Press Kit
Darmstadt/Germany, March 08, 2012
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION OF THE INITIATIVE “CODEX OF PLM OPENNESS”
2
The Initiative
The Motivation
Introduction of the Codex PLM Openness 1.0
Statements on the Codex of PLM Openness
2
3
5
6
THE PROSTEP IVIP ASSOCIATION
9
Mission & Goals
ProSTEP iViP Organization – Board and Members
9
11
MORE INFORMATION
15
Download Codex of PLM Openness
Download of this press kit
Download information concerning ProSTEP iViP Association
15
15
15
CONTACT
15
ATTACHMENTS
16
CV Elisabeth Hoeflich
CV Karl-Erich Probst
CV Dr. Steven Vettermann
Press Release BMW
Press Release Continental
Press Release Oracle
Press Release PROSTEP
Press Release PTC
Press Release T-Systems
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Introduction of the Initiative “Codex of PLM Openness”
The ProSTEP iViP Association will present at the IT-Congress automotiveDAY on
May 8th, 2012 at 17h45 the Codex of PLM Openness (CPO) for establishing a common
understanding on openness of IT systems in the context of Product Lifecycle
Management (PLM). Speaking on behalf of the initiative will be Elisabeth Hoeflich (CIO
Continental AG) and Karl-Erich Probst (CIO BMW Group). Aside from Continental AG
and BMW the IT users and IT providers Daimler, Dassault Systèmes, IBM, Oracle, PTC,
SAP, Siemens PLM Software, T-Systems and Volkswagen were involved in developing
the CPO.
The Initiative
The joint development of a Codex of PLM Openness (CPO) was initiated in 2011 under the
auspices of the ProSTEP iViP Association. The CPO in version 1.0 – as presented on March
8th, 2012 - was developed in cooperation with BMW, Daimler, Dassault Systèmes, IBM,
Oracle, PTC, SAP, Siemens PLM Software, T-Systems, and Volkswagen.
This coordinated joint effort of IT providers, IT integrators, and IT customers succeeded for
the first time in developing a common basic understanding on the subject of openness of ITsystems in the context of PLM. For this purpose measurable criteria were defined, allowing
every IT customer and IT provider in the market a clear positioning with regards to „PLM
Openness“. The CPO is a voluntary self-commitment for industrial and IT companies, aiming
at implementing or offering highly integrative solutions for seamless data processes in PLM.
The initiative is a clear signal and invitation to all players in the market to participate – and
the emphasis here lies on the word ‘all’.
IT customers can take together with IT providers and IT integrators a clear position and can
express their basic requirements for PLM openness, facilitating the agility, flexibility and
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speed they need in the further development of their PLM-system landscape and providing
investment protection at the same time.
Thus, IT providers and IT integrators receive harmonized, clearly formulated requirements
for the openness of IT-systems and the consolidated findings they need for an innovative
product portfolio. Long-term business strategies are easier to pursue with PLM Openness. A
commitment to the Codex of PLM Openness does not mean to give away achievements. It
means to specify the conditions for a strong partnership with their customers and third parties
