Component Engineering Insights
/An Interview with Lopa Subramania, Aras Product Manager for Component Engineering
Companies are recognizing Component & Supplier Management for its potential to make major reductions in many elements in Cost of Goods Sold. The Aras Component Engineering (CE) application spans both elements of C&SM.
We asked Lopa to explore CE, telling us about her rich background in this subject area.
Lopa:
I’m a mechanical engineer by education, and I have pretty much been in PLM and the enterprise software space for my whole career. I started in services with SDRC Metaphase and then moved to Aspect Development/i2 in their supplier relationship management area. I gained great experience in both services and presales working with utility companies, high-tech, apparel, retail, industrial and the auto industry. Before joining Aras, I spent a number of years at Siemens PLM working with Teamcenter.
PPLM:
So, let’s jump into the CE application. Give us an overview of the application and who is Aras targeting.
Lopa:
When you look at PLM today, there’s generally no content embedded out-of-the-box. Today, users have to open a browser and search for the desired parts. Once they find it, they need to go through a manual process of entering the data in their current application. The CE application eliminates all that.
Right from within Aras, a user can search, select and immediately add it to the collection of parts. The CE solution delivers normalized parts and supplier data directly from within Aras Innovator. It’s putting the content at the point of use versus having the user dig into various silos of manufacturer parts.
The advantage of that is you save time, and you have the added benefit of knowing data in context. You see, the latest information from the manufacturer, which may say, “Oh this part is no longer available.”
PPLM:
Essentially, it’s prepopulated information about a part that is an off-the-shelf-part. Is that a fair description?
Lopa:
Correct, you could call it prepopulated or up-to-date information. If you think about it, it’s everything you need to know about a part, right there without having to leave Aras Innovator.
PPLM:
So this triggers the question, “Where does this prepopulated data coming from? “
Lopa:
Good question. We partnered with IHS, who is a leading source of parts and supplier information. What they do is aggregate the information, either they go to the manufacturer’s website, or they contact the manufacturer. Every day, there are hundreds of engineers collecting this information and keeping this data up to date. IHS has a huge database of 430 plus million parts. They post it in a database called IHS Caps Universe Database. That is their business model, where they collect information and keep it up to date using ISO-certified processes, and then they sell it to other companies for a fee.
PPLM:
Let’s talk about the user experience and how they get to this data.
Lopa:
I do have to say that even though we do get the data from IHS, we keep our own active collection in the Aras CE cloud. This gives us a number of benefits.
First, it provides a better search experience. The user does their work directly within Innovator. There are menu items that start the search. I then get this catalog with a Google-like search. You can put in your keywords, select your part category, do a search and then you are presented with the results that match your criteria. Then you can use filters on technical parameters like architecture, tolerance, voltage, etc. Once you have found what you are looking for, you can add the part directly into Innovator. The application keeps that data current. So the next time you look at it, say six months from now, you will see the latest information on that part.
PPLM:
Going back to the data in Aras. It sounds like Aras has developed a mechanism to keep the data synchronized with the cloud to ensure that the latest information is being presented?
Lopa:
Yes, correct. Aras is replicating the data from IHS and then synchronizing updates. They send us data through automated updates, and we automatically update our cloud database.
PPLM:
Is the CE application a part of the subscription offering, or is it something user would add to their subscription?
Lopa:
CE is an additional subscription.
PPLM:
Lastly, can you identify some words or phrases that an organization would use to suggest that they would benefit from something like this?
Lopa:
Yes… essentially, if a company needs to select, use and manage electronic manufacturer parts as a significant element of their design process. In particular, companies that are coping with end-of-life (EOL) considerations, product change notices (PCNs), and environmental compliance information for RoHS, REACH and Conflict Minerals should investigate this application.
Editor’s Note:
CIMdata wrote up a review of the Aras Component Engineering module. For more information, follow this link.