Siemens PLM Software
Encyclopedia
Siemens PLM Software is a computer software
company specializing in 3D & 2D Product Lifecycle Management
(PLM) software. The company is a business unit
of Siemens Industry Automation
division, and is headquartered in Plano, Texas
.
The first commercial product developed by what is now known as Siemens PLM Software was called UNIAPT. Released in 1969 by a software company then called United Computing, UNIAPT was one of the world's first end-user CAM
products. United Computing was founded in 1963 above a hair salon in Torrance, California
, and went on to purchase the Automated Drafting and Machining (ADAM) software code from MGS in 1973. The code became a foundation for a product called UNI-GRAPHICS, later sold commercially as Unigraphics in 1975.
The following year, United Computing was acquired by the Aerospace
company McDonnell Douglas
, who created new CAD/CAM divisions, naming one the Unigraphics Group. Finally, in 1980, Unigraphics was released, marking the group's first true 3D modeling hardware and software offering.
Already home to McDonnell Douglas, the Unigraphics Group grew in St. Louis, Missouri
, which became the new headquarters. In 1991, the McDonnell Douglas
Systems Integration groups, including Unigraphics, were acquired by EDS
(then a part of General Motors
Corp.), calling the new group EDS Unigraphics. Eventually, in 1997 EDS set up its Unigraphics division as a wholly owned subsidiary called Unigraphics Solutions. EDS took Unigraphics Solutions public while continuing to own majority controlling shares in Unigraphics. During this time, Unigraphics acquired a few companies itself including Engineering Animation, Inc.
, the former Ames, Iowa
-based visualization company.
In 1999 the company acquired Applicon
, a long term player in the EDA field.
Unigraphics changed its name to UGS in 2001. Also that year, EDS repurchased all outstanding UGS stock, and acquired a UGS competitor, SDRC
. In 2003 UGS also received a perpetual, royalty-free license to the MSC Nastran
source code. UGS, SDRC, and Nastran were merged into a single Line of Business (LOB) named EDS PLM Solutions. EDS sold off its EDS PLM Solutions business to the private equity group of Bain Capital
, Silver Lake Partners
, and Warburg Pincus
in 2004. The company resumed operating under the UGS name following the private equity sale.
In 2005, UGS purchased Tecnomatix
Technologies Ltd.
On January 24, 2007 the German electronics giant Siemens AG
announced that they would acquire UGS for $3.5 billion. When the sale completed, UGS became part of Siemens Automation & Drives group as Siemens PLM Software.
, a CAD
/CAM
/CAE
commercial software suite, Teamcenter, an integrated set of PLM
and collaboration (cPD
) tools, Tecnomatix
, a manufacturing and factory planning suite and Velocity Series, an application bundle focused at the mid-market that includes Solid Edge
.
The company's portfolio also contained NX I-deas
, NX Nastran
, Solid Edge
, Imageware, Tecnomatix
Femap
, D-Cubed
, JT
, PLM Vis, PLM XML, and Parasolid
.
Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
company specializing in 3D & 2D Product Lifecycle Management
Product lifecycle management
In industry, product lifecycle management is the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from its conception, through design and manufacture, to service and disposal...
(PLM) software. The company is a business unit
Strategic business unit
In essence, the SBU is a profit making area that focuses on a combination of product offer and market segment, requiring its own marketing plan, competitor analysis, and marketing campaign.A Strategic Business Unit emerges at the cross-over between:...
of Siemens Industry Automation
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
division, and is headquartered in Plano, Texas
Plano, Texas
Plano is a city in the state of Texas, located mostly within Collin County. The city's population was 259,841 at the 2010 census, making it the ninth-largest city in Texas and the 71st most populous city in the United States. Plano is located within the metropolitan area commonly referred to as...
.
History
Computer-aided manufacturing
Computer-aided manufacturing is the use of computer software to control machine tools and related machinery in the manufacturing of workpieces. This is not the only definition for CAM, but it is the most common; CAM may also refer to the use of a computer to assist in all operations of a...
products. United Computing was founded in 1963 above a hair salon in Torrance, California
Torrance, California
Torrance is a city incorporated in 1921 and located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Torrance has of shore-front beaches on the Pacific Ocean, quieter and less well-known by tourists than others on the Santa Monica Bay, such as those of neighboring...
