as part of the emergence of the "Internet of Things" enables
broader impact and engagement yet also brings risks and the demand for effective quality and end-to-
end ALM planning and execution. Therefore, it is essential for manufacturers to acquire the capability to
manage the software life cycle and supply releases along with their production processes.
Software as a Critical Component in Many of Today's Products
Many manufacturing firms now rely on embedded software and electronics to make their products
smarter and more adaptable. Manufacturers also have the potential to deliver more product value and
innovation through software than ever before.
The reality is that many advanced features of today's products are enabled by (and consequently are
dependent upon) the use of software-driven electronics:
Digital cameras use embedded software to stabilize images and optimize picture quality.
Cell phones support digital multimedia and mobile gaming.
Home appliances contain embedded controllers that conserve energy by optimizing washing/drying cycles.
Automobiles use software to support numerous applications — from controlling safety and handling to emissions to managing infotainment centers and service diagnostics
In fact, in almost all sectors of the manufacturing industry today, the complexity of products is
increasing, and software is now an essential element in many industries that traditionally provided
hardware-focused products. Coupled with this rapidly growing product complexity, ever-increasing
pressures to lower costs mean that product development teams must complete more work in less time
while simultaneously getting the design and implementation correct on the first try.
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Unfortunately, rushed and late software deliveries often contain hard-to-find bugs and may lack
features, resulting in both future development and warranty costs that can quickly erode already-small
profit margins. At the same time, the ability to "upgrade" a product is rapidly becoming a matter of a
software upgrade. Altogether, these challenges require manufacturers to have tools and processes in
place that will enable them to effectively track, manage, and maintain software code — alongside other
product features.
These new product features and market demands are pushing the engineering envelope, especially in
the automotive industry, where programs to support such capabilities as stability control, assisted
braking, hybrid power trains, and more are on the rise. As noted in Figure 1, the amount of software
being developed and used in various automotive applications has shown considerable growth in the
automotive sector for more than a decade. At the same time, product development windows are
shrinking, with new car models going from concept to production in as little as 18 months.
FIGURE 1
Growth of Embedded Software Applications in Automobiles, 1997–2005
Source: Toyota Motor Corp., 2013
IDC Manufacturing Insights identifies the automotive industry as a prime example of these challenges
because it is at the forefront of the embedded software revolution among manufacturers in the
engineering-oriented value chain (automotive, aerospace, industrial machinery, farm/construction
equipment, and consumer durables/appliances). As noted in Figure 2, automotive design and
©2014 IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI245545 3
development even tops avionics and aircraft design and development in terms of the amount of
embedded software included in some cases:
The avionics system in the F-22 Raptor, the current U.S. Air Force frontline jet fighter, for
example, consists of about 1.7 million lines of software code, while Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner requires about 6.5 million lines of software code to operate its avionics and onboard support systems.
By comparison, today's automobiles typically contain between 10 million and 100 million lines
of software code to support navigation systems, assisted braking systems, multimedia applications, and so forth. By 2040, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) forecasts that the number of lines of software code in the average vehicle will exceed 120 million.
FIGURE 2
Lines of Software Code in Vehicles and Aircraft on the Rise, 2005–2010
Source: IEEE and Automotive Designline, 2013
And the complexity only promises to grow, driven by the growth of products and services relying on a
combination of embedded software and intelligent systems. In particular, IDC projects that the installed
base of the "Internet of Things" will be approximately 212 billion "things" globally by the end of 2020,
which includes an estimated 30.1 billion installed "connected (autonomous) things" by 2020. While we
also see the emergence of standards to help address complexity in these environments (such as
GENIVI — an open source standard to help enable delivery of in-vehicle infotainment systems), those
standards also require governance and engagement.
The Challenge: Understanding the Product and Organizational/Process Issues
As products are increasingly designed with built-in intelligence, software-driven electronics are rapidly
becoming an important part of a multi-domain product development environment. The addition of
©2014 IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI245545 4
electronics and embedded software to an already complex product development process, however,
creates new challenges for schedule, cost, and quality targets.
