Once upon a time, being a successful automotive company was mostly about selling a bunch of cars every year and then trying to sell more cars next year.
Suffice to say, things have changed.
Today, the world’s largest automotive companies must balance how they prioritize revenue targets with global supply chains, tightening sustainability standards, always-on financial markets, evolving consumer preferences and much more.
Key to maintaining that market share is technology. With the right resources in hand, established companies can be as innovative and nimble as startups, whether that means expanding to a new area or improving their existing operations.
Here’s how four leaders are staying ahead by putting PTC technology to work.
Challenge: With 100,000+ employees and production facilities in 18 countries, Volvo Group has to contend with increasing product complexity, customization and a rapidly changing market that demands more flexibility and agility every day. In today’s economy, all of these key considerations begin with data, so Volvo set out to establish and maintain connected systems that will generate operational efficiency across its global value chain and meet those goals.
Solution: One single product can’t address those challenges, but the right combination working together can. Volvo utilized multiple PTC products to create and scale a digital thread, which brings together all data related to their products, processes and people. Vuforia supplied the augmented reality suite of capabilities, while ThingWorx integrated information from multiple software systems, including computer-aided design updates from Creo and product lifecycle management from Windchill.
The sum of these parts is a single source of truth delivered through the lens of augmented reality, ensuring workers can access and view the latest engine configurations and supporting materials in real time. The digital thread feedback loop provides timely operational insights, captures important feedback to improve future engine designs and further differentiates Volvo on quality and engineering excellence.
Results
- 60% reduction in training time
- 1000’s Euros saved per station per year
- Recruitment attractiveness
Challenge: With highly distinctive and unique machinery comes the need for training events that are both engaging and educational. Prior to launching their Meteor 350 motorcycle, Royal Enfield envisioned a hands-on experience that enabled sales teams to interact with the Meteor motorcycle on the ground and learn all about it during the training event. When the pandemic hit and shut down any possibility for in-person events, the Chennai-based manufacturer had to drastically shift plans.
Solution: By leveraging Vuforia Studio, Royal Enfield had the flexibility and adaptability to adjust their plans accordingly as they shifted from an in-person event to a remote, online training session. Vuforia’s AR authoring and publishing solution efficiently transformed existing 3D CAD models into immersive AR experiences, enabling the Royal Enfield team to overhaul their plans and go live within a month. During the online training, participants scanned the images that the team created and built the AR experience around; this allowed them to interact with the different features and components remotely as they would have done in front of the live bike.
Results:
- Built a dynamic sales training experience for over 3,000 remote participants
- Leveraging Vuforia Studio, Royal Enfield was able to change their plans and go live within a month
- Switched from a model-based AR experience to one that was image-based
Challenge: With little visibility into production, Knorr-Bremse discovered a need for comprehensive technologies that could improve their rail and road mobility production sights. Equipped with a machine interface that was already tricky and facing the additional challenge of creating transparency with the help of real-time data (no simple task), Knorr-Bremse needed an effective, efficient way to connect disparate machinery across factories.
Solution: With ThingWorx, the Knorr-Bremse team succeeded in interlinking all process stages of product manufacturing and gained insight into their production sites. This technology guides workers through individualized production steps in a detailed way, which increases productivity and lowers the reject rate. Now, Knorr-Bremse can more accurately determine key figures and control processes regarding the future. Moreover, the adoption of ThingWorx allows tools and machines to deliver measured values in real time, facilitating faster corrections if a work step is completed erroneously.
Results:
- Improved operational visibility via central access to product & process data
- Optimized asset utilization by standardizing KPIs across sites to improve OEE
- Improved workforce productivity, reduced errors & manual efforts for quality control, documentation & shipping
Challenge: Motor vehicle spare parts is a booming sector, generating over $2 trillion U.S. dollars annually. When General Motors’ pricing strategy became more of an art than a science, they knew it was time to adopt a proven platform that could make data more visible, accurate and timely. With disjointed tools and processes for pricing service parts, GM’s need for a collaborative environment where users from distinct markets could share best practices and information only grew.
Solution: General Motors’ quest to reinvent and consolidate their pricing processes led them to Servigistics from PTC. After successfully implementing Servigistics Service Parts Pricing, GM has been able to introduce a more quantitative approach to their pricing. With a more agile system, GM can outmaneuver their competitors and they also enjoy the benefits of a single global platform, which has helped the automaker replace disparate tools with accurate, best-in-class technology.
Results:
- Turn over 3% global revenue ($30M)
- Improved data accuracy
- More competitive, agile team
- Increased pricing confidence
If you’re interested in learning more about PTC’s work with automotive companies, there are more than two dozen case studies to dig into, including additional detail for the ones outlined above.
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