In a move to speed up cycle times and to become more competitive on the global market in executing its pipeline of programs, Denel Aerospace Systems (DAS) has decided to deploy PTC's Windchill Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions in a contract worth R7 million. The contract is with productONE, the sub-Saharan Africa distributor of PTC, the developers of Windchill and Pro/Engineer.

Malcolm Blunden, group manager engineering services at DAS, says, "The implementation involves deployment of PTC's collaborative software modules, Windchill ProjectLink and Windchill PDMLink, which will allow the company to collaborate on all aspects of the product development process internally, as well as externally with worldwide partners and suppliers. Windchill PDMLink will also integrate with DAS' enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution."

Windchill PDMLink is regarded by industry watchers as the leading webcentric PLM system, providing a unified infrastructure for managing all digital product development data and processes, allowing manufacturers to expertly manage diverse forms of product information - including content from mechanical, electrical and software authoring tools.

"We are very excited at PTC that South Africa's largest aerospace and defence manufacturer has selected our solutions to help them address the challenges of product lifecycle management and distributed product development. Denel is a well respected company in their industry, and we are looking forward to working with them and productONE in the implementation of a world-class product development system," says Berry Gibson, PTC vertical strategy director for government, aerospace, defence and shipbuilding sectors.

For the past few years PTC's Pro/Engineer software has been been used as DAS's core design software to develop a range of military-focused products, including missiles and unmanned air vehicles. Blunden confirmed that Pro/Engineer has been used to design military solutions worth "hundreds of millions of rands".

Control of the digital environment

Blunden adds, "Everything is becoming faster and better in today's digital environment. There is no escaping this. Demands are also more arduous. The edge in this marketplace is to be able to control the digital environment. This means being able to collaborate with all CAD systems being deployed, as well as internal and external engineers and designers, marketing, manufacturing, suppliers and downstream activities. For internal collaboration we will be using Windchill PDMLink, while Windchill ProjectLink will be harnessed for external collaboration. In fact, Windchill was the mainstay when it came to the recent design of the new Airbus 380, for instance. It was because of Windchill that all the different pieces were able to work together properly - not just all the different software, but all the players involved in the design 'consortium', including providing the ability to link into a competitive 3D design solution, Catia."

Blunden says the latest additions to DAS' Pro/Engineer 'armoury' will allow the company to boost its overall efficiencies in the highly competitive military and aerospace markets -and will allow DAS to "deliver better and faster".

"If we can speed up design processes by 30% it is logical to assume," he pointed out, "that this 30% enhancement will dribble right down into our bottom line."

For more information contact Dayne Turbitt, ProductONE, 012 673 9300.