Tecnomatix Announces Process Model Platform and Process Planning Software

Tecnomatix Technologies Ltd. (Herzliya, Israel), a provider of Computer-Aided Production Engineering (CAPE) solutions, announced the introduction of Process Model Platform and its Process Planning software in an effort to enable customers to share manufacturing engineering data across the extended enterprise.

Tecnomatix' Process Model provides a uniform software platform that is customized specifically for manufacturing planning activities. Process Model Platform complements digital product development and management, as enabled by CAD and PDM systems, and streamlines the process of bringing products rapidly to commercial production. The Process Model's open and object-oriented architecture enables manufacturers to extend their PDM system of choice to manage manufacturing process information in their core PDM system.

The Process Model Platform's integrated architecture helps manufacturers to become more competitive by enabling critical elements including: global collaborative production engineering, process data definition and re-use, manufacturer-supplier collaboration, automatic generation of manufacturing related documentation and seamless integration with other IT systems. Specifically the Process Model is used to allow integration with all PDM and ERP systems enabling sharing between product, process and production systems.

Tecnomatix' Process Planning software is a suite of applications dedicated to specific vertical market segments. The suite includes applications for process modeling and analysis, costing, line balancing, bid generation, sequencing and logistics optimization.

The first product developed within the new Tecnomatix Process Model Platform is the Process Planning application which serves as a manufacturing desktop for developing new manufacturing processes from concept to production as well as capturing existing manufacturing processes and resources for re-use across multiple product lifecycles. Pilot projects are underway with a number of leading manufacturers and suppliers.

"The Process Model Platform architecture and the Process Planner desktop form the backbone of the Tecnomatix Digital Factory,'' says Harel Beit-On, CEO of Tecnomatix. "By using this platform together with Tecnomatix' suite of CAPE products, our customers can implement their digital factory strategies and manufacture better products faster using already proven processes and existing assets."

Tecnomatix Digital Factory is the computerized representation of a factory's production lines, manufacturing processes and resources. The Digital Factory enables analysis, validation and optimization of production systems and processes. It is based on two integrated components: the Process Model Platform and a suite of dedicated CAPE applications that enables modeling, simulation and analysis of manufacturing and assembly processes.

The Process Planner desktop is the first in a large suite of vertical software products that Tecnomatix will release on the Process Model Platform during 1999.