PTC Join Forces with Caterpillar and STARBASE South Dakota to Inspire South Dakota Students to Become Engineers

United States Department of Defense-sponsored program delivers STEM learning opportunities

NEEDHAM, MA - November 16, 2011- PTC^® (Nasdaq: PMTC), The Product Development Company^®, announced today it is working with Caterpillar and STARBASE South Dakota to develop the next generation of engineers in the Black Hills area of South Dakota. STARBASE South Dakota is one of 75 United States Department of Defense STARBASE programs that serve young people in communities across the country to motivate them in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and to pursue STEM careers.

Caterpillar and PTC have been long time supporters of STEM programs through their support of initiatives like the FIRST robotics programs and now STARBASE.  PTC will provide the curriculum and training support for the STARBASE South Dakota instructors and Caterpillar will provide mentoring and engineering support for middle and secondary schools in the Black Hills region through its Engineering Design Center in Rapid City, South Dakota.

The DoD STARBASE program has introduced 3-D engineering design and manufacturing using PTC software to over 610,000 students across the United States and expects an additional 70,000 students to participate in 2012.  The program provides students with 20-25 hours of real world STEM experiences. The program also helps develop positive self-esteem, teaches goal-setting skills and encourages teamwork through challenging hands-on activities.

"The support from PTC and Caterpillar provides STARBASE South Dakota with access to experienced engineers and mentors to assist with our programs," said Sarah Jensen, director of STARBASE, Rapid City, South Dakota.  "STARBASE South Dakota creates a pipeline for workforce development and has a direct impact on students. As an example, one of our middle school students spent the day with a Caterpillar engineer and walked away empowered with the knowledge that he now has the ability to be successful.   That is proof that programs like STARBASE work."

"Together with our customers, PTC is proud to be part of a technology movement that seeks to bridge the gap between school and industry in order to encourage more STEM-related careers," said John D. Stuart, senior vice president, global education, PTC.  "With the support of Caterpillar in programs like FIRST, DoD STARBASE, the PTC Engineer of Future and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, we will continue to develop a new generation of students that will have the technical knowledge and skills to work for companies like Caterpillar and its suppliers in South Dakota and around the globe."

About STARBASE
STARBASE is a Department of Defense program that serves young people in communities across the country by offering students an opportunity to participate in a variety of hands-on learning experiences designed to increase interest in and knowledge of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). You can visit their website athttp://www.starbasedod.com.  

Additional Resources

• PTC's Academic Program (web site)
• PTC and Real World Design Challenge (web site)
• PTC's Community Relations Programs (web site)
• PTC and FIRST (web site) 

BAE Systems, Inc. and BAE Systems Australia Select PTC as its Preferred Product Lifecycle Management Solution Provider

Leading Aerospace and Defense Company Standardizes on PTC® PLM Solution for Collaboration, CAD Data Management, Change & Configuration Management 

Needham, MA - November 1, 2011 - PTC (Nasdaq: PMTC), The Product Development Company®, today announced that BAE Systems, Inc., and BAE Systems, Ltd. Australia, global aerospace and defense companies, have selected PTC's PLM (product lifecycle management) solution as the cornerstone of its engineering product data management strategy.  

To build on its strong history of delivering a full range of products and service for air, land and naval forces, BAE Systems is moving away from a number of disparate, disconnected databases and has selected PTC's Windchill® PLM solution as its enterprise standard for product development.  Windchill delivers a secure, global platform for access to product data and design to enable collaboration across disparate sites and partners, support effective change and configuration management and improve CAD data management in order to quickly respond to customer requirements.

BAE-RG33 Mine Protected Vehicle

"BAE Systems selects technology solutions that can help us achieve competitive advantage by providing customers with innovative, high quality solutions that support their mission objectives," said Stewart Farnham, director of Engineering Tools Portfolio Management for BAE Systems, Inc.  "PTC's commercial software solution with its off-the-shelf capabilities has enabled us to quickly implement Windchill so we can strengthen that competitive differentiation.  PTC understands our business processes and has proven its technical and services capabilities that will continue to be critical for this strategic, long-term partnership."

"BAE Systems is one of the largest defense contractors in the world and has expanded its capabilities both organically and through acquisitions.  Large, distributed organizations like BAE Systems realize the critical importance of having a single, integral technology platform for product development to deliver against time-to-market objectives" said Jim Heppelmann, president and CEO, PTC.  "Because of this, BAE Systems has standardized on PTC's PLM solution to optimize its product development processes.  We look forward to continue helping them realize the value that PTC can bring to their strategic business initiatives." 

