At the ‘Moving Into Industry 4.0: The Power Of PLM In Your Automotive Supply Chain’ seminar co-organised by Siemens PLM Software, Asia Pacific Metalworking Equipment News (APMEN), and Industrial Automation Asia (IAA), ideas on harnessing the power of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software were put to the GIAMM (Gabungan Industri Alat Alat Mobil & Motor) members who attended the event held at the Holiday Inn Kemayoran, Jakarta, Indonesia. Attendees ranged from OEM automotive parts makers to representatives from larger automotive corporations.

During the seminar, Rajiv Ghatikar, VP and GM, ASEAN/Australasia, for Siemens PLM Software, brought up points with regards to managing increased complexity across the entire life cycle of a vehicle in a cost effective and streamlined manner and how this is a crucial period in the economic cycle to increase productivity. This is where PLM solutions come in and these solutions are essential in today’s increasingly complex and digital world.

“Indonesia is coming more into the light now for us because after the Jokowi administration took over, there has been more focus than ever in driving business. Aside from the somewhat sluggish second half of 2015 for the automotive sector in the country, the footprint that Indonesia has in the region is quite a distinct one that has the potential to grow,” said Mr Ghatikar.

Ir Hadi Surjadipradja who is the Secretary General of GIAMM and keynote speaker for the event mentioned: “The Indonesian automotive scene is currently experiencing a downturn but there are many opportunities in technology that we can be exploring in order to ride the uptick when it comes along. The key for us is not to be left behind and adopting PLM solutions to our existing processes is essential.”

Mr Surjadipradja also added that the old mindsets of yesterday’s production are still prevalent but the need for a change in momentum has to come as quickly as possible. “What we do not want is to lose our competitiveness and it is true that only the most flexible and efficient manufacturers out there will survive.”

The Road To PLM Adoption

During the seminar, Mr Ghatikar stressed that people need to be prepped for the technology. Touching upon the maturity of the Indonesian market, he remarked that there is still a lot of catching up to do.

Events such as this one aim to set off the wheels of innovation about the importance of innovating change because the automotive industry elsewhere is changing and they need to keep up with the global tempo. From Siemen’s point of view, PLM is the answer and they are equipped to provide the solutions to take companies to the next level.

However, the infrastructure needed to support such technologies could be an issue in a country like this. But Mr Ghatikar believes that this is just a minor hurdle that can be easily overcome.

“I believe that our solutions can be connected even on different architectures and some can do without connectivity – installed locally and then run. One might face an issue with connectivity when implementing cloud solutions down the road but right now I do not think that is the main concern.”

Collaborative Platforms To Power The Automotive Sector

When asked about what is one of the most critical elements in the automotive supply chain, Mr Ghatikar mentioned that collaboration in an increasingly fast paced environment where quicker and better products are to be churned out is highly important. In order to do that, critical information sharing is paramount.

“Teamcenter is one of the modules that we offer and one of the reasons why companies should adopt us – the collaborative aspect of the solution that allows people to work across locations simultaneously. While connectivity is important, it is also varied in a sense that you can connect people on a wide variety of platforms today and could be as sophisticated as a multi-site Wide Area Network (WAN), a broadband based one or even a cloud based one,” remarked Mr Ghatikar.

Continuing he said: “While the issue of the infrastructure to support the connectivity might not be as stable as let us say a fully developed economy like the US, in the connected world we live in now, the need for connectivity in the manufacturing world, I think that Indonesia will upscale itself quickly enough to meet these needs.”

Another concern of automakers is the migration of design platforms. In response to this, Mr Ghatikar explained that the NX product has all the elements of the base design like CAD/CAM/ CAE simulations that one needs.

PLM & The IoT

Since the global manufacturing sector is moving towards the ‘smart’, ‘connected’ factory floor, solutions in the factory space look to be on board this trend.

Mr Ghatikar explained that the Internet of Things (IoT) phenomenon is essentially about making everything within an ecosystem become a smart object and getting them connected. He gave the example of an object playing a role in a production process, there should have a way to increase the intelligence of the overall system that can then be designed to give feedback on certain metrics or performance criteria that says it is performing its functions faithfully as to what it was originally planned to do.

“This means that in the IoT, if objects are to be smart, then there is a need to digitise them smartly in a way that they can interact, give feedback and in other ways become intelligent enough to, for example, pre-empt the user to potential issues that might arise in the process through monitoring. PLM on the other hand is a process that can seek to connect these smart objects and can work hand in hand with the IoT concept. To have a ‘smart’ PLM implies that there is an IoT system in which the PLM solution operates,” explaining where and how the PLM solution fits into the whole IoT set up.

The Rationale For The PLM Solution

The obvious takeaway at the end of the seminar is that the local automotive manufacturers need to look at being able to project where one’s business needs to be in two to three years’ time. They also need to stay informed of the major global market trends in the manufacturing sector to stay competitive on the global scene, in terms of innovation, effective cost management, and productivity.

Mr Ghatikar’s parting advice was that: “If you do not have a PLM system, then it is time to get one! Those who have not come on board yet should not be afraid because the adoption of PLM is a journey that could take years to adapt to. But the most important thing is to be on that journey. It is like the stock market – if you want to reap the benefits of a good stock, you first have to buy and invest in it. So the message is embark on the journey and we at Siemens PLM will help you along with your Return-On-Investment (ROI) planning to make sure that the investment in PLM will be paying out.”