At the product level, some of these key issues are:
Mechanical components place multiple constraints on the design of electronics and electrical
interconnects.
Electronic subsystems require collaboration and optimization among multiple disciplines, from design and sourcing through manufacture, which must include early consideration of
environmental compliance issues that affect the product's end of life.
Software modules have a fairly short life cycle in which engineering changes are quickly
incorporated, enabling regular product updates, which require embedded software to be tracked and managed as a "part." This also demands rapid, agile iterations as part of quick
cycle times.
Communication among multiple software modules and electronic subsystems requires flexible
electrical interconnect designs that can be used across multiple product configurations and platforms.
At the process/organizational level, key challenges include:
Difficulties in managing globally dispersed design teams
Software development's historic isolation from other domains in the product development
process
Software-related product delays and recalls, often caused by software not working correctly when it is merged with the rest of the product (and increasingly the need for the software to
interact and effectively communicate with external systems).
Other important trends affecting manufacturers' ability to optimize processes across the product life
cycle include the following:
The outsourcing of the development and manufacture of electronics components to suppliers
and strategic partners, increasing the challenge of coordinating development and protecting intellectual property (IP)
Higher warranty costs, often occurring as a result of increasingly complex software
applications, that require a systems' view of the product life cycle to be fully comprehended
Security, configuration management, and change management challenges, as complex
products increase the need for change control, version control, and traceability
All of these different types of data, as well as their change processes, must be managed and shared —
and not just within a manufacturing company but with its global supplier network along with the need
for standards compliance.
©2014 IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI245545 5
THE APPROACH
Adopt a Systems-Driven Approach to Product Development
All of this points to the need for systems engineering — yet many manufacturers of complex products,
especially those in high-growth industries, have not had the time to proactively adopt a systems
engineering approach to product development. Company acquisitions, accelerating customer demand,
and competitive pressures have resulted in disjointed product development processes and tools.
A systems-driven approach is critical to success in engineering complex products that consist of
interdependent mechanical, electrical/electronic, and software systems. The behavior of these
individual systems when integrated into the whole product and the interactions among them are
difficult to predict. Defining and characterizing such systems and subsystems, and the interactions
among them, is a key focus of systems engineering.
Yet systems engineering is not just an approach to product development — it is a consideration
throughout the entire product life cycle, including product support and maintenance. By making
systems engineering a core discipline, manufacturers can improve collaboration across disparate
teams, shorten development cycles, improve overall product quality, and capitalize on the services and
support opportunities presented by "smart," software-enabled products. Adopting a systems
engineering approach requires manufacturers to transform their approach to product design,
development, manufacture, and support. They must synchronize all aspects of the product life cycle
and provide a digital environment through which disciplines involved in product development and
manufacture can collaborate and communicate in real time.
In short, the old sequential design methodology, where hardware must be created before software
development can begin, no longer serves the needs of manufacturers, the manufacturers' suppliers,
and customers. Challenges faced by design teams are steep and growing. The need for radical
improvements in product development and delivery processes is becoming critical to deliver working
systems that are right the first time. (And if they're not, agile, iterative approaches must be leveraged to
quickly remediate problems.)
To address these challenges, manufacturers will have to drive key changes in their overall approach to
product development:
Adopt a systems-driven approach to product development that combines systems engineering
with an integrated product definition and the ability to support a unified product development framework.
Leverage PLM strategies and tools to break down traditional divides between mechanical,
electrical/electronic, and software domains.
Integrate PLM and applications life-cycle management to keep software development in sync
with mechanical and electrical/electronic product development and to help improve executionspeed and quality, as required.
©2014 IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI245545 6
FUTURE OUTLOOK
Optimizing integrated mechanical, electrical/electronic, and software product development will focus
on PLM and ALM software implementations that:
Resolve design and integration issues as early as possible in the product development process by harmonizing mechanical, electrical/electronic, and software engineering activities.
