CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
3 May 2005
Implementation Investments
Alias To Strengthen General Motors' Design Centers
Alias® announced that it has broadened its strategic relationship with General Motors. Alias will provide General Motors Design Centers with professional services and solutions including process development, commercial software engineering, onsite support, Alias StudioToolsTM software, software maintenance and Alias PortfolioWall® software, a design collaboration tool.
This expanded role will be evident in all GM Design Centers, including those located in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Europe, Australia and Asia Pacific. These centers work on designs of all GM Brands.
"We have used Alias StudioTools technology in our Design Centers for nearly two decades and have worked closely with Alias to develop and enhance the features and functionality critical to our design process," said Terry Kline, Global Product Development Process Information Officer, GM Information Systems & Services (IS&S). "Alias has become a major contributor to the success of our design visualization and workflow efforts, enabling our teams in concept design and technical surfacing to work faster and more efficiently, with more emphasis on design than software applications. Their increased involvement represents a significant step forward in our partnership, and will be extremely important in keeping GM at the forefront of vehicle design."
Doug Walker, president of Alias, said: "This increased involvement with GM, our longest standing customer, is a prime example of how Alias can partner with companies to increase their competitive advantage and bring better products to market faster. Alias will not only deliver significant, ongoing technology enhancements but also provide knowledge and expertise in developing best practices and processes. This expanded direction will better help GM advance its business opportunities and build its position as a world automotive leader."
GM is taking aggressive efforts to leverage the combined creative talents of its designers worldwide, essentially building one virtual global design center. Alias' increased involvement will be seen in several projects, including optimizing the operation and management of design collaboration and visualization, data quality assurance, 3D data evaluation, and overall workflow enhancements. For example, Alias is providing PortfolioWall software for use in GM Design Centers all over the world. PortfolioWall is a leading edge collaboration tool that is an integral component in the management review process, simplifying the organization and interactive presentation of designs and helping executives and managers to more easily review work in progress.
To meet GM's specific needs, Alias will also make enhancements to Alias AutoStudioTM software, part of the Alias StudioTools family, which has been used by GM since 1985 as its standard conceptual design, 3D modeling and rendering software. The accelerated development work will link AutoStudio with UGS® CAD and Product Data Management (PDM) processes by allowing GM designers and sculptors to access engineering data from a centralized, global source.
Alias Professional Services include Custom Engineering, Renderfarm Services, Product Data Management Integration, Onsite Support, Skills Assessment, Benchmarking, Training and many other services tailored to the specific needs of varied customers in the design and entertainment industries.
Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 324,000 people around the world. It has manufacturing operations in 32 countries and its vehicles are sold in 200 countries. In 2004, GM sold nearly 9 million cars and trucks globally, up 4 percent and the second-highest total in the company's history. GM's global headquarters are at the GM Renaissance Center in Detroit. More information on GM can be found at http://www.gm.com .
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