PTC announced that Lufthansa Technik Group has selected Windchill Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and the ThingWorx Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) platforms as the core technology to digitally transform its product development and engineering processes.
Windchill will serve as the engineering backbone, enabling R&D and manufacturing to work concurrently and improve collaboration both internally and among its many suppliers. Windchill’s secure data repository will also help ensure that Lufthansa Technik’s intellectual property is protected across its global supply chain.
Windchill, PTC’s PLM platform, makes it easier to leverage a consolidated, up-to-date digital thread of product information, including connected data. Windchill’s highly configurable out-of-the-box applications enable users to work faster and with more accuracy – reducing time-to-market, cutting costs, and improving quality.
With Windchill, users across the value chain are able to interact with data dynamically in 3D – both on a screen and through augmented reality. With deployment options including cloud and on-premises, Windchill has the flexibility, performance, and scale that companies require to be industry leaders.
ThingWorx will enable Lufthansa Technik to monitor its workshops, advance automation, and increase data-driven decision making. Together, Windchill and ThingWorx will enable the Group to significantly increase the level of digitalization within its processes, improve interfaces between customers and suppliers, and create new innovative digital business models to generate new revenue streams.
With some 35 subsidiaries and affiliates, the Lufthansa Technik Group is one of the leading providers of technical aircraft services in the world. Certified internationally as maintenance, production and design organization, the company has a workforce of more than 25,000 employees.
Lufthansa Technik’s portfolio covers the range of services for commercial and VIP/special mission aircraft, engines, components and landing gear in the areas of digital fleet support, maintenance, repair, overhaul, modification, completion and conversion as well as the manufacture of cabin products.
“Lufthansa Technik stands for state-of-the-art workmanship and the very best quality. The magnitude of our organization combined with the complexity of the processes and projects we drive, made the dedicated step to across-the-board digital transformation imperative,” said Dr. Severin S. Todt, senior director IT completion and design solutions, Lufthansa Technik AG. “Lufthansa Technik carried out a comprehensive and extensive evaluation of competitive PLM and IoT systems before selecting PTC. The Group chose PTC technology based on its world-class architecture and the seamless integration between Windchill and ThingWorx. Combined, the robust data management backbone and award-winning IIoT platform will enable a new level of collaboration both internally and externally, protect our IP, and help us measure and maintain the highest possible quality at all times. The PTC Customer Success program provided great support during our first IoT projects and supplied us with technical expertise as needed from highly skilled technical experts. With guidance from PTC’s Customer Success organization, we were able to smoothly reach our project goals on time.”
“Enabling digital transformation for the Aerospace and Defense market is a major focus for PTC. We’re proud to be working with Lufthansa Technik as they embark on their transformation journey,” said Kevin Wrenn, divisional general manager, PLM segment, PTC. “This world-class organization’s selection of Windchill and ThingWorx is indicative of large enterprises favoring scalable, out-of-the-box solutions that connect well with other enterprise domain systems in an open, modern architecture.”
Groupe Beneteau is also using PTC’s Windchill PLM platform to create a digital thread for the development of its customized sailing yachts, powerboats, and luxury leisure homes. The iconic French boat builder recently rolled out a digital transformation initiative that covers both its industrial processes and the management of its commercial business. Developing synergies between its R&D, design, and manufacturing teams is helping to drive greater operational excellence and product differentiation.
To implement this transformation strategy across its production sites, Groupe Beneteau started with PTC’s PLM platform to develop a digital thread throughout the product’s lifecycle – from design, to product development, to manufacturing.
The digital thread provides an integrated view of the product and delivers the right product information – including options and variants – to all stakeholders. This enables greater productivity, faster time-to-market of customizable boats, better product quality, and lower costs as scrap and rework requirements are reduced.
With Windchill, Groupe Beneteau can make more informed decisions throughout the product development process and improve communication and collaboration. This initiative allows Groupe Beneteau to deliver a better customer experience with more product and service features and personalization options, and faster product delivery, all at lower prices.
“Our digital thread will be managed by PLM, which creates the backbone necessary to execute an Industrie 4.0 strategy. With a complete digital process, we will have the speed and flexibility to deliver our products with more features at a more competitive price,” said Bertrand Dutilleul, Global CIO, Groupe Beneteau. “Through parallel work streams and a consistent digital thread of information running through our product’s lifecycles, we will be able to personalize our products while reducing production time and errors. In addition, we will be able to reduce our stock of product components, due to the precision introduced into the manufacturing process. With these improvements, we expect to achieve significant and progressive operational cost savings and efficiencies.”