Communicate complex product requirements to teams within both OEMs and suppliers, to
provide as much systems engineering and whole product context as possible.
Improve collaboration by more tightly coordinating activities with strategic partners across
multiple domains and disciplines.
Bridge separate IT environments for each engineering discipline.
Provide ready access to synchronized product data across disciplines.
At the same time, leading manufacturers will leverage these software tool changes to drive
improvements in key business processes:
Drive organizational and cultural change necessary to bridge gaps between previously disconnected "silos" of single-domain engineering activities.
Develop and implement best practices for systems engineering and whole product approaches
to product development.
Bring Software Development to the Forefront of the Product Life Cycle
Essentially, manufacturers will need to be able to manage the software life cycle in the context of an
integrated product development environment. This effort requires three key capabilities:
The ability to manage software entities as a component or "part" of the total product
The ability to manage software requirements as part of overall product requirements and
specifications
The ability to manage all of the tools and processes used across the software life cycle (along with enabling organizational and process change so the tools are used effectively)
Treat Software as a "Part"
To effectively support the development of "software intensive" products, and to be able to identify any
potential performance issues related to software, the ability to track, manage, and configure software
as an integrated "part" within the product life cycle is critical. By treating software as a part, product
makers can tie software features to the product requirements that define how the software interacts
with other parts of the system.
Managing software as a component in the overall product configuration means defining the resulting
dependencies and compatibility requirements, such that:
Software identification, auditing, accounting, and configuration management is enabled.
©2014 IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI245545 7
Compatibility between various software modules is ensured.
Software and electronics hardware are optimized for each other.
Software and hardware development are coordinated under change management throughout their respective life cycles.
Impacts of software modifications on other components and subsystems are foreseen before
being implemented.
New software features are added based on an established requirements-driven process.
Leverage PLM to Facilitate Collaboration Across Design and Software Engineering
As product complexity increases, and products become more "software driven," it will become even
more important for manufacturers to be able to identify and break down any barriers that may have
isolated their software development process from the rest of the product development life cycle. The
ability to support a collaborative environment — one that allows manufacturers to integrate the software
development domain with mechanical, electrical/electronic, and software development domains, and
to manage the various interdependencies — will become an absolute "must have" for manufacturers, in
large part because of the potential risks associated with a failure to do so.
In fact, most product failures and the costs associated with those failures are caused by problems that
arise from trying to manage globally dispersed design teams, control the product development process
in its entirety, integrate multiple toolsets with separate databases and part libraries, and understand
how the whole product fits together. As a result, problems in the product development process are
either discovered late in the design cycle or worse yet only appear after the product is released.
The answer is to leverage PLM to break down the traditional divide between the mechanical,
electronic/electronics, and software domains as well as between a company's functional boundaries.
PLM enables all of these participants to share information, to collaborate, and to manage the
interrelated aspects of the electronics life cycle from a whole product perspective. An effective
transition will also require executive leadership and mandates, as well as organizational change at the
team and middle management level, to enable effective PLM coordination.
Integrate PLM and ALM to Keep Software Development in Sync
Another key aspect to supporting an integrated software development process is to manage the
software life cycle in the context of a whole product life cycle. To accomplish this, product makers need
to manage core software development tools and processes as well as the activities of a host of
globally dispersed software developers, project managers, QA teams, and hardware engineers. More
specifically, leading manufacturers will:
Leverage application life-cycle management systems in conjunction with product life-cycle
management offerings.
Take advantage of PLM for requirements management, system design, and hardware development, while integrating ALM during the software development phase.
©2014 IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI245545 8
Use PLM in the configuration, change management, production, support, maintenance, and end-of-life phases of the product life cycle.
Essentially, using PLM and ALM together enables manufacturers to address the full software life cycle
while integrating the software development process into a whole product life cycle.