involved. In short: they can strengthen their market position.
For introducing innovations and technological progress faster to the PLM system
environment of the industry, a Codex - in the sense of a jointly formulated self-commitment is an important step into the future, for both IT providers and manufacturers from branches
like aerospace & defense, automotive, mechanical engineering and shipbuilding industries.
The Motivation
The term „PLM Openness“ refers to the openness of IT-solutions for Product Lifecycle
Management (PLM) in terms of efficient communication (interoperability), integrability
(infrastructure) and functional expandability, as well as interfaces, standards for data formats,
and transparency of the architecture. The more open the IT solution, the higher will be its
ability to be integrated into existing system environments and business processes. By
seeking maximum system integration, companies want to ensure that they are able to use
their data once it was generated continuously throughout the entire product lifecycle.
As no requirements, such as legal regulations, standards or guidelines, have been
established to this effect so far, the ProSTEP iViP e.V. started this initiative in the form of an
open community for IT providers and IT users. The goal is to establish a common
understanding of „Openness“ as a basis for the further development of IT systems and
processes in PLM.
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Background is the different understanding IT-providers, IT-integrators and IT-customers
have on this subject and the diverging approaches in information technology. Thus, the call
for this initiative at the ProSTEP iViP Symposium on May 5th, 2011 generated a strong
response from well-known companies of the interest groups: in a first „Memorandum of
Understanding“ companies like BMW, Continental, Daimler, Dassault Systèmes, Oracle,
PTC, Siemens PLM Software, T-Systems, and Volkswagen documented their willingness to
establish the CPO. The support of more than a dozen automotive OEMS could be secured
soon thereafter.
The objective is now to raise publicity for the initiative and to promote active participation
worldwide.
“The enormous feedback confirms us that we hit a true nerve of the time with this topic”, says
Reinhold Pohl, co-initiator and Chairman of the Executive Board of the ProSTEP iViP
Association.
The market offers a variety of IT solutions for product lifecycle management, but often they
cannot be integrated into the existing IT landscape within a short period of time. Due to the
high level of complexity IT project times run in a timeframe of several months or years,
depending on the scope of changes. This is not surprising, considering that the number of
standard solutions, micro-applications and interfaces lies in the four-digit range among
manufacturers.
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Introduction of the Codex PLM Openness 1.0
With the CPO, IT providers, integrators and customers have developed for the first time a
common basic understanding on the subject of openness of IT systems in the context of
PLM.
Essential elements of the CPO are:

