Siemens AG's move to acquire product lifecycle management vendor UGS Corp. could lead to an integrated solution that standardizes data between product development and the plant floor, creating a link between the virtual and physical worlds of manufacturing, said Tilo Brandis, president of Siemens Automation and Drives division, electronic assembly systems. Brandis commented on the development during UGS' annual users conference in Long Beach, Calif., on April 23.
Bridging this gap is necessary because of increasing demand for personalized goods, which makes the product design and production processes more complex, and the need for more real-time communication in a global economy, according to Brandis.
Customer benefits from an integrated PLM and automation solution include shorter time to market, increased productivity by sharing consistent data, quality improvement and shorter time to order, Brandis says.
The $3.5 billion deal to acquire UGS is expected to close by the end of May, said UGS CEO Anthony Affuso in a videotaped statement at the PLM World conference. UGS and Siemens announced the move in January. Brandis said the purchase would bring "financial stability" to UGS, which reported a $10.3 million loss in 2006.