Leverage PLM, ALM, and Systems Engineering to Implement "Smart Service" Strategies
In today's competitive environment, customer service remains an essential element of customer
retention. When a customer experiences a problem, it is important to be able to fix it on the first service
call. As products become increasingly complex, this becomes more difficult than ever. Repair and
warranty costs can cut into the bottom line. A comprehensive service strategy that leverages PLM,
ALM, and systems engineering uses software diagnostics to proactively identify potential failures and
to alert both the manufacturer and its customers.
How? A development and manufacturing environment built on PLM can provide complete information
about the product, the product's current state, and the configuration of hardware and software.
Feedback from the field can be used to investigate the root cause of performance problems and
pinpoint those elements that need to be revised.
In addition, change management issues extend beyond product delivery. Software changes might
occur after a product has been shipped — indeed, this is one of the advantages of controlling a
product's function largely through the software in it. These changes must be tracked for future in-field
updates and for feedback to product designers. PLM and ALM software must be able to manage the
changes made to each asset based on its configuration and usage patterns. Ultimately, to be
competitive, manufacturers will need to:
Synchronize all relevant aspects of complex product and process design.
Push systems engineering and design issues as far upstream in the product development
process as possible.
Optimize product performance, integration, and quality by unifying interdependent mechanical,
electrical/electronic, and software subsystems — many of which may be designed and manufactured by suppliers.
Fortunately, PLM software and service providers are actively engaged in the development of tools and
processes to address these types of "systems engineering" challenges and the emerging demands of
systems of systems development and coordination.
The Role of Key Software and Service Providers
Role of Engineering-Oriented PLM Software Providers
PLM software can play a crucial role in helping manufacturers define, develop, and maintain a complex
product that the market wants and will actually buy. It can facilitate system-level integration, enabling
domains and applications to share and manage data created by a wide variety of teams applications.
©2014 IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI245545 9
Manufacturers' key selection criterion for engineering-oriented PLM providers in this context is how
well the vendor's software enables integrated, cross-discipline product development environments.
Few manufacturers have expertise across all the disciplines involved in smart product development —
software, electrical/electronic, and mechanical engineering — and thus rely on partners for this
expertise. This further complicates the challenge of integrating these disciplines into a coherent,
synchronized product life cycle. PLM can provide an ideal framework for implementing enterprise-wide
product integration goals by creating a digital environment that supports secured access and
exchange of data among the multitude of both applications and users engaged in optimizing and
analyzing the product and process functions in each of the disciplines and across all stages of the
product life cycle.
Seiko Epson Corp., for example, was able to cut its micromechatronics development time by 50% with
PLM software from Siemens PLM. Seiko watches require tightly synchronized mechanical, electronic,
and software components. Since the company migrated from a slow, sequential process to a unified
digital design and manufacturing environment, development times have been reduced by 50% and
prototyping costs have been slashed in half. In addition, quality metrics have shown 100%
improvement.
Examples of PLM providers that are actively engaged in addressing the integration of mechanical,
electrical/electronic, and/or software development within their toolsets, or alternatively, and that
provide some level of integration via partners to support this capability, include Autodesk Inc., Dassault
Systèmes, IFS, Oracle-Agile, PTC, SAP AG, and Siemens PLM Software (see Table 1).
TABLE 1
PLM Providers: Approaches to Integrating Mechanical, Electrical/Electronic, and Software Development
PLM Provider Core PLM Offering Integrated Product Design Capabilities
Autodesk Inc. Autodesk PLM 360 Autodesk offers Product Design Suite for integrating mechanical
engineering design, conceptual design, and design analysis, which
includes tools such as Autodesk Inventor for mechanical design, and
AutoCAD Electrical for automating common electrical engineering CAD
tasks. Autodesk also has numerous partners that provide third-party
applications for electrical, electro-mechanical, and electronic design.