Voluntary self-commitment of participating companies (CPO-Statement)

Definition of measurable Must-, Should- and May-Criteria
The main categories of the CPO are

Interoperability

Infrastructure

Expandability

Interfaces

Standards

Architecture
The Codex of PLM Openness 1.0 is a recommendation intended to be developed further in
the future. The ProSTEP iViP Association has the objective to raise awareness for the
initiative worldwide and to increase the active participation of interested companies. Given
the significant number of potential IT providers, IT integrators and IT customers, the CPOCommunity was organized in a way that ensures a comprehensive involvement at different
levels of intensity.
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Statements on the Codex of PLM Openness
BMW - Press Release of March 8, 2012:
Karl-Erich Probst, Chief Information Officer, BMW
“A lack of openness of IT systems always is an obstacle regarding efficient integration, which
drives costs.
Due to the coordinated joint effort of IT providers, IT integrators, and IT customers
succeeded for the first time in developing a common basic understanding on the subject of
openness of IT-systems in the context of PLM.
The huge interest shows us at BMW, that the number of IT vendors and integrators signing
the CPO and taking the openness requirements within their software development into
account will rise quickly. And we estimate huge support by IT customers as well.
We will sign the Codex of PLM Openness and will support its progress actively.”
Continental - Press Release of March 8, 2012:
Elisabeth Hoeflich, Chief Information Officer, Continental
“Due to the increase of component integration and the accelerating product lifecycles, solid
and integrated IT systems open with regard to extensibility and customizability are
precondition for successful product creation with automotive electronics.
Continental supports the ‘Codex of PLM Openness (CPO)’ initiated by ProSTEP iViP,
because it defines a common basic understanding on the subject of openness of IT-systems
in the context of Product Lifecycle Management.
Continental will sign the Codex of PLM Openness and is willing to support related activities.”
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Oracle - Press Release of February 29, 2012
Denis Senpere, Vice President Enterprise PLM, Oracle
“The time of proprietary systems is definitely over in the industry. Freedom of choice in
combining solutions and defining implementation as it best suits customers is the only way
forward. That’s why the initiative driven by ProSTEP iViP is important as it will help defining
standards and best practices for PLM Openness. Oracle is proud to be in the forefront of this
working group.”
PROSTEP Press Release of March 5, 2012:
Dr. Bernd Pätzold, Chief Executive Officer, PROSTEP
“The philosophy of openness has always influenced the development of PROSTEP’s own
software products. PROSTEP is fully committed to fulfilling the requirements laid down in the
CPO and will ensure that they are incorporated in its product development. Furthermore, the
company actively supports the further development of the PLM openness concept, both with
regard to content and strategy.”
PTC - Press Release of March 8, 2012:
Andrew Wertkin, Chief Technology Officer, PTC
“PTC has a long history of supporting open standards and interoperability with third party
solutions to ensure maximum customer value. Manufacturing companies must be enabled to
support their business processes with combined solutions packages from different vendors
and we are pleased to be playing an important role in helping shape the next generation of
technology solutions for auto makers and further industries.”
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Siemens PLM Software (Februray 1, 2012):
Chuck Grindstaff, Chief Executive Officer, Siemens PLM Software
“A lot of things have to come together to guarantee the openness of PLM systems. Technical
standards are clearly a part of this. The way we understand it, essentially all interfaces need
to be documented and accessible to users and developers. Without any limitation. That
means that we also allow third-party products that are in a way competing with Siemens PLM
Software tools. We’re convinced we don’t have to shy away from any comparison. And we
support the “Code of PLM Openness” without reservation and we’re working closely together
with its initiators, for example BMW.
Siemens PLM Software has achieved a leading position in the automobile industry because
we have learned to listen carefully to our customers and to incorporate their requirements in
our tools. Without reservations, open and completely pragmatic. Also, as part of the Siemens
Group, we can guarantee high stability and a long-term partnership from a technical and
financial point of view. With us, no customer will fail. Ever.”
T-Systems - Press Release of March 8, 2012:
Luz G. Mauch, Senior Vice President Automotive, T-Systems
“By the "Codex of PLM Openness" initiative we succeed to fasten the integration of
innovation and technological enhancements into the PLM system landscape.”
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The ProSTEP iViP Association
Mission & Goals
The ProSTEP iViP Association is an international association with its headquarters in
Darmstadt, one of Germany’s top locations for science and research. The association has
committed itself to developing innovative approaches to solving problems and standards for
product data management and virtual product creation.
It bundles the interests of manufacturers and suppliers in manufacturing industry as well as
IT providers, in close cooperation with science and research institutes, to provide its
members with the long-term competitive advantages that more efficient processes, methods
and systems offer.
The Association has set itself the task of

providing optimal support for cross-enterprise and cross-domain communication and
collaboration,

making a significant contribution to optimizing the value added chain in the product
creation process,

pushing the development of open, vendor-neutral PLM standards,

securing the participation of key global players, whose representatives are personally
involved to a great extent,

