30,000 iMAN Licenses Confirm GM’s Commitment To UGS’ c-Commerce Strategy
Unigraphics Solutions Inc. (NYSE: UGS) today announces that it has signed a three-year, $139 million software and services contract with General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM), enabling the creation of the world’s largest collaborative engineering network. This unique environment provides GM’s product teams, located around the globe, with simultaneous access to an unprecedented amount of digital vehicle information.
Go deeper with GlobalData
In addition to renewing GM’s commitment to UGS’ Unigraphics (UG) high-end CAD/CAM/CAE software as its corporate standard, this new agreement also includes a major endorsement of iMAN, UGS’ Internet-centric product content management application and the foundation for UGS’ c-Commerce (collaborative- commerce) strategy. The UGS worldwide agreement with GM now provides more than 10,000 licenses of Unigraphics and over 30,000 iMAN licenses for enterprise-wide access to product intellectual capital. This contract is a follow-on agreement to the 1996 software and maintenance site-license, and is retroactive to June 1, 1999.
In 1996, GM’s goal was to cut vehicle development time from 42 months to 24 months. Today, according to Jay Wetzel, vice president of GM’s Technical Centers, the company has 21 vehicles in development on 24-month cycles — more than any other automaker — “thanks to advanced computer design tools that already have resulted in $1 billion worth of savings.”
“In December 1999, GM installed its 8,600th license of Unigraphics,” says Kirk Gutmann, Information Officer of Develop Product for GM. “The last phase of this installation was the fastest and most successful CAD/CAM/CAE implementation in the history of the industry — over 3,500 UG seats in less than 12 months. Our expansion to 30,000 licenses of iMAN will establish GM as the world’s premier collaborative product commerce (CPC) corporation by enabling the company to tie together all vehicle development contributors. The iMAN expansion will also enable the company’s global supplier base to collaborate in ‘real-time’ on the vehicle development process.”
Having a common global CAD/CAM system helps with the complex issues of maintaining consistent processes, enabling system integration, eliminating redundancy, capturing best practices, lowering training costs and providing a more reliable and efficient technology refresh.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataOne example of how GM leverages its global CAD/CAM system is in its use of a Unigraphics technology known as UG WAVE. UG WAVE is a pervasive technology in Unigraphics that enables users to model large, complex assemblies as parametrically controlled systems. It serves as the basis for UG’s knowledge- based approach to CAD/CAM/CAE, known as Predictive Engineering. By using the UG WAVE software, GM is able to expand its math-based capability and further streamline vehicle development.
“GM has worked hand-in-hand with UGS to define its engineers’ needs regarding knowledge-based tools and digital math models,” says Ron Debrabant, director of CAD/CAM Integration and Design Processes at GM. “They met our needs and delivered value in both these areas with UG WAVE technology. This software will enable GM to implement a total systems engineering approach to vehicle design and significantly reduce the time it takes to design the entire vehicle. GM’s process for die design and manufacturing is one area where the company has seen dramatic gains using UG WAVE. The aggressive implementation of Unigraphics with Predictive Engineering represents a competitive differentiator for GM and its suppliers.”
In addition to iMAN and Unigraphics, GM will also continue to benefit from other UGS products such as ProductVision, an integrated viewing and interactive visualization tool, and Parasolid, UGS’ industry-leading kernel solid modeling product that provides GM with a digital math pipeline.
“While some companies use UG, iMAN, ProductVision and Parasolid very successfully in a standalone fashion, GM leverages the integrated nature of these products,” says Dr. Heinz Lehnhoff, Engineering IT Officer for GMIO (General Motors International Operations). “Our implementations of rapid digital mockups for virtual reality rely on being able to get current information, in the right visual and interactive form, to a broad set of users across the enterprise. Having a single, integrated data management and CAD/CAM/CAE system gives GM a unique competitive advantage over other automotive OEMs. Designers using our Design Studio Powerwall (a huge, wall- sized visualization system for viewing and manipulating full-scale digital vehicle assemblies), through our virtual factory simulations, benefit from using a single data standard or ‘math highway’ through Parasolid, eliminating costly data translations and the errors associated with those translations.”
“We have witnessed an accelerated rate of positive change at GM that few people in the industry would have thought possible only a few years ago,” says John Mazzola, president and CEO of Unigraphics Solutions. “The advancements of GM’s IT environment, its use of software tools such as Unigraphics and iMAN and its overall streamlined processes are a testament to the aggressive drive of GM’s people to have the best vehicle development process in the automotive industry. We are very enthusiastic about the on going commitment that GM shares with UGS for our products, future direction and services. We don’t know of any other automotive OEM using a common CAD/CAM and PDM strategy across its Body, Chassis and Powertrain product development and manufacturing organizations. We are proud of the accomplishments to date by our partnership and look forward to the possibilities for the future.”