Dassault
Systèmes SA
ENOVIA Dassault Systèmes offers CATIA Systems Engineering for cross-
discipline systems engineering. Dassault Systèmes' system design tools
also include AUTOSAR Builder for developing AUTOSAR-compliant
systems models, then generating embedded code from these models;
ControlBuild for design and validation of control systems in conjunction
with a virtual model of the controlled product; and Dymola, a systems
modeling and simulation environment. Support for electronic design is
provided through an extensive network of EDA partners.
©2014 IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI245545 10
TABLE 1
PLM Providers: Approaches to Integrating Mechanical, Electrical/Electronic, and Software Development
PLM Provider Core PLM Offering Integrated Product Design Capabilities
IFS IFS PLM IFS' integrated product design capabilities include IFS Engineering
Change Management and IFS PDM Configuration for engineering design
and configuration control. The IFS CAD Integration Adaptor also supports
bi-directional CAD data integration with leading CAD programs, including
AutoCAD, Inventor, and Solidworks.
Oracle Corp. Oracle Agile PLM Oracle Agile supports integration with various upstream and downstream
design activities with Agile Product Portfolio Management, Agile Product
Cost Management, and Oracle Product Lifecycle Analytics. Oracle also
provides integrations to leading PLM, ALM, and EDA software tools
through its partner programs.
PTC Windchill PTC supports ALM with PTC Integrity, an ALM toolset to help discrete
manufacturers support coordination and collaboration between software
and hardware teams. Currently, Requirements, Defects, and Software
Build Configurations are synchronized between Windchill and Integrity.
For systems engineering, PTC also offers Verification & Validation, as a
part of the Integrity ALM product family. (For a complete description of
PTC's Integrity ALM offering, see the PTC entry in Table 2.)
SAP AG SAP PLM SAP ALM, while not intended specifically for embedded software,
provides processes, tools, services, and an organizational model to
manage SAP and non-SAP offerings throughout the application life cycle:
Requirements, Design, Build & Test, Deploy, Operate, and Optimize. In
addition to its own SAP ALM offering, SAP also has ALM integrations
with HP Software, IBM Rational, and IKAN ALM.
Siemens PLM
Software Inc.
Teamcenter For system modeling, Teamcenter integrates with MATLAB/Simulink,
LMS' Virtual.Lab, and LMS Imagine.Lab, a system simulation
environment for integrated controls, mechatronic simulation, and
integrated closed-loop testing. To support ALM, and to address the
configuration management needs of software development teams,
Teamcenter integrates with IBM Rational products. Additionally, Siemens
PLM also provides its own integrated capabilities for managing software
design components, embedded software binaries, and software
configuration and calibration parameters. Support for electronic design is
provided through an extensive network of EDA partners. Electro-
mechanical design is provided by Mechatronics Concept Designer.
Source: IDC Manufacturing Insights, 2014
©2014 IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI245545 11
Role of ALM Software Providers
While manufacturers will benefit from managing software development within an overall PLM
environment, IDC Manufacturing Insights believes that manufacturers of "software intensive" products
and services also require the ability to support "software specific" life-cycle management capabilities
as well.
Key capabilities manufacturers should look for in ALM offerings include requirements management,
test and quality management, software change and configuration management, and process and
system model management. ALM tools need to support full traceability from initial requirements to
source code production. They also need to support any process or methodology used by a
manufacturer or its suppliers (e.g., Agile, Waterfall, regulatory, and/or hybrid).
Of course, software development is only one aspect of the software life cycle and a single component
of the overall product configuration. Dozens of other individuals around the globe, such as business
and project managers, QA team participants, hardware engineers, and others, are involved in the
product development process as well. These stakeholders require access to a wide variety of
information and documentation relating to software projects. Therefore, ALM offerings should also be
able to integrate with PLM systems in order to effectively support such collaboration requirements.
ALM software also must support capabilities specific to a given manufacturer's industry. For example,
automotive manufacturers need ALM tools that are in compliance with diverse standards and
regulations including automotive SPICE, ISO 26262, CMMI, and others; control and automate software
project workflows in ways that can support ever-increasing numbers of model variants; and have
provisions for managing quality and for mitigating and managing risk in key vehicle safety functions.
