Siemens PLM Software group gets certified for its vendor openness

August 1, 2018 – Siemens has become the first supplier of complete design-to-manufacture software to certify with the international Code of PLM Openness (CPO).

Openness means that there is potential to integrate software into a digital enterprise where many software applications across product design, analysis and manufacturing need to share data throughout the enterprise and its supply chain.

The new certification of the Siemens PLM Software group, located in Cambridge, gives product lifecycle management (PLM) software customers the benefit of a rigorous assessment of vendor openness, which can help them understand, for example, how well the software will fit in with their existing IT landscape, and how the software might be adapted to their particular needs. 

“Openness has long been an integral part of the technology we offer and the way we do business,” said Bob Haubrock, senior vice president of Product Engineering Software for Siemens PLM Software. “When vendors lock in customers, they restrict customers’ selection of new, best-in-class applications, or inhibit the flow of data through legacy applications.”

The Code of PLM Openness was established in 2012 among software customers, vendors and service providers to develop a common understanding of the importance of openness by recognizing the challenges that customers face when software vendors do not engage in open practices. The initiative is supported by more than 70 major partners worldwide, and is driven by prostep ivip, an international association committed to solving problems and developing modern standards for the manufacturing industry.

The new certification measures a software vendor’s compliance with the CPO, rigorously examining how well the openness criteria are satisfied by an organization in terms of its management culture, customer focus and quality management system, for example. A thorough evaluation, comprised of documentation audit and employee interviews, was conducted by the independent auditor, TÜV Informationstechnik.

“The engineering and manufacturing of products is becoming more complex and relies on an ever-increasing spectrum of software solutions and services. Vendor openness is key to reducing the high proportion of customer expenditure that’s required to integrate the different solutions,” said Steven Vettermann, manager for Openness & Japan, prostep ivip.