Smarter decisions, better products

Rajiv Ghatikar, Vice President and General Manager, Asean and Australasia, Siemens PLM Software

The Asian market continues to demand environmentally-friendly products produced with a more sustainable production model. However, uncertainties facing manufacturing companies today create significant challenges as to how to most effectively invest their capital in order to maintain, or return to, economic growth. They know they must further optimise their existing capacity yet have the flexibility to respond and expand when market demand begins to accelerate.

In an interview conducted by International Metalworking News for Asia, Rajiv Ghatikar, Vice President and General Manager, Asean and Australasia, Siemens PLM Software, explains the numerous enhancements of Tecnomatix 10 to power manufacturing productivity and how it can help manufacturers in Asia.

According to Ghatikar, today's increasingly competitive global manufacturing industry, combined with the current international economic environment, has companies looking for new and innovative ways to boost productivity, cut costs and increase quality, especially this region where the manufacturing sector is so competitive.

"We believe that this latest version of Tecnomatix, which is a digital manufacturing solution available from Siemens, has tremendous potential to positively affect the productivity and efficiency of the manufacturing industry, and as the leader in this field, we are proud to deliver the kind of solutions that will continue to create value for our customers, while helping the manufacturing industry thrive and grow," he said.

Software features
"Machining and metalworking manufacturers focus on component production using NC processes.  A robust and capable CAM system is required for these manufacturers.  More importantly, it is critical that the manufacturing work packages are created and managed so that the correct information is available at every stage of the process. While NX CAM is well known as a premium CAM system, Tecnomatix 10 includes several components that directly support the creation, management, distribution, and effectiveness of these work packages on the shop floor," Ghatikar added.

He said that starting with Tool Data Information systems, NC programmers make use of approved, inventoried tool data as they develop programs.  Fixture and Machine libraries are managed and maintained with Resource Manager.  Complete packages of component manufacturing processes are built with Part Planning components.  And all of this critical information is delivered to the shop floor using direct Teamcenter access and DNC data delivery.

Manufacturing challenges
When asked about some of the recent and larger challenges Asian manufacturers faced, and what can be done to overcome these issues with Tecnomatix 10 in mind, Ghatikar outlined numerous difficulties faced by Asian manufacturers.  "We would say worldwide competition, shorter product cycles, newer methodologies, and manufacturing complexity are critical and crucial."

Worldwide Competition - Intensive global and local competition increasingly forces manufacturers to produce quality products in the shortest possible time at minimum cost. The pressure to reduce lead times is particularly obvious.  Every country continues to upgrade the skills of their citizens.  Therefore, competition is more intense at all levels.

Shorter Product Cycles - The primary force of driving manufacturing is a reduced product development cycle.  While continual changes in design are implemented, more frequent and additional NC programming is required to maOff White X Nike Design