For its Chevy Volt launch, for example, major automotive player GM used IBM Rational capabilities to
streamline design and delivery to help handle the increasing complexity and software content in
embedded system design for this new electric vehicle. IBM products used included DOORS for
requirements; Rhapsody with Design Manager for prototyping, design consistency, and to help
manage artifacts; and other Rational solutions for quality as well as change management and services
support. In its initial release, the Volt used an estimated 10 million lines of code, running about 100
control units, as compared with about 6 million lines of code in a typical 2009 model car. Each Volt
also has its own IP address. IBM's system engineering capabilities helped streamline GM's design and
deployment process, bringing this electric hybrid car to market in 29 months compared with 60 months
for a typical new car design cycle. This increased efficiency was especially significant since the Volt
used a new battery pack, electric drive unit, and cabin electronics.
In another example, BWI Group (Beijing West Industries), a premier chassis supplier that designs and
manufactures brake and suspension systems for the global transportation market, used PTC's Integrity
ALM software to manage all key aspects of the software development process for its suspension
systems: requirements management, configuration management, change management, and test
management. Because of the volume and complexity of software involved, it needed an ALM offering
that could accommodate change requests, provide traceability, and allow reuse of engineering
artifacts. Previously, BWI had to execute projects sequentially, one by one, according to Mark
DePoyster, manager, Electronic Control Unit (ECU) Core Engineering, at BWI. It can now work on up
©2014 IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI245545 12
to five projects in parallel and can create variants of each product based on different OEM
requirements.
A partial list of ALM vendors engaged in addressing the integration of software development into the
whole product life cycle includes BigLever Software Inc., Electric Cloud Inc., IBM Corp., Polarion
Software Inc., and PTC Integrity (see Table 2).
IBM, in particular, has focused on integrating its broad portfolio of ALM tools with its systems
engineering capabilities since the early 1990s. The most obvious example of this coordination is
Rational Engineering Lifecycle Manager (RELM), which can link engineering and IBM ALM artifacts to
help teams visualize, analyze, and organize engineering data and their relationships. This helps
improve data reuse, change management, quality, and compliance. RELM builds a near-real-time
index of the data and relationships from source tools such as Rational DOORS, Rational Rhapsody
with Design Manager, Rational Team Concert, and Rational Quality Manager. RELM also delivers
cross-domain views, impact analysis, and the ability to group the data into product and system
structures to support search and queries.
©2014 IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI245545 13
TABLE 2
ALM Providers: Approaches to Integrating Mechanical, Electrical/Electronic, and Software Development
Software Provider Offerings and Capabilities Partners
BigLever Software
Inc.
BigLever's software supports "product line
engineering" (PLE) for systems and software by
enabling a product line portfolio to be
engineered as a "single production system"
rather than a multitude of products.
BigLever has developed software interfaces to
CVS, Eclipse, IBM Rational ClearCase, IBM
Rational DOORS, IBM Rational Quality Manager,
IBM Rational Rhapsody, IBM Rational Synergy,
Microsoft Visual Studio, Perforce, Serena
Dimensions CM, Sparx Systems Enterprise
Architect, Subversion, and others.
Electric Cloud Inc. Electric Cloud's tools automate software build,
test, deploy, and release processes. It offers an
automotive software solution, an Agile Software
Development environment, and an Android
Lifecycle Management solution.
Electric Cloud's partners include Cisco,
Opscode, Parasoft, Perforce, PTC, Rally
Software, VMware, and Wind River. In PLM, the
company has partnered with PTC Integrity for a
software delivery environment in which PTC tools
support "software life-cycle management," while
Electric Cloud tools support "software life-cycle
automation."
