business strategy: integrating mechanical,...

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


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


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.


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


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


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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


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


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.


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


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.


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


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

services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications and consumer technology

markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community make fact-

based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1000 IDC analysts

provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in

over 110 countries worldwide. For more than 48 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our

clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading

technology media, research, and events company.

Global Headquarters

5 Speen Street

Framingham, MA 01701

USA

508.988.7900

Twitter: @IDC

idc-insights-community.com

www.idc.com

Copyright Notice

Copyright 2014 IDC Manufacturing Insights. Reproduction without written permission is completely forbidden.

External Publication of IDC Manufacturing Insights Information and Data: Any IDC Manufacturing Insights

information that is to be used in advertising, press releases, or promotional materials requires prior written

approval from the appropriate IDC Manufacturing Insights Vice President. A draft of the proposed document

should accompany any such request. IDC Manufacturing Insights reserves the right to deny approval of external

usage for any reason.

business strategy: integrating mechanical,...

Documents