Siemens has announced a new Digital Enterprise Industry Solution for the electronics industry, following several recent major investments by Siemens to serve the industry. The Software Engineering and ALM solution specifically addresses several of the critical product development challenges associated with the increasing consumer demand for connected smart products: increased security threats and privacy issues and risk management on products that incorporate internet-connected sensors. It also addresses the need for quality teams to incorporate accelerated testing processes in order to keep up with rapid software development technologies such as Agile software, Scrum and continuous delivery, while still maintaining or improving product quality.

 

Integrating application lifecycle management (ALM) software with product lifecycle management (PLM) software allows companies to effectively manage traditional product development cycles and the software used to control these products.

 

Creating the ability for software and hardware engineers to work as part of the same team allows for true product co-engineering as well as implementation and measurement of product and software process improvements. This solution helps multi-discipline development teams to achieve end-to-end efficiency and productivity and also enables traceability across hardware and embedded software configurations in all lifecycle phases, which allows for enhanced product quality and efficient change management.
 
In addition, the solution allows for the unification of the user experience by allowing engineers to work in their preferred and familiar development tools while still connected to the integrated workflows in real-time. When software components are produced and tested on the ALM side, they can be published to the bill of material (BOM), thus providing a truly integrated mechanical, electrical and software BOM for the product. This allows companies to improve visibility across product development domains and utilize real-time collaboration with intuitive authoring and linking to quickly identify defects, determine impact, and resolve issues in the most complex of systems. Siemens is uniquely positioned to offer this truly integrated solution and cover the entire scope for global product development, manufacturing and support.
 
“In order to stay competitive, electronics companies have to innovate and develop feature-rich and high-volume products, at an accelerated pace, without compromising quality. Software development drives a significant part of this today and will become even more important in the future,” said Ajith Krishnamurthy, director of Electronics and Semiconductor Solutions at Siemens PLM Software. “Siemens’ Software Engineering and ALM solution enables companies to manage software development in line with traditional product development processes, increasing efficiency and ultimately helping create products that satisfy the needs of consumers.”
 
The foundation for the Internet of Things (IoT) is being laid through the evolution and increasing intelligence of embedded systems. The expectations for more intelligent systems are increasing the volume and complexity of embedded software in these devices, which requires new tools to bridge the worlds of ALM and PLM.

 

“The Internet of Things (IoT) continues to transform traditional business models, merging software, data services and online connectivity – enabling intelligent factories and smart products,” said Joe Dury, director at Kalypso. “When electronics companies use the IoT and associated analytics to integrate ALM and PLM technology, they can analyze and mine the data to glean new, important insights for product development, manufacturing and supply chain management. These insights enable smart connected operations, helping companies better manage increasing product complexity and allowing them to improve the entire manufacturing process by garnering all of the data at scale.”
 
With the explosion of connected smart products fueled by customer demand, software quality is imperative. Meeting these quality standards requires an end-to-end approach and the ability to link and manage all processes throughout the entire development lifecycle, without compromising delivery schedules and quality. Complete ALM-PLM integration provides full traceability and transparency into all aspects of product and software engineering projects, from creation of requirements, to test cases and management of defects. It provides an easy way to generate documentation, identify the impact of changes and provide critical information for various types of stakeholders, including the consumer.