IBM IBM products for systems engineering include
DOORS for management and traceability of
requirements; Rhapsody Design Manager for
design, prototyping, development, and quality
support; and RELM for cross-domain views and
analysis across ALM and engineering data,
including Rational Team Concert, Quality
Manager, and other Rational and third-party
solutions for broad life-cycle management
support.
Within the PLM ecosystem, IBM partners include
Cadence Design Systems, Centric Software,
Dassault Systèmes, Geometric Software
Solutions, MSC Software, PTC, ProSTEP,
Siemens PLM Software, and Stoneworks
Software. Sample related ALM partnerships and
integration include Big Lever, Mathworks
Simulink, and National Instruments.
Polarion Software
Inc.
Polarion Software provides ALM, requirements
management, quality assurance, and
collaborative test management tools.
Polarion Software's partners include Congruent
Compliance, eXept Software, IT-Designers,
OpenMake Software, PureSystems, QMetry,
Quilmont, Sparx Systems, Sunfire SCM, and
Vector Software.
PTC PTC's Integrity ALM tools support requirements
definition and management, software change
and configuration management, system model
management, global product development, and
test management in a single environment. For
systems engineering, PTC also offers
Verification & Validation, as a part of the
Integrity ALM product family.
Electric Cloud has partnered with PTC Integrity
for a software delivery environment in which PTC
tools support "software life-cycle management,"
while Electric Cloud tools support "software life-
cycle automation."
Source: IDC Manufacturing Insights, 2013
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Role of Systems Engineering Software Providers
Originally far separated from PLM, systems engineering software is now being recognized by leading
vendors in both PLM and ALM as an important capability to include in their suite of integrated
offerings. Such simulation environments enable manufacturers to more readily understand, visualize,
verify, and validate changes within the system as a whole.
Prominent systems engineering software offerings from PLM and ALM vendors include:
Dymola, a systems modeling and simulation environment from Dassault Systèmes SA, offered
both standalone and as part of the CATIA product family
Gears, a product line engineering tool and life-cycle framework from BigLever Software
LMS Imagine.Lab, a multi-domain system simulation environment from the LMS business unit of Siemens PLM Software
Verification & Validation, a part of the Integrity ALM product family from PTC
Another major vendor is The MathWorks Inc., developer of the widely used Simulink software for
systems simulation and model-based design and the companion MATLAB programming language for
engineering modeling and analysis.
Role of Service Providers
Manufacturers seeking help with integrating mechanical, electrical/electronic, and software
development should look to PLM/ALM/IT service providers with expertise and track records in driving
industry best practices and in helping implement best practices and bring about organizational and
cultural change to bridge divides between these domains.
The value of these service providers for manufacturers lies in their blend of technology and domain
expertise for embedded solutions. A key strength is that their capabilities often span mechanical
engineering, electrical/electronic and embedded systems engineering, product and packaging design,
engineering analysis, and more. (Upcoming research will explore this topic further and will provide a
more in-depth look at how manufacturers might consider taking advantage of these types of services.)
Typically, service providers' capabilities in embedded software development have been built up over
the course of multiple projects for many manufacturers in different industries. This experience,
combined with their business process expertise, positions them to provide end-to-end support
throughout the value chain of integrated mechanical, electrical/electronic, and software product
development and delivery, from requirements engineering through field maintenance and service.
Given the cultural disconnects across groups in these environments, an outside service provider can
help enable process and organizational change. Process change is typically the most difficult aspect of
transitioning organizations to combined approaches for PLM and ALM. With appropriate guidelines,
SLAs, and structure, service providers can help jump-start and facilitate evolution to a united approach.
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PLM/ALM/IT service providers addressing the integration of mechanical, electrical/electronic, and
software development, each to varying degrees, include Accenture, Atos, Capgemini, CSC, Deloitte,
HP, IBM, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tech Mahindra, and Wipro.
ESSENTIAL GUIDANCE
Actions to Consider
Ultimately, manufacturers of complex products — whether "software-intensive" or containing a mix of
mechanical, electrical/electronic, and/or software components — must adopt new approaches to
product development that support closer integration of mechanical, electrical/electronic, and software
development and integration.
