CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
19 October 2005
Implementation Investments
UGS and Microsoft Announce Deployment of Enterprise-wide Collaboration Solution at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
UGS Corp. and Microsoft Corp. announced that NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has decided to expand its UGS Teamcenter® digital lifecycle management implementation by deploying a Microsoft®-based Teamcenter application focusing on enterprise project and program collaboration capabilities. The implementation connects JPL employees and outside suppliers - representing over 2,000 total users - to 38,000 3D product models, more than 6000 drawings and all associated product data, for significantly enhanced product development productivity.
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California is responsible for the creation, launch and management of the Mars Exploration Rover mission. JPL is deploying its advanced, next generation PDM/PLM (product data management/product lifecycle management) system that relies on Teamcenter to manage, distribute and control its massive amount of product data. JPL is NASA's lead center for robotic exploration of the solar system, tasked with developing sophisticated space exploration satellites and telescopes for observing distant galaxies.
Based on the successful implementation completed by JPL's PDM group and UGS to extend access to the product knowledge managed by Teamcenter, JPL selected UGS and its Teamcenter collaboration solution to make lightweight 3D digital product models available throughout its organization. Teamcenter includes built-in 3D product visualization and is tightly integrated with Microsoft® offerings, such as Microsoft Office 2003, Windows ServerT 2003 and Microsoft SharePoint® products and technologies.
"The ability to share and collaborate on rich design information across teams is critical for dynamic organizations like JPL that have employees and partners scattered across the globe," said Bill Gerould, worldwide discrete manufacturing industry manager for Microsoft. "By basing its Teamcenter collaboration solution on Microsoft technology, UGS is able to help its customers quickly expand and enhance enterprise collaboration within the context of familiar applications such as Microsoft Office 2003."
Microsoft products already in use throughout JPL are leveraged by Teamcenter to provide JPL with an easily deployable solution with a familiar user interface. The Microsoft-based Teamcenter solution enables enterprise-wide collaboration and access to JPL's product data - including integrated lightweight 3D images of JPL products - designed to significantly enhance the organization's ability to perform design reviews and configuration management. And because JPL works with outside organizations such as industry partners, educational institutions, foreign space agencies and other NASA centers, they can offer security-enhanced collaboration to members of their extended team.
"UGS has established its PLM leadership by providing open solutions that work in concert with our customers' varied IT environments," said Chris Kelley, vice president of Partner and Platform Marketing, UGS. "Our ability to meet the demanding functional, usability and support requirements associated with the sophisticated JPL product development process is further validation of this successful strategy."
Microsoft, in conjunction with industry-leading partners, delivers enterprise solutions to a range of manufacturers including those in vertical industries such as aerospace, automotive, chemical, consumer packaged goods, high technology, and oil and gas. These industry-specific solutions provide a flexible, scalable and reliable platform that enables businesses to be more agile and connected. As a result, manufacturers are empowered to shorten product development cycles, integrate operations with partners and suppliers, acquire and share intelligence in real time, and more easily communicate with customers. More information about Microsoft in manufacturing can be found online at http://www.microsoft.com/manufacturing .
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