and ensuring the interoperability and quality of software solutions for the product
creation process through the development of standards.
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The association was founded in 1993, when leading IT managers at BMW, Bosch,
Continental, Daimler, Delphi, Opel, Siemens, Volkswagen and 30 other companies realized
that the development of modern processes for efficient product data management was
crucial to ensuring the ability of German companies to compete in the global marketplace.
The starting point for this endeavor was the joint development of the STEP data format (ISO
10303), which was intended to ensure manufacturing industry’s independence from CAD
software vendors. Since 2003, integrated virtual product creation (iViP) has been one of the
association’s foremost topics and has today been established as an important instrument for
shortening the processes leading up to the launch of a product.
Today, the ProSTEP iViP Association remains committed to developing new approaches to
end-to-end process, system and data integration for its members and providing digital
support for all the phases of the product creation process.
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ProSTEP iViP Organization – Board and Members
Members of the ProSTEP iViP Association currently include about 160 companies and
organizations from 17 nations.
Since the 18th Annual General Meeting on April 27, 2010, the Board is comprised as follows:
Reinhold Pohl
Continental Teves AG & Co. OHG
Chairman of the board
Reinhold Pohl (born 1952) studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University
Darmstadt with focus on general engineering and design. His thesis dealt with the topic
“Information systems at the engineers workplace” including a pilot development within a CAD
system at the chair.
Since 1981 he has been working in several positions at Continental Teves AG & Co. OHG.
He started as a constructing engineer in product development brake operation and later on
has been head of the CAD division. 1986 he changed to “technical data processing” and
1988 he took responsibility for the development of a technical information system, a
predecessor of today’s PDM/PLM solutions. From 1993 on he has been head of the division
CAD and database development within product development, responsible for Europe. From
2000 until 2002 he has been project manager for the global roll out of SAP PLM. At present
he is “Head IT Engineering Systems” with global responsibility for all IT tools relevant in
development in the field of Mechatronics.
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Dr. Oliver Riedel
Audi AG
Dr. Oliver Riedel (born 1965) studied Engineering Cybernetics at the Technical University in
Stuttgart and earned his doctorate at the Faculty of Engineering Design and Production
Engineering; he received the 1998 VMI Award for his doctoral thesis. For over 15 years, Dr.
Riedel has been involved with the basic principles and practical application of virtual
validation methods in product development. During this time, he has managed numerous
projects for major international companies in the automotive and energy industries with the
objective of introducing virtual methods. After working at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial
Engineering (IAO), he held various management positions at CENIT AG Systemhaus and
SiliconGraphics Inc. where he was involved in the area of professional services for virtual
product development. After that, Dr. Riedel has been responsible for process integration and
information management in the product process at AUDI AG. From end of 2010 on he was
responsible for information technology and process integration product process at
Volkswagen. Since March 2012 he is responsible for the management of planning processes
and the coordination of production-relevant IT at Audi.
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Ulrich Ahle
Atos GmbH
After an apprenticeship for Instrument Mechanic at Hella KG, Ulrich Ahle (born 1962) studied
Mechanical Engineering at the University of Paderborn. Firstly he was a design engineer in
the field Printer Development at Nixdorf Computer AG, later team leader Technical
Processes and responsible project manager for the implementation of Metaphase.
From 1996 on he was supervisor at Siemens Business Services for the setup of the PDM
business. After that he became General Manager for e-Business Practice Business
Information Management in the area Knowledge Management, product Lifecycle
Collaboration and Business Intelligence. Since 2002 Mr. Ahle is Director Discrete
Manufacturing & Automotive at Atos GmbH in Germany.
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Prof. Dr. Martin Eigner
Technical University of Kaiserslautern
Martin Eigner is a worldwide renowned expert for Product Lifecycle Management and
CAD/CAM. After graduating in 1980 at the University of Karlsruhe (Germany) in the area
CAD, Prof. Eigner was head of Technical Data Processing in a division of Robert Bosch
GmbH. In 1985 he founded EIGNER + PARTNER LLC, which was sold to the US company
Agile in 2003, which is now owned by Oracle.
Since 1984 Martin Eigner has been lecturing at universities and authored/co-authored seven
textbooks and several technical papers on CAD/PDM/PLM. In 1985 he received the VDI ring
of honor and in 1999 was granted an honorary professorship at the University of Karlsruhe.
At present Martin Eigner holds the chair in virtual product development at the University of
Kaiserslautern. In addition to his professional and academic activities he volunteers his time
on advisory boards of various professional and trade associations.
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More information
Download Codex of PLM Openness
Codex of PLM Openness 1.0 on www.prostep.org/en/cpo.html
Download of this press kit
CPO Press kit for March 8, 2012: http://www.prostep.org/en/cpo/press.html
Download information concerning ProSTEP iViP Association
Website of the ProSTEP iViP Association: www.prostep.org
Download information sheet on http://www.prostep.org/en/profile/benefits.html
Contact
ProSTEP iViP Association
Frau Yvonne van der Steeg
T +49-6151-9287-446
E-Mail: vandersteeg@prostep.org
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Attachments
Majority of documents currently only in German available. We apologize for any
inconvenience.
CV Elisabeth Hoeflich
CV Karl-Erich Probst
CV Dr. Steven Vettermann
Press Release BMW
Press Release Continental
Press Release Oracle
Press Release PROSTEP
Press Release PTC
Press Release T-Systems
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