In particular, to achieve a competitive advantage and to manage and mitigate risk, these
manufacturers must:
Adopt a systems-driven approach to product development — one that combines systems engineering with an integrated product definition and that supports the ability to define
interdependencies and to clearly communicate the impact of changes to the system.
Leverage PLM to break down traditional divides between mechanical, electrical/electronic, and software domains and to facilitate communication among all stakeholders — mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, product managers, project managers, software engineers,hardware engineers, executive-level management, and others.
Integrate PLM and ALM tools and processes to keep software development in sync with mechanical and electrical/electronic product development, as required. (This applies in any
case where a significant amount of software is involved but is especially important in cases where overall product performance (or failure) of a product is software dependent.)
Furthermore, to maximize the benefit of implementing new software tools for more integrated
mechanical, electrical/electronic, and software product development, manufacturers must leverage
these toolset changes as opportunities for business process transformation. Specifically, they should:
Drive organizational and cultural change necessary to bridge gaps between previously disconnected "silos" of single-domain engineering activities.
Develop and implement best practices for systems engineering and whole product approaches to product development.
It is also worth noting here that as the market opportunity for "smart" products and services grows,
forward-looking manufacturers of "software intensive" products will increasingly view software not only as
a product component but as a key source of innovation and differentiation. To support this effort, it will be
essential not only to integrate ALM and PLM capabilities as part of the product development process but
to do so early in the process, in order to fully evaluate and capitalize on any software-driven innovations.
Even manufacturers that are not presently part of the "smart" product trend, however, should begin to
pay attention to this emerging market and should acquaint themselves with the capabilities (or
limitations) of their PLM systems in this area. They should also familiarize themselves with the role that
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ALM plays in software-driven product development and should begin to explore what changes in their
product development process would be required if they elected to enable their products with
electronics or software.
Such strategies enable manufacturers to field leading-edge products while mitigating the risks of ever
more complex software development required to keep products competitive.
LEARN MORE
Related Research
Worldwide Product Life-Cycle Strategies 2014 Top 10 Predictions (IDC Manufacturing Insights
#MI245082, December 2013)
2014 Top 10 Predictions in Manufacturing Aftersales Service (IDC Manufacturing Insights
#MI245040, December 2013)
Market Analysis Perspective: Application Life-Cycle and Project Portfolio Management, 2013 —Driving Quality, Change, and Portfolio Strategies to Address Complexity (IDC #245045,
December 2013)
Worldwide Software Quality Analysis and Measurement 2013–2017 Forecast and 2012 Vendor Shares: Leveraging Code Insight to Avert Risk and Optimize Businesses (IDC #245146, December 2013)
Worldwide Internet of Things (IoT) 2013–2020 Forecast: Billions of Things, Trillions of Dollars(IDC #243661, October 2013)
Business Strategy: Boosting Business Value with Industry-Specific PLM (IDC Manufacturing
Insights #MI243701, October 2013)
Business Strategy: Modernizing the Service Chain with Smart Technology (IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI241900, July 2013)
Business Strategy: Developing a Visual Decision-Making Framework That Drives Business Value for Manufacturers (IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI242079, July 2013)
Business Strategy: Creating New PLM Economic Models — Balancing Innovation and Reuse(IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI241529, June 2013)
Synopsis
This IDC Manufacturing Insights report presents the business transformation steps that manufacturers
must take to support the development of increasingly complex products, especially those containing
embedded software and electronics.
"Ultimately, as products continue to grow in complexity, manufacturers' ability to collaborate across
disciplines and to support multi-disciplinary decision making in product development — using tools and
strategies such as PLM, ALM, and a systems-driven approach — will become increasingly important,
not only to improve time to market and to achieve competitive advantage but to manage and mitigate
risk." — Amy Rowell, research manager, Product Lifecycle Strategies, IDC Manufacturing Insights
About IDC
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory
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