Siemens announced today that its Product Engineering Software (PES) organization, which includes NX™ software, has been certified for conformity with the international Code of PLM Openness (CPO). Openness in this context relates to the potential for integrating software into a digital enterprise, where a multiplicity of software applications across product design, analysis and manufacturing need to share data throughout the enterprise and its supply chain. The new certification gives product lifecycle management (PLM) software customers the benefit of a rigorous assessment of vendor openness, which can help them understand, for example, how well the software will integrate into their existing IT landscape, and how the software might be adapted to their particular needs. As an open software vendor, Siemens PLM Software delivers solutions that interoperate effectively with third-party applications through the use of interfaces and industry standards which empowers customers to modify software for business-specific processes. Siemens also recognizes the importance of hardware compatibility in support of the high investments that customers make in their IT infrastructure.

“Openness has long been an integral part of the technology we offer and the way we do business. When vendors lock in customers, they restrict customers’ selection of new, best-in-class applications, or inhibit the flow of data through legacy applications,” said Bob Haubrock, senior vice president of Product Engineering Software for Siemens PLM Software. “We succeed by competing on product value, while adopting an open business model that doesn’t hamper customer choice.”

The Code of PLM Openness was established in 2012 among software customers, vendors and service providers, to develop a common understanding of the importance of openness by recognizing the challenges that customers face when software vendors do not engage in open practices. The initiative is supported by more than 70 major partners worldwide, and is driven by prostep ivip, an international association committed to solving problems and developing modern standards for the manufacturing industry.

“The engineering and manufacturing of products is becoming more complex and relies on an ever-increasing spectrum of software solutions and services. Vendor openness is key to reducing the high proportion of customer expenditure that's required to integrate the different solutions,” said Steven Vettermann, manager for Openness & Japan, prostep ivip. “Openness also provides vendors like Siemens PLM Software with competitive advantages. A culture of openness stimulates supplier trust among customers who fear being locked into a particular portfolio of solutions, and facilitates partner networks that accelerate innovation and help to offer flexibility and agility to their customers.”

As a founding member of the Code of PLM Openness, Siemens PLM Software was among the first software vendors to engage in openness certification, initially focusing on its NX software. The new certification measures a software vendor’s compliance with the CPO, rigorously examining how well the openness criteria are satisfied by an organization in terms of its management culture, customer focus and quality management system, for example. A thorough evaluation, comprised of documentation audit and employee interviews, was conducted by the independent auditor, TÜV Informationstechnik GmbH. Following a successful evaluation, the certificate was awarded to Siemens PLM Software in June 2018.

For further information about the Code of PLM Openness, please see www.prostep.org/en/cpo/.