PTC provides PLM solutions that are designed to meet the requirements of the global aerospace and defense industry. These solutions enable digital automation of product development and program management processes, as well as complete visibility and control over program information for secure, collaborative product development. PTC is an industry leader with 18 of the top 20 aerospace and defense companies as customers. 

Additional Resources

• PTC's Product Information Lifecycle Management (PLM) Resource Center(web site)
• What's New in Windchill 10.0 (video)
• Windchill 10. 0 Interactive Experience (web site)
• Map Your Best Route to Product Value (eBook)

COMAC Expands Use of PTC Solutions for Enterprise Product Lifecycle Management

Scalable Architecture Supports Integrated Digital Environment for Large Aircraft Research & Development, Manufacturing and Service

NEEDHAM, MA - October 20, 2011 - PTC^® (Nasdaq: PMTC), the Product Development Company®, today announced that Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC) has expanded its use of Windchill^® software to support itsdevelopment of commercial aircraft. Windchill serves as the technology infrastructure for its Integrated Digital Environment for Aircraft Lifecycle (IDEAL) program. Windchill, PTC's product lifecycle management (PLM) software, provides a single, interoperable platform for improving collaboration, automating processes and managing data across the product lifecycle. 

The rapid growth of the Chinese economy has created a strong demand for commercial aircraft, resulting in a significant increase in the number of Chinese airports, and a growing demand for locally-developed civilian aircraft. As the only company working on the development of commercial aircraft in China, the newly founded COMAC is focused on deploying innovative, best-of-breed product development technology to improve its overall competitiveness. COMAC is just entering the commercial aircraft business, but intends rapidly to become one of the world's leading commercial aircraft manufacturers. 

After an extensive review of competing PLM solutions, COMAC selected Windchill as the technology platform for its IDEAL program.  The goal of the IDEAL program is to improve collaboration by delivering unified product information across all roles involved with aircraft production - from design and test to manufacture and service.  As the technology infrastructure "backbone" supporting IDEAL, PTC's Windchill provides a single, authoritative source for all product information, supporting access across a wide range of tools including CAD, CAE, CAM, TDM, and EDA. 

"PTC has maintained a long-term relationship with COMAC and is pleased to support its expansion to large aircraft development, manufacture and after market service," said James E. Heppelmann, President and Chief Executive Officer, PTC.  "COMAC's subsidiary companies have been partnering with PTC since 2003.  During this period, Windchill has been used successfully as the single system for the ARJ21 CPC and C919 IDEAL projects. The successful adoption of Windchill for strategic product lifecycle management will contribute to COMAC's success as it endeavors to become one of the world's leading commercial aircraft manufacturers."

Additional Resources

• PTC's Product Information Lifecycle Management (PLM) Resource Center (web site)
• What's New in Windchill 10.0 (video)
• Integrated Digital Environments (web site)
• Map Your Best Route to Product Value (eBook)
• CIMdata 2011 China PLM Market Analysis Report

PTC Named As China's #1 PLM Solution Supplier for Second Consecutive Year By Leading Industry Analyst Firm

CIMdata’s 2011 China PLM Market Analysis Report Ranks PTC First in Direct Revenue for Mainstream PLM, cPDm and MCAD-DF

Needham, MA and Beijing, China - October 20, 2011: PTC (Nasdaq: PMTC), The Product Development Company®, today announced that for the second year in a row it has been ranked as the market share leader for mainstream PLM in China based on 2010 direct revenue according to leading independent global PLM management consulting and research firm CIMdata, Inc. This recognition, based on in-depth data and analysis of the PLM market in China, is detailed in CIMdata's 2011 China PLM Market Analysis Report. 

The CIMdata report recognizes PTC as the top PLM supplier by direct revenue in China with its direct PLM revenues of $70 million USD in 2010 and as the supplier with the largest share by revenue (25.5%) of the collaborative Product Definition management (cPDm) market segment in 2010. PTC was also named the leading supplier of design-focused MCAD with a 27.9% share by revenue for 2010. 

"PTC's success in the China market reflects the strength of its PLM solutions and their broad adoption in one of the world's fastest growing markets," said Peter Bilello, President, CIMdata. "PTC has a strong position in the Aerospace and the High-Tech industries, having won several contracts from large Chinese aircraft projects while growing its business in other key industries." 

"It's gratifying to be ranked for the second year as one of China's leading PLM solution providers by CIMdata," said Liu Tong Long, senior vice president, PTC, China, "PTC has been investing in the development of its business in China for many years and is committed to delivering leading product lifecycle management solutions that enable our China customers achieve success in their product development initiatives." 

