CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
6 October 2004
Implementation Investments
Sennheiser Makes Beautiful Music With PLM Solutions From IBM and Dassault Systèmes
TransCAT GmbH & Co., a division of Rand Worldwide and an IBM Business Partner, announced that Sennheiser Electronic GmbH & Co. KG, a leading manufacturer of top-quality, custom-made products in all areas of sound recording, transmission and reproduction, has selected an IBM Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Industry Solution for the electronics industry.
The 1,600-employee, mid-sized company has been synonymous with innovation for almost 60 years. To continue its reign as market leader, Sennheiser looked at PLM to provide an integrated, open and easy to use product development environment. After a competitive benchmark Sennheiser selected IBM's Integrated Mechanical Product Development for Electronics (IMPD) Industry Solution, based on CATIA V5, for 3D digital product definition and SMARTEAM, for collaborative product data and lifecycle management both developed by Dassault Systèmes. TransCAT will provide the project development, implementation, training and consulting.
The IMPD solution links the applications and disciplines involved in mechanical product development and enables manufacturers to reuse valuable corporate intellectual property. By maintaining the product's design history across all stages of development and unifying the often fragmented approach to product development in the E&E industry, the IMPD solution enables electronics companies to shorten time to market and focus on innovation.
"The PLM solutions from IBM and Dassault Systèmes complement our existing software infrastructure," said Dr. Heinrich Esser, President of Research & Development, Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG. "We expect a return on investment of less than two years."
CATIA V5 will be used for mechanical design, functionality of surfaces and the integration between the electrical design and photorealistic visualizations, used in marketing and sales. SMARTEAM will be used throughout the company to manage all of the product data including designs, product manuals and prototype test results.
TransCAT and IBM developed together a high-performance concept based on the PLM solutions CATIA and SMARTEAM that fulfils the demands of the electronic industry concerning development and integration," said Rolf Wiedemann, Director of Sales and Business Development, TransCAT GmbH & Co. KG.
For almost 60 years, the name Sennheiser has stood for top-quality products and tailor-made solutions in all areas of sound recording, transmission and reproduction. Microphones and headphones of every kind, RF transmission equipment ranging from vocals microphones to complete systems for musicals, conference and visitor guidance systems, products for the hearing impaired and headsets for aviation-Sennheiser products have become firmly established at the pinnacle of audio technology throughout the world.
Headquartered in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, the medium-sized company employs about 1,600 people throughout the world. Sennheiser has a total of four production sites in Germany, Ireland and the USA. Its worldwide network of sales subsidiaries and long-term sales partners established over many years ensure that the company remains close to its customers and always has its finger on the pulse of the market. A large research and development department in Germany and an R&D office in California guarantee that the company maintains the technical lead that it has always enjoyed..
Founded in 1987, TransCAT GmbH & Co. KG is a fully-owned subsidiary of RAND Worldwide. Both a solutions provider and a systems integrator across the entire corporate IT spectrum, TransCAT acts as a systems retailer for the PLM solutions of Dassault and IBM. Its core expertise lies in the CATIA / SMARTEAM / ENOVIA solutions and in server/storage/system management concepts. The range of services offered by the 170-strong company helps its clients shorten product development times, increase profitability and cut IT costs. The client base includes well-known firms from the mechanical engineering and plant construction sectors, aviation, the automotive industry and manufacturers of consumer goods.
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