, and went on to purchase the Automated Drafting and Machining (ADAM) software code from MGS in 1973. The code became a foundation for a product called UNI-GRAPHICS, later sold commercially as Unigraphics in 1975.
The following year, United Computing was acquired by the Aerospace
Aerospace
Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...
company McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer and defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. It formed from a merger of McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft in 1967. McDonnell Douglas was based at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport...
, who created new CAD/CAM divisions, naming one the Unigraphics Group. Finally, in 1980, Unigraphics was released, marking the group's first true 3D modeling hardware and software offering.
Already home to McDonnell Douglas, the Unigraphics Group grew in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, which became the new headquarters. In 1991, the McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer and defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. It formed from a merger of McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft in 1967. McDonnell Douglas was based at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport...
Systems Integration groups, including Unigraphics, were acquired by EDS
Electronic Data Systems
HP Enterprise Services is the global business and technology services division of Hewlett Packard's HP Enterprise Business strategic business unit. It was formed by the combination of HP's legacy services consulting and outsourcing business and the integration of acquired Electronic Data Systems,...
(then a part of General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
Corp.), calling the new group EDS Unigraphics. Eventually, in 1997 EDS set up its Unigraphics division as a wholly owned subsidiary called Unigraphics Solutions. EDS took Unigraphics Solutions public while continuing to own majority controlling shares in Unigraphics. During this time, Unigraphics acquired a few companies itself including Engineering Animation, Inc.
Engineering Animation, Inc.
Engineering Animation, Inc. was a services and software company based in Ames, Iowa , United States. It remained headquartered there from its incorporation in 1990 until it was acquired by Unigraphics Solutions, Inc. in 1999...
, the former Ames, Iowa
Ames, Iowa
Ames is a city located in the central part of the U.S. state of Iowa in Story County, and approximately north of Des Moines. The U.S. Census Bureau designates that Ames, Iowa metropolitan statistical area as encompassing all of Story County, and which, when combined with the Boone, Iowa...
-based visualization company.
In 1999 the company acquired Applicon
Applicon
Applicon, Incorporated was one of the first vendors of Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing systems. It was founded in 1969 in Bedford, Massachusetts. During the 1970s and early 1980s, the company had its headquarters and R&D facility in Burlington, MA, while their manufacturing facility was in...
, a long term player in the EDA field.
Unigraphics changed its name to UGS in 2001. Also that year, EDS repurchased all outstanding UGS stock, and acquired a UGS competitor, SDRC
SDRC
SDRC was a leading company specializing in MCAE and PLM software.-History:...
. In 2003 UGS also received a perpetual, royalty-free license to the MSC Nastran
Nastran
NASTRAN is a finite element analysis program that was originally developed for NASA in the late 1960s under United States government funding for the Aerospace industry. The MacNeal-Schwendler Corporation was one of the principal and original developers of the public domain NASTRAN code...
source code. UGS, SDRC, and Nastran were merged into a single Line of Business (LOB) named EDS PLM Solutions. EDS sold off its EDS PLM Solutions business to the private equity group of Bain Capital
Bain Capital
Bain Capital LLC is a Boston-based private equity firm founded in 1984 by partners from the consulting firm Bain & Company. Originally conceived as an early-stage, growth-oriented investment fund, Bain Capital today manages approximately $65 billion in assets, and its strategies include private...
, Silver Lake Partners
Silver Lake Partners
Silver Lake is a US-based private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in technology, technology-enabled and related industries...
, and Warburg Pincus
Warburg Pincus
Warburg Pincus, LLC is an American private equity firm with offices in the United States, Europe, Brazil and Asia. It has been a private equity investor since 1966...
in 2004. The company resumed operating under the UGS name following the private equity sale.