The CIMdata report provides detailed information and in-depth analysis of China's "Mainstream PLM" market, which continues to outpace the growth of the global PLM market. CIMdata defines mainstream PLM as the subsectors of the PLM market that have traditionally been addressed by the major PLM solution suppliers. Some of these subsectors include collaborative Product Definition management (cPDm), mechanical computer aided design (CAD), engineering simulation and analysis, and digital manufacturing. The report additionally shares insight into trends and PLM market dynamics within the region along with the revenue performance of the leading PLM solution suppliers operating within China. 

PTC Announces 2012 Real World Design Challenge Theme “Green Aviation”

Students tasked to optimize the performance of a light sport aircraft

NEEDHAM, Mass., October 11, 2011 - PTC (Nasdaq: PMTC), The Product Development Company^®, today joined more than 45 partners on Capitol Hill to kick-off the 2011-2012 Real World Design Challenge. The theme of this year's challenge, "Green Aviation," was announced today at an event hosted by Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and the students from last year's national champion team, the Xavier High School Engineering Club from Middletown, CT representing the state of Connecticut.  

Students that participate in the 2011-2012 Real World Design Challenge will work to optimize the performance of a light sport aircraft with the overall design objective to design a plane that will be fuel efficient. As part of the competition, the teams will need to design one of three fuselages of different lengths and then build three different propulsion systems within it - gas, diesel and electric. 

The Real World Design Challenge is a national aviation design competition with more than 7,800 high school students run by a public-private partnership with the goal of inspiring interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and careers. PTC and its partners, including Cessna Aircraft Company and the Federal Aviation Administration are focused on transforming and enhancing STEM education in the American educational system by providing science, engineering and learning resources that allow students and teachers to address an actual challenge confronting one of the nation's most important industries. 

According to Druyun, Defense Reform 2001, A Blueprint for Action: Final Report, DFI  International 2001, fifty-four percent of the aerospace science and technology workforce is older than 45 with 33 percent eligible to retire today.  "There are not enough students in the STEM career pipeline to replace these people," said Ralph K. Coppola, director, Real World Design Challenge and director, government & strategic education programs, PTC.  "These are alarming statistics.  PTC is proud to be working with our partners to get students across the country interested in careers in engineering." 

The winning teams from the participating states will be notified in February 2012 and will receive all expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. to compete at the National Challenge Event in April 2012. 

"The Real World Design Challenge provides an important opportunity for high school students to learn and understand the challenges that aerospace engineers face every day," said Michael Humphreys, mathematics and science teacher, Xavier High School.  "Programs like this give us the chance to show these teams the exciting technological advancements in aerospace design and give them the opportunity to unleash their creative potential in a real world design scenario." 

PTC provides commercial-grade product development software, including Creo Elements/Pro® (3D product design software), Windchill® (PLM software) and Mathcad® (engineering calculation software), to teams participating in the Real World Design Challenge. PTC also provides connections and access to mentors from its partner organizations across America who are participants in the competition or program management for the competition. In addition to PTC, other partner organizations have contributed resources to make the competition free to all students. Mentor Graphics has provided FloEFDTM (3D fluid flow, heat transfer analysis package). 

For additional information contact Dr. Ralph K. Coppola, Real World Design Challenge Director at rcoppola@ptc.com. To register a team or to sign up as a mentor go to the Real World Design Challenge websitewww.realworlddesignchallenge.org. The deadline for teams to register for the Real World Design Challenge is November 18, 2011. The solution submissions are due February 6, 2012. 

McLaren Unveils Multi-Million-Dollar Factory for its Supercars

By BIMAL DHARSI | Published: NOVEMBER 21, 2011

A new £50m ($78m) factory to build McLaren supercars has been officially opened in Surrey, United Kingdom, by UK Prime Minister David Cameron.

Prime Minister David Cameron opened the new 32,000-square-meter production center which is alongside the McLaren Technology Center headquarters, also home to the group’s Formula 1 team.

All of McLaren‘s high-performance models will be built at the new factory, creating up to 350 highly-skilled jobs.

“We exist to go faster; to be state-of-the-art; to innovate; to perform with belief, flair and passion; to be the absolute best at what we do,” said McLaren chairman, Ron Dennis. “McLaren is built on the founding principles of good design and solid, seamlessly efficient engineering and manufacturing.”

The new MP4-12C sports car—built using F1 technology and already sold out for the first year of production—will be made in the factory.

Watch a documentary following Formula One racing team McLaren as it builds the MP4-12C, using some of its cutting-edