IndustryRetail

Business challengesProliferation of product data

Keys to successSolid Edge for design innovationTeamcenter Express for quick and efficient document retrieval Integration of CAD and non-CAD data, including Word and PDF files, in one databaseA single data management platform for all group branches and subsidiaries Programmed workflows to automate product develop-ment processesUser authentication, access restriction and role-based functionality

With Teamcenter Express, Solid Edge models and other product data are immediately accessible to all corporate departments; Siemens PLM Software solutions protect intellectual property

Premium fashion Riri SA (Riri), a Swiss company founded in 1936, is a leading producer of high-quality zippers used in clothing and apparel. Enrico Matteazzi, R&D (research and devel-opment) manager of the company’s zipper division, has no hesitation in calling Riri’s product “the Rolls Royce of zippers.” This statement is supported by the company’s customer portfolio, which includes world-famous fashion and luxury brands.

Riri expanded its product range in 2008 with the acquisition of Cobrax, a global leader in metal buttons. As a result, the company has become a group with 700 employees, three manufacturing sites (at its headquarters in Mendrisio, Switzerland; at the zipper division in Tirano, Italy; and at the button division in Padua, Italy). It also operates an Italian subsidiary in Milan along with branch offices in Paris, Munich, New York, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

During the peak season, Riri produces 70 kilometers (approximately 44 miles) of finished zippers per day. With an annual turnover equal to 70 million Euros, the company manufactures zippers for differ-

Solid Edge • Teamcenter Express

www.siemens.com/plm

Riri Luxury fashion manufacturer uses PLM to synchronize zipper and button development

ent types of products, from leather goods to clothing, and from shoes to shoulder gear. It also produces high-tech products for special applications, including army tents and survival equipment.

Riri manufactures zippers and metal buttons.

Proliferating documentationRiri’s technical department designs and develops its products, including leather goods, clothes, shoes and outerwear, as well as molds and tooling for plastic mold-ing machines and Zamac casting equip-ment. All assembly, manufacturing and quality control operations are performed in-house. These are complemented by external partners for different needs. Customers are increasingly requiring their own equipment for checking or applying zippers to clothing, changing the nature of the supplier-customer relationship.

“Our product can be developed in two ways,” explains Matteazzi. “The first approach is internal brainstorming or input from sales and partners. We identify an interesting product and we move on with feasibility studies, budget definition, design and prototyping, and on to produc-tion and distribution. Alternatively, we get a specific request from a customer, asking to customize the zipper puller and/or body.”

The engineering process is a collaboration between the technical and industrial engi-neering departments, and involves a team of 12 people who are responsible for all design stages, test-related documents, verifications and approvals, and project revisions – essentially the entire product development cycle. This team is where the company first implemented Solid Edge® software from Siemens PLM Software.

“The capabilities we needed from Teamcenter Express – data search and process management – work as we expected.”

Enrico Matteazzi R&D Manager Zipper Division Riri SA

“Today we have nine Solid Edge licenses,” says Matteazzi. “As we added CAD (com-puter-aided design) workstations, we were confronted with the proliferation of CAD documents, in addition to a huge volume of paper documents stored in our archives. We realized that having each designer manage his own documents was driving the system to collapse.”

The company identified two requirements: first, a way to search documents and correctly identify the latest version; and second, the ability to align each document with the corresponding zipper, mold and tooling. The latter included linking CAD documents to all non-CAD files related to the same project, including standards, requirements, datasheets and reports con-tained in different Word files and portable document format (PDF) files.

Riri also needed to manage its develop-ment process more efficiently. “In a company where roles, relationships and strategies change, it is essential to rely on systems that, through programmed work-flows, automatically address the process with one click, independently of the mem-ory, attention and good will of individual users,” Matteazzi recalls.

PDM – “Perfectly fit our requirements”In the wake of its positive experience with Solid Edge, Riri turned to Novasystem, a Siemens PLM Software partner, to evaluate possible product data management (PDM)

ResultsAccurate product information accessible to all business divisionsDesign data leveraged for use in sales, procurement, customer service, production planning and manufacturingIntellectual property protected

Teamcenter Express has been gradually extended to other offices, from industrial engineering to quality, with future integration plans involving sales and manufacturing.

In the wake of its positive experience with Solid Edge, Riri turned to Novasystem, a Siemens PLM Software partner, to evaluate PDM solutions.

