Shorter innovation cycles and the shift toward electromobility require maximum agility in engineering. Automotive and industrial supplier, Schaeffler, therefore is pursuing a consistent cloud strategy in product lifecycle management (PLM) with Windchill+ from PTC. T-Systems provides the seamless connection to the existing infrastructure with its PDM WebConnector – an integration solution officially certified by PTC for complex system landscapes.
In practice, the migration of a complex PLM infrastructure to the cloud often fails due to issues with the interfaces to the company’s existing systems. T-Systems solves this critical integration hurdle at Schaeffler with the PDM WebConnector.
As an integration solution officially certified by PTC, T-Systems’ proprietary tool directly connects PTC’s new SaaS platform Windchill+ to the supplier’s remaining on-premise infrastructure. In this setup, the PDM WebConnector acts not merely as a simple interface, but as an intelligent data hub: It orchestrates the underlying business logic, transforms heterogeneous data models, and uses integrated historization to ensure that all data flows remain fully traceable.
Whether CAD models or ERP data: information flows fully automatically, securely, and in sync between these systems. This ensures consistent data quality in global engineering and significantly reduces the burden on internal IT teams by eliminating the need for time-consuming interface maintenance.
Product lifecycle management – PLM for short – accompanies a product from the initial sketch through manufacturing to recycling. In many companies, however, this valuable data remains isolated within individual departments. Schaeffler is now breaking down these silos.
Using PTC’s Windchill+ cloud platform, the Group is centrally consolidating its engineering data. For developers worldwide, this means: They can work simultaneously with identical data sets in real time. This prevents costly planning errors and significantly shortens development times.
The joint migration project is currently in the rollout phase, proceeding according to plan. Beyond the immediate efficiency gains in daily operations, Schaeffler is laying the groundwork for its next technological milestone.
To effectively deploy artificial intelligence in product development moving forward – such as for automated design suggestions or predictive analytics – the manufacturing industry requires highly structured and freely accessible data. The successful three-way partnership of Schaeffler, PTC, and T-Systems serves as a prime example of how a modern, open ecosystem accelerates the digital transformation of the manufacturing sector.