In 2005, UGS purchased Tecnomatix
Tecnomatix
Tecnomatix Technologies, Ltd. is the leading provider of Manufacturing Process Management and Product lifecycle management software to the electronics, automotive, aerospace and heavy equipment industries, currently owned by Siemens AG...
Technologies Ltd.
On January 24, 2007 the German electronics giant Siemens AG
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
announced that they would acquire UGS for $3.5 billion. When the sale completed, UGS became part of Siemens Automation & Drives group as Siemens PLM Software.
Products
Siemens PLM Software's products include NXNX (Unigraphics)
NX, also known as NX Unigraphics or usually just U-G, is an advanced CAD/CAM/CAE software package developed by Siemens PLM Software.It is used, among other tasks, for:* Design...
, a CAD
Computer-aided design
Computer-aided design , also known as computer-aided design and drafting , is the use of computer technology for the process of design and design-documentation. Computer Aided Drafting describes the process of drafting with a computer...
/CAM
Computer-aided manufacturing
Computer-aided manufacturing is the use of computer software to control machine tools and related machinery in the manufacturing of workpieces. This is not the only definition for CAM, but it is the most common; CAM may also refer to the use of a computer to assist in all operations of a...
/CAE
Computer-aided engineering
Computer-aided engineering is the broad usage of computer software to aid in engineering tasks. It includes computer-aided design , computer-aided analysis , computer-integrated manufacturing , computer-aided manufacturing , material requirements planning , and computer-aided planning .- Overview...
commercial software suite, Teamcenter, an integrated set of PLM
Product lifecycle management
In industry, product lifecycle management is the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from its conception, through design and manufacture, to service and disposal...
and collaboration (cPD
Collaborative Product Development
Collaborative product development is a business strategy, work process and collection of software applications that facilitates different organizations to work together on the development of a product...
) tools, Tecnomatix
Tecnomatix
Tecnomatix Technologies, Ltd. is the leading provider of Manufacturing Process Management and Product lifecycle management software to the electronics, automotive, aerospace and heavy equipment industries, currently owned by Siemens AG...
, a manufacturing and factory planning suite and Velocity Series, an application bundle focused at the mid-market that includes Solid Edge
Solid Edge
Solid Edge is a 3D CAD parametric feature solid modeling software. It runs on Microsoft Windows and provides solid modeling, assembly modelling and drafting functionality for mechanical engineers...
.
The company's portfolio also contained NX I-deas
I-DEAS
I-DEAS , a Computer-aided design software package. It was originally produced by Structural Dynamics Research Corporation in 1982. I-DEAS was used primarily in the automotive industry, most notably by Ford Motor Company and by General Motors...
, NX Nastran
Nastran
NASTRAN is a finite element analysis program that was originally developed for NASA in the late 1960s under United States government funding for the Aerospace industry. The MacNeal-Schwendler Corporation was one of the principal and original developers of the public domain NASTRAN code...
, Solid Edge
Solid Edge
Solid Edge is a 3D CAD parametric feature solid modeling software. It runs on Microsoft Windows and provides solid modeling, assembly modelling and drafting functionality for mechanical engineers...
, Imageware, Tecnomatix
Tecnomatix
Tecnomatix Technologies, Ltd. is the leading provider of Manufacturing Process Management and Product lifecycle management software to the electronics, automotive, aerospace and heavy equipment industries, currently owned by Siemens AG...
Femap
Femap
Femap is an engineering analysis program sold by Siemens PLM Software that is used to build finite element models of complex engineering problems and view solution results...
, D-Cubed
D-Cubed
D-Cubed Components are a collection of geometric software component libraries developed and licensed as commercial products by Siemens PLM Software...
, JT
JT (visualization format)
JT is a 3D data format developed by and is used for product visualization, collaboration, and CAD data exchange. It can contain any combination of approximate data, exact boundary representation surfaces , Product and Manufacturing Information , and Metadata either exported from the native CAD...
, PLM Vis, PLM XML, and Parasolid
Parasolid
Parasolid is a geometric modeling kernel originally developed by ShapeData, now owned by Siemens PLM Software , that can be licensed by other companies for use in their 3D computer graphics software products....
.