CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
19 November 2012
Company News
CONTACT Software Joins the CPO Core Team
CONTACT Software extends its commitment to open IT systems and end-to-end processes in the field of product lifecycle management (PLM). The company is now campaigning to make the Codex of PLM Openness (CPO) a more binding reflection of the industry's requirements. Following its admission to the CPO Core Team, CONTACT will contribute to the further development of the codex and call for its aims to be implemented. The CPO initiative was launched in 2011 by the CIOs of the German automobile manufacturers and leading suppliers. BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen, leading businesses from the PLM sector, and the ProSTEP iViP Association all cooperated in the drafting of Version 1.0 of the codex.
The aim of the jointly developed CPO is to secure the voluntary commitment of producers of standard software to technical interoperability and fair business models. The objective of the criteria defined in the codex is to ensure that once data has been created, companies are able to use it throughout the entire product lifecycle. The primary aim is to protect the interests of users. Many enterprises – and in particular those in the automotive industry and other high-tech sectors – have invested billions in their CAD models and want to be able to exploit and continue use their own expertise free from system-related constraints.
According to CONTACT's managing director, Karl Heinz Zachries, the CPO is a very important initiative intended to reduce the high level of dependence of customers on their system suppliers and associated proprietary data formats. However, he goes on to stress that "the current version of the CPO does not go far enough. One example is access to the CAD vendors' partner programs. Commitment to openness means nothing if, to further their own interests, system suppliers decide who is allowed to use interfaces for the development of their own commercial products. This fails to take account of customers' interests and competition is restricted."
For over 20 years, CONTACT has been using an open, standards-based solution architecture and is a pioneer in its demands for open IT systems. Thus, for example, in early 2010 the company lodged a complaint with the EU Competition Commission relating to the business practices of major CAD suppliers and succeeded in awakening interest in a question that is of considerable importance to industry. In its continuing work on the codex, the PLM supplier wants to ensure that the demanded voluntary commitment focuses even more clearly on users' interests and needs.
For more information on CONTACT's commitment to the Codex of PLM Openness, go to www.contact.de/cpo.
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