From September 14 to 15, the CONTACT Open World 2022 took place in Bremen. Under the motto "Shape the sustainable future now!", more than 500 national and international customers, partners, and employees came together to learn about and discuss successful strategies and technologies for a sustainable digital transformation.
Successful generation change
This year for the first time, Maximilian Zachries, Managing Director and eldest son of company founder Karl Heinz Zachries, opened the CONTACT Open World. After a heartfelt thank you to all attendants, he addressed the motto of the event. Climate change, pandemic, recession, global conflicts, and "workerlessness" pose major challenges for companies today, he said. According to Zachries, the pressure to act is particularly strong in the area of sustainability, which is becoming increasingly intertwined with the industry's digitalization. PLM is an important lever here. The digital transformation of the industry requires a continuous flow of information, which makes a seamless link between the digital thread and the digital twin essential. CONTACT ensures this through the interaction of its PLM and IoT products, said Zachries. Based on this closed-loop approach, the company wants to develop a sustainability monitor together with partners to provide even better support for product manufacturers in their work.
International growth
CONTACT is successfully continuing its global growth path. At the Open World, numerous international customers presented their digitization projects. The Norwegian Ulstein Group builds ships for expeditions, the offshore industry, and many other fields of application. It manages the lifecycle of thousands of ship components with CIM Database. The usage of PLM is an important step on the way to more sustainable products, as Håkon Vestnes, Lead Naval Architect at Ulstein, pointed out. Headquartered in Iceland, Marel is a global solutions provider for fish, meat, and poultry processing. The company uses the Elements platform as a data highway, which provides master data of configurable equipment and spare parts information for downstream processes. "Let's all cycle" is the guiding principle under which the Dutch company Van Raam develops special bicycles for people with disabilities. It uses CIM Database to handle its multi-variant products more efficiently. At the Indian automotive supplier Apollo Tyres, CONTACT's PLM solution – alongside the ERP and MES systems – is a central element of the new, global development environment.
"I was impressed by how quickly thyssenkrupp Dynamic Components implemented the IoT solution for the shopfloor."
Dr. Andreas Burkhardt, PDM Project Leader / Deputy IT Manager, KÜSTER Holding
"I think it's very impressive what's happened in terms of innovation since the last Open World, especially in project management."
Henning Schewe, Group Manager IT Engineering, KOSTAL
Modular low-code platform
With its component architecture, the Elements platform provides the basis for all CONTACT products. It enables application modules to be developed and rolled out very quickly. For the analysts at Gartner, it is an example of a "composable architecture" that enables companies to flexibly combine different application modules into a customized solution. "CONTACT's move to the cloud underscores the flexibility and scalability of this architecture," emphasized Peter Bilello, CEO of the consulting firm CIMdata, at the Open World.
CONTACT Director of Software Development Frank Patz-Brockmann presented in his keynote the latest developments of the current platform version, such as baselining, the shared use of dashboard configurations, and UTC timestamps for consistent time data in global deployments. Features for sustainable product development and the move to Python 3 are planned for the next release. Patz-Brockmann illustrated how CONTACT Elements supports the digitization of the entire enterprise organization: Its modular architecture, universal Web UI, and low-code principle allow its components to be combined and adapted as needed. An additional feature is the interoperability of the platform. Following the example of the Internet, it provides all services via HTTPS and REST APIs to make it fully cloud-capable.
Different cloud models
André Guldi, Product Manager Cloud, underlined that cloud usage is increasingly becoming the "new normal" for companies and presented the cloud offerings that CONTACT provides for its customers. The SaaS model (Software as a Service) offers a preconfigured set of functions that are deployed immediately and managed by CONTACT. The PaaS model (Platform as a Service) allows enterprises to customize their instances. Both operating models use the infrastructure of AWS, which is to be operated with 100 percent green power by 2025.
Manthey, highly successful in motorsports and as a tuner of Porsche sports cars, is one of the first SaaS customers. The company has replaced its PDM system with CIM Database in the cloud to increase the added value from design to service and supply chain. The SaaS solution is running smoothly and enjoys high user acceptance, said Manthey's Development Manager Stefan Mages.
Different cloud models
André Guldi, Product Manager Cloud, underlined that cloud usage is increasingly becoming the "new normal" for companies and presented the cloud offerings that CONTACT provides for its customers. The SaaS model (Software as a Service) offers a preconfigured set of functions that are deployed immediately and managed by CONTACT. The PaaS model (Platform as a Service) allows enterprises to customize their instances. Both operating models use the infrastructure of AWS, which is to be operated with 100 percent green power by 2025.
Manthey, highly successful in motorsports and as a tuner of Porsche sports cars, is one of the first SaaS customers. The company has replaced its PDM system with CIM Database in the cloud to increase the added value from design to service and supply chain. The SaaS solution is running smoothly and enjoys high user acceptance, said Manthey's Development Manager Stefan Mages.
Different cloud models
André Guldi, Product Manager Cloud, underlined that cloud usage is increasingly becoming the "new normal" for companies and presented the cloud offerings that CONTACT provides for its customers. The SaaS model (Software as a Service) offers a preconfigured set of functions that are deployed immediately and managed by CONTACT. The PaaS model (Platform as a Service) allows enterprises to customize their instances. Both operating models use the infrastructure of AWS, which is to be operated with 100 percent green power by 2025.
Manthey, highly successful in motorsports and as a tuner of Porsche sports cars, is one of the first SaaS customers. The company has replaced its PDM system with CIM Database in the cloud to increase the added value from design to service and supply chain. The SaaS solution is running smoothly and enjoys high user acceptance, said Manthey's Development Manager Stefan Mages.
Develop sustainable products
Quality and compliance are key drivers for more sustainability, said Dr. Regine Wolters, Product Manager PLM, at the presentation of the new Elements module for enterprise-wide materials data management. Integrated material, product, and compliance data are essential for the development of sustainable products and are becoming increasingly important with regard to reuse and upcycling, she said. The application module was developed with Kiekert AG, which uses CIM Database as the central system for material information. For this purpose, the specialist for automotive locking systems brings together material and simulation data from different sources in the PLM.
Develop sustainable products
Quality and compliance are key drivers for more sustainability, said Dr. Regine Wolters, Product Manager PLM, at the presentation of the new Elements module for enterprise-wide materials data management. Integrated material, product, and compliance data are essential for the development of sustainable products and are becoming increasingly important with regard to reuse and upcycling, she said. The application module was developed with Kiekert AG, which uses CIM Database as the central system for material information. For this purpose, the specialist for automotive locking systems brings together material and simulation data from different sources in the PLM.
Develop sustainable products
Quality and compliance are key drivers for more sustainability, said Dr. Regine Wolters, Product Manager PLM, at the presentation of the new Elements module for enterprise-wide materials data management. Integrated material, product, and compliance data are essential for the development of sustainable products and are becoming increasingly important with regard to reuse and upcycling, she said. The application module was developed with Kiekert AG, which uses CIM Database as the central system for material information. For this purpose, the specialist for automotive locking systems brings together material and simulation data from different sources in the PLM.
„I find very interesting new things like the 3D visualization using models from different CAD systems in a common workspace.“
Henrique Scarmagnan, Senior Manager IT-R&D, Apollo Tyres
"Sustainability, software from the cloud, and how PLM and the Asset Administration Shell complement each other were exciting discussion topics."
Thomas Lantermann, Senior Consultant Digitalization, Mitsubishi Electric
Better collaboration
Avoiding data silos in the various engineering disciplines, downstream processes, and between companies is a key requirement, emphasized Christian Muggeo, Head of the Engineering Transformation Team. The aim is to connect different collaboration scenarios via the digital thread. For example, automotive supplier Mubea wants to use CIM Database to manage the simulation data for its heavy-duty spring components in the CAD context and automate coordination processes between design and CAE.
Udo Leischner, Product Manager Project Office, presented new features of CONTACT's project management solution which make collaboration more efficient. Project teams can now move their tasks via drag and drop, enter delays, visualize tasks on critical paths and visually compare baselines in Gantt charts.
Production control in real time
The keynote speech by Alexander Langer, Head of Project Management, and Thomas Binder, Head of Operations, from thyssenkrupp Dynamic Components was met with particular interest. The manufacturer of camshafts and electric drive components uses CIM Database as its global PLM system and CONTACT Elements for IoT for digital shopfloor management. The Shopfloor Navigator, which was jointly developed for CPOS (Central Production Operating System), delivers real-time KPIs from the production floor. It provides production documents, records the status of equipment, the reasons for downtime or scrap, and supports smooth shift handovers (more details in this video). thyssenkrupp Dynamic Components also intends to use the system for production resource planning in the future. CPOS will be in use at all ten plants worldwide by the end of 2022.
With Elements for IoT, customers can save energy, materials, and resources in their operations and relieve their employees of routine tasks. Automated, data-driven processes, a higher degree of standardization, and the ability of business departments to act more independently of IT through no- or low-code applications help companies operate more sustainably, says Stefan Gregorzik, Manager Corporate Development.
Production control in real time
The keynote speech by Alexander Langer, Head of Project Management, and Thomas Binder, Head of Operations, from thyssenkrupp Dynamic Components was met with particular interest. The manufacturer of camshafts and electric drive components uses CIM Database as its global PLM system and CONTACT Elements for IoT for digital shopfloor management. The Shopfloor Navigator, which was jointly developed for CPOS (Central Production Operating System), delivers real-time KPIs from the production floor. It provides production documents, records the status of equipment, the reasons for downtime or scrap, and supports smooth shift handovers (more details in this video). thyssenkrupp Dynamic Components also intends to use the system for production resource planning in the future. CPOS will be in use at all ten plants worldwide by the end of 2022.
With Elements for IoT, customers can save energy, materials, and resources in their operations and relieve their employees of routine tasks. Automated, data-driven processes, a higher degree of standardization, and the ability of business departments to act more independently of IT through no- or low-code applications help companies operate more sustainably, says Stefan Gregorzik, Manager Corporate Development.
Production control in real time
The keynote speech by Alexander Langer, Head of Project Management, and Thomas Binder, Head of Operations, from thyssenkrupp Dynamic Components was met with particular interest. The manufacturer of camshafts and electric drive components uses CIM Database as its global PLM system and CONTACT Elements for IoT for digital shopfloor management. The Shopfloor Navigator, which was jointly developed for CPOS (Central Production Operating System), delivers real-time KPIs from the production floor. It provides production documents, records the status of equipment, the reasons for downtime or scrap, and supports smooth shift handovers (more details in this video). thyssenkrupp Dynamic Components also intends to use the system for production resource planning in the future. CPOS will be in use at all ten plants worldwide by the end of 2022.
With Elements for IoT, customers can save energy, materials, and resources in their operations and relieve their employees of routine tasks. Automated, data-driven processes, a higher degree of standardization, and the ability of business departments to act more independently of IT through no- or low-code applications help companies operate more sustainably, says Stefan Gregorzik, Manager Corporate Development.
Data-driven value-added services
Smart services increase the availability of equipment and plants and offer manufacturers a significant competitive advantage. The analysis of operating data, for example, determines the optimum time for maintenance or automatically triggers spare parts orders. This is another area in which CONTACT and its customers work closely together.
HBC-radiomatic, a leading manufacturer of radio remote controls, now records all customer inquiries with the new ticket system from which service cases are generated. Global partners create these directly in the HBC portal and also use it to access the required documentation. This has reduced the service processing time from five to 1.5 days.
Weidmüller not only uses Elements for IoT to monitor its own production, but also offers it to customers through value-added services. The specialist for industrial connectivity has integrated a cloud-based machine learning pipeline into the platform. Staff without AI expertise can use it to evaluate machine data and detect deviations from the normal condition at an early stage. Countermeasures are then triggered via the platform. Maintenance on demand reduces efforts by around 25 percent.
Data-driven value-added services
Smart services increase the availability of equipment and plants and offer manufacturers a significant competitive advantage. The analysis of operating data, for example, determines the optimum time for maintenance or automatically triggers spare parts orders. This is another area in which CONTACT and its customers work closely together.
HBC-radiomatic, a leading manufacturer of radio remote controls, now records all customer inquiries with the new ticket system from which service cases are generated. Global partners create these directly in the HBC portal and also use it to access the required documentation. This has reduced the service processing time from five to 1.5 days.
Weidmüller not only uses Elements for IoT to monitor its own production, but also offers it to customers through value-added services. The specialist for industrial connectivity has integrated a cloud-based machine learning pipeline into the platform. Staff without AI expertise can use it to evaluate machine data and detect deviations from the normal condition at an early stage. Countermeasures are then triggered via the platform. Maintenance on demand reduces efforts by around 25 percent.
Data-driven value-added services
Smart services increase the availability of equipment and plants and offer manufacturers a significant competitive advantage. The analysis of operating data, for example, determines the optimum time for maintenance or automatically triggers spare parts orders. This is another area in which CONTACT and its customers work closely together.
HBC-radiomatic, a leading manufacturer of radio remote controls, now records all customer inquiries with the new ticket system from which service cases are generated. Global partners create these directly in the HBC portal and also use it to access the required documentation. This has reduced the service processing time from five to 1.5 days.
Weidmüller not only uses Elements for IoT to monitor its own production, but also offers it to customers through value-added services. The specialist for industrial connectivity has integrated a cloud-based machine learning pipeline into the platform. Staff without AI expertise can use it to evaluate machine data and detect deviations from the normal condition at an early stage. Countermeasures are then triggered via the platform. Maintenance on demand reduces efforts by around 25 percent.
Sustainability always in mind
On a normative and strategic level, the topic of sustainability is already well established in companies, as the closing keynote by Anne Seegrün and Dr. Kai Lindow from the Fraunhofer IPK made clear. However, implementation at the operational level is still lacking. To address this, development teams need to be made aware of the ecological consequences of their decisions - by integrating sustainability information and assessment mechanisms into their design environment. The Open World 2022 has demonstrated numerous approaches to this.
Sustainability always in mind
On a normative and strategic level, the topic of sustainability is already well established in companies, as the closing keynote by Anne Seegrün and Dr. Kai Lindow from the Fraunhofer IPK made clear. However, implementation at the operational level is still lacking. To address this, development teams need to be made aware of the ecological consequences of their decisions - by integrating sustainability information and assessment mechanisms into their design environment. The Open World 2022 has demonstrated numerous approaches to this.
Sustainability always in mind
On a normative and strategic level, the topic of sustainability is already well established in companies, as the closing keynote by Anne Seegrün and Dr. Kai Lindow from the Fraunhofer IPK made clear. However, implementation at the operational level is still lacking. To address this, development teams need to be made aware of the ecological consequences of their decisions - by integrating sustainability information and assessment mechanisms into their design environment. The Open World 2022 has demonstrated numerous approaches to this.
Open World 2022
see you next time!
Open World 2022
see you next time!
