Autoliv

Partners on a PLM Systems Integration Journey

Autoliv began their PLM journey by managing CAD data and deploying minor integrations with additional services more than 20 years ago. Over time, Autoliv’s system requirements became much more complex. Today, their PLM system is not only managing product information, but also supply chain data and manufacturing data. In fact, they also have suppliers who need access to certain data within the system.

Realizing that they’ll need to manage an increasing number of systems integrations, Autoliv made the decision to find a solution for monitoring their PLM integrations.

Autoliv were looking for a solution that would also provide configurable API management to reduce the amount of custom java coding and soap web service development time they were putting in.

In total, Autoliv needed their PLM systems integration software to deliver on 5 key values:

1. A consolidated view of integrations
2. Simple and consistent integration setup
3. Bidirectional data integration
4. PLM API Management
5. Batch engine for stamping PDFs and updating DOCs properties

“In Autoliv, we have a lot of processes that need support from external tools. Like where we need to convert our documents, like the office documents from word to PDF or TPT to PDF or Excel to PDF. So, we realized that we need something to help us visualize if anything goes wrong with those processes. So, we felt like we needed some inbuilt capabilities within PLM that could help us to drive the whole stamping process, or the PDF conversion process, or any other process.”

Sandeep Karakavalasa, Production Engineer | Autoliv

Based on this information, we were able to suggest that the TECHNIA Integration Framework (TIF) systems integration software would be the ideal solution for Autoliv’s challenges. The TIF Admin UI dashboard provides a consolidated and configurable overview of all PLM system integrations:

“If you look in the lower right corner of the admin UI dashboard, you can see the unresolved issues or the jobs that are failing.

So, we immediately saw these, these jobs failing. You can click on the job to get more information. It will show you the portion of the log file that is specific to that problem or that job. So, you can immediately look through the UI and figure out what’s going on. And using that, we were able to quickly see the problem, solve the problem, and redeploy the fix.

We were able to rerun the jobs and get the correct data over to the other system. And all of this happened without the customer noticing. So, that was a huge benefit for us.”

Keith Simpson, Senior Programmer | Autoliv

Autoliv have been taking advantage of TECHNIA Software’s simplified user interfaces in other areas of their operations for some time now. These unique dashboards are configured in TECHNIA Value Components (TVCs) software and sit on top of the existing system without any need for custom coding.

Improving PLM User Interface (UI) Efficiency with TVCs

The idea for the slimmed-down interface was born when Eric Ramatchandirane and his colleagues attended the PLM Innovation Forum in Stockholm in 2017.

“We have 15,000 users of our PLM system. So, everyone can’t have the same level of expertise and knowledge. We don’t need everyone to understand the whole process, but every user needs to have an easy way to find the relevant information. We saw a couple of examples of what TECHNIA had done with this technology and that inspired us in terms of what direction we should go.”

Eric Ramatchandirane, Sales & Engineering IT Senior Manager | Autoliv

A Single PLM System with Multiple User Interfaces

Autoliv’s premise was that 80% of their PLM users only need access to 20% of functionalities. Having a lighter interface will make it faster and more intuitive to find the right product information: often with just one or two clicks.

“Some people need the complexity because their jobs demand that. But most people only need access to certain information, and they shouldn’t have to spend five minutes finding it. They should find it within seconds. We don’t have two different systems, just two different interfaces. It’s a bit like online banking. You can make quick transfers on your mobile, but if you want to do something more complicated maybe you’ll log on to their normal website where you can use more functions.”

Eric Ramatchandirane, Sales & Engineering IT Senior Manager | Autoliv

Autoliv is the world’s largest automotive safety supplier with over 68,000 employees across 27 countries, meaning all data has to be accessed quickly from many different sites around the world. And there are no compromises when it comes to quality.

“Our products are used only once: in the case of an accident. And then it has to work. At the same time, the automotive industry is very tight in terms of profitability and efficiency. So, we’re looking for efficiency in every aspect. Everyone has to be fast. If a user needs to know what airbag was used in a particular project, they need quick access to that without having to open the entire ENOVIA system. And now it can be done on any device.”

Eric Ramatchandirane, Sales & Engineering IT Senior Manager | Autoliv

As is the case here, TECHNIA Software is designed and developed due to unique customer requirements, proven on-site and later made available for other clients. We call this “Experience Packaged”.

“Our philosophy is that we can develop a new product or concept for an individual customer, and then we make it available for everyone. That’s a win-win because that ensures that the software is continually developed and maintained.”

Maarten Nieuwenhuijzen, Sales Director | TECHNIA

About Autoliv