Riri had two requirements for its PDM system: the ability to search documents and correctly identify the latest version, and to align documents with the corresponding zipper, mold and tooling.

led us to equip our CAD stations with Teamcenter Express licenses. The licenses have also been extended to other offices, from industrial engineering to quality, with future integration plans for sales and manufacturing as well.”

The Teamcenter Express implementation started with a macro analysis of the busi-ness organization to identify all interven-tion areas. Initially, the company focused on research and development.

“The capabilities we needed from Teamcenter Express – data search and process management – work as we expected,” says Matteazzi. “It may seem banal, but we have realized the great value you get when you find and immedi-ately recognize the correct information and its status. Besides this, another useful capability is bill of materials (BOM) man-agement. We use fictitious items, which have not been drawn yet, so that we can handle samples and tests, keeping track of all item codes from the very start. Another benefit is assembly management based on Teamcenter Express rules, such as ‘last designed’ or ‘last released’, for the revision of each assembly. Finally, the creation of CAD documents as PDF files is maybe less impressive but very useful, as all documents can be viewed by all depart-ments, avoiding manual PDF printouts. And of course, the PDF file is always con-sistent with the model’s latest version.”

Continuously improving competitive positionThe Siemens PLM Software tools currently implemented in the engineering depart-ment will eventually be extended to other business areas, including sales, procure-ment, customer service, production plan-ning and manufacturing. “The second step involves extending the access to data to other users, who will also add their docu-ments to the system. The issues of security and privacy are very important for a com-pany such as ours, which holds about 80 patents. Teamcenter Express offers all the necessary capabilities for user authentica-

Riri uses Teamcenter Express to manage projects and to link CAD documents to all non-CAD files related to the same project.

Riri’s technical department designs and develops products, as well as molds and tooling for plastic molding machines and Zamac casting equipment.

At Riri, the engineering process is a collaboration between the technical and industrial engineering departments.

The tools currently implemented in the engineering department will be extended to other business areas, including sales, procurement, customer service, production planning and manufacturing.

solutions. “When we were almost ready to choose, it was announced that Siemens PLM Software was about to launch Teamcenter Express, the product lifecycle management (PLM) solution for small and medium businesses, which perfectly fit our requirements,” Matteazzi says. “At that point, we had to decide between a pack-age developed to our specific needs and requirements, or a solution directly sup-plied by Siemens: more standard but offer-ing long-term stability. We went for the second option, starting a process that has

© 2011 Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. All rights reserved. Siemens and the Siemens logo are registered trademarks of Siemens AG. D-Cubed, Femap, Geolus, GO PLM, I-deas, Insight, JT, NX, Parasolid, Solid Edge, Teamcenter, Tecnomatix and Velocity Series are trademarks or registered trademarks of Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. All other logos, trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of their respective holders. Z4 26027 11/11 Cwww.siemens.com/plm

Siemens Industry Software

Americas +1 800 807 2200 Europe +44 (0) 1202 243455 Asia-Pacific +852 2230 3308

Solutions/ServicesSolid Edge www.siemens.com/solidedge Teamcenter Express www.siemens.com/plm/ teamcenterexpress

Customer’s primary businessRiri SA produces luxury zippers and buttons. www.riri.com

Customer locationMendrisio Switzerland

PartnerNovasystem

“As we added CAD worksta-tions, we were confronted with the proliferation of CAD documents. This problem was solved effectively by implementing Teamcenter Express.”

Enrico Matteazzi R&D Manager Zipper Division Riri SA

tion, access restriction and role-based functionality.”

The expansion plan will also bring Siemens PLM Software technology to all group sub-sidiaries. At present, Teamcenter Express is up and running at the Tirano site, where people can access data for browsing and printing. “Once we have completed the integration with other offices, we will move out from the Mendrisio headquar-ters,” says Matteazzi. “We have already

started the integration with the Milan branch for customer service, and we are evaluating the possibility of granting access to our agents in the territory, pro-vided we can guarantee suitable browsing speeds and intellectual property protection.”

Since the introduction of Solid Edge, Riri has been collaborating with Novasystem, which provides user training and configu-ration support services to the company. “We worked side-by-side with Novasystem during the initial analysis, installation and commissioning,” Matteazzi notes. “Now we have resumed intensive collaboration for the second stage.”

“Helping an organization like Riri improve its competitiveness is a challenge,” says Graziano Bergonzi, technical sales man-ager in the PLM division of Novasystem. “We are proud that we have been able to help this customer respond to the demands of a more complicated market, and to create a solid database onto which they are developing an extended platform on a global scale.”

During the peak season the company produces 70 kilometers of finished zipper per day.