About iMAN
iMAN is a Internet-centric software product used by manufacturing enterprises to manage product content for collaborative commerce. It provides control of all product and process information shared by a variety of cross- functional teams including company personnel, suppliers, partners and customers. Successfully implemented by the world’s most demanding global organizations, iMAN is an industry proven application.
iMAN delivers extensive tools to address a broad base of collaborative commerce opportunities. The easy-to-use iMAN Portal was the industry’s first Java-based framework designed to leverage product content and enable c- commerce. iMAN Portal provides users with a productivity platform to quickly access critical product data, resulting in significant reductions in time-to- market and increased product and process innovation. Other leading collaborative commerce tools include iMAN’s patented Product Structure Management application and robust multi-site solution with iMAN’s Global Server technology.
For more information, please visit iMAN on the World Wide Web at www.ugsolutions.com/products/iman
About Unigraphics
Unigraphics (UG) is a fully integrated CAD/CAM/CAE software suite addressing the entire product development process from conceptual design, to functional engineering and analysis, to manufacturing. UG incorporates Predictive Engineering technology — a combination of design optimization techniques with product and process knowledge-based engineering — to dramatically improve productivity in industries like automotive, aerospace, machinery, consumer products, medical instruments and tooling. Unigraphics has been one of the industry’s top rated CAD/CAM applications for over 25 years. It is used to improve productivity in the design-through-manufacturing processes at many of the world’s most respected companies including General Motors, Boeing, 3M, Eastman Kodak, Denso and General Electric. For more information, please visit Unigraphics on the World Wide Web at www.ugsolutions.com/products/unigraphics .
Parasolid – Powering the Digital Enterprise(TM)
Parasolid is an industry-leading kernel solid modeling product with technology and innovations that power today’s most advanced mechanical CAD/CAM/CAE applications. Parasolid’s Extreme Modeling is a series of well- integrated, proprietary technologies that provide the ability to confidently model the most complex parts and assemblies found in any industry. In addition, Parasolid pioneered the first production implementation of a symmetric multi-processing (SMP) enabled geometric kernel that provides significantly increased performance on today’s multi-processor computers. Finally, Parasolid delivers an interoperable Data Pipeline allowing Parasolid- based systems to share and exchange geometric data without translation using its de facto standard XT file format.
More than 225 Parasolid-powered applications have shipped or been announced with more than 200 organizations currently licensing Parasolid. In addition to its use in UGS’ Unigraphics and Solid Edge products, licensees of Parasolid include Parametric Technology, SolidWorks (a subsidiary of Dassault Systemes SA), Bentley Systems, Alventive (formerly Visionary Design Systems), CADKEY, ANSYS, Mechanical Dynamics and MSC.Software. Over 500,000 end user seats have the Parasolid kernel embedded within them. For more information please visit www.parasolid.com on the World Wide Web.
About ProductVision
ProductVision is an advanced visualization and collaboration tool that provides an intuitive interface to the graphical product definition for an entire extended manufacturing enterprise. ProductVision provides a single, CAD-independent environment to access, interrogate and evaluate the digital model. As an integral component of the UGS software suite, ProductVision provides universal access to information authored in the Unigraphics or Solid Edge and managed in iMAN. ProductVision enables many of the world’s leading companies to perform the entire spectrum of visualization tasks, from simple graphical display to full digital product development.
About Unigraphics Solutions
Unigraphics Solutions Inc. (NYSE: UGS) is focused on improving the entire product life cycle for mechanical design and manufacturing companies through the delivery of solutions that address process and productivity enhancements. Its CAD/CAM/CAE, product content management and e-Business solutions are designed to promote CPC (collaborative product commerce) through incorporation of today’s most advanced technology and intelligent use of the Internet. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, UGS has been providing software solutions to engineering and manufacturing companies for over 25 years. Due to the company’s excellent performance, Business Week magazine named Unigraphics Solutions as one of the world’s top ten software companies in 1999. UGS is the first company in its industry to earn the ISO 9001/TickIT certification. Please contact UGS at 800-498-5351 or via the World Wide Web at www.ugsolutions.com .
Unigraphics Solutions, Parasolid, Solid Edge, Unigraphics, ProductVision, iMAN, GRIP, managedServices, LightningStart and RAPIDiMAN are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of Unigraphics Solutions Inc. All other trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks belong to their respective holders. The information within is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Unigraphics Solutions.
