Today, I am very happy to announce the availability of PLM System Integration, Feature Pack 2. In combination with the corresponding Teamcenter Gateway for PLM system integration from Siemens, it offers new end-to-end, out of the box processes and turns the collaboration between engineering and “business” into a bi-directional relationship.
With our first release of the Teamcenter Integration last autumn, we did introduce a new generation to the market. From the first day, our joint ambition and aim was to take full advantage of the fact that we – Siemens and SAP – directly work together on this new generation: from ideation to release. .
The introduction of the common domain model, the simplified but scalable architecture, and the focus on well designed, out of the box, end-to-end processes are the tangible characteristics, which were introduced with the initial release.
With
PLM system integration, Feature Pack 2, we massively expand the scope and introduce bi-directional process integration. Highlights include:
- Creation of plant specific and configurable material masters and bill of materials
- SAP triggered engineering and manufacturing change
- Transfer of variant definition for variant configuration
- Provisioning of manufacturing relevant information data along the business process
- Transfer of classic SAP PP routings
- Data Federation
Watch out for
our blog series for more details or browse our comprehensive
documentation on help.sap.com for more insights. And needless to mention that PLM system integration is available for on Premise and Cloud.
So, when, and why should you think of PLM system integration for the Teamcenter integration? Here are a few thoughts:
- Consider PLM system integration as your prime integration solution
You are running your enterprise on SAP ERP or SAP S/4HANA and either just start with your Teamcenter implementation or want to mature your existing integration approach. Then PLM system integration – in combination with Teamcenter Gateway for PLM SI (aka T4ST) - is your default and prime option, since it is THE out-of-the-box, end-to-end integration solution, jointly designed, tested, and documented by SAP and Siemens.
- Use and integrate Teamcenter for Product Engineering
You primarily use Teamcenter as the backbone for your Product Data Management. By that, PLM system integration caters for the transfer of the relevant material masters, the engineering bill of materials (aka EBOM) and the relevant specifications (drawings, 3D models, RoHS/Reach ...). The overall Production Part Approval Process (aka PPAP) and handover to manufacturing is done using SAP Applications such as S/4HANA PP and SAP Enterprise Product Development.
- Use and integrate Teamcenter for Product and Manufacturing Engineering
Depending on your established own practices you might use Teamcenter not just for product data management but also for manufacturing engineering purposes. With Feature Pack 2, the integration can now transfer the bill of process with associated information as a routing into SAP S/4HANA. You can use this process, to either create a “skeleton” routing, which is than is completed in S/4HANA or you create and transfer ready to run routings. The integration can also carry over object dependencies and variant formulas for each operation. The same also applies for model unit effectivity on the operation in Teamcenter.
- MTS, CTO, ETO? All discrete manufacturing types are in PLM system integration scope
Whereas our initial release of the Teamcenter integration did focus on the “classic”, core Engineering integration, Feature Pack 2 is massively expanding the scope. Variant configuration, data federation, and bi-directional change management are just some of the highlights available at your fingertips. At the risk of repeating myself: If you are in the discrete manufacturing business and use Teamcenter as well as SAP S/4HANA or SAP ERP – PLM system integration is the way to go. The delivered and planned capabilities of the integration address the needs of all manufacturing types: Make to Stock, Configure to Order and Engineer to Order. More to come with our third release in autumn this year.
- Opportunities with Teamcenter beyond Manufacturing Industries
The “home base” of collaborative Product Data Management aka cPDM solutions is in the discrete manufacturing industry. But what we experience, since we started offering SAP Teamcenter by Siemens and the integration, is that there are very compelling use cases beyond this traditional segment. We work with customers in consumer products who improve their processes along the product lifecycle for packaging. Operators of very complex assets, like powerplants, refineries or mines implement Teamcenter, since it helps them to manage their capital asset more efficiently and with better data quality across the lifecycle. And in both examples, PLM system integration capabilities are key to unlock this potential.
Our collaboration with Siemens has given us the perfect opportunity to tackle some of the fundamental challenges but also opportunities which come with integration. And this is what we are – jointly with our great counterparts at Siemens – passionate about in this partnership: We leverage the strength across our solutions and at the same time deliver clear guidance on how to best navigate through the sheer endless number of options.
PLM system integration is a game changer for collaboration between engineering and the enterprise with efficient, bi-directional flow of digital product data, end-to-end and out of the box.
Any questions or comments: Do not hesitate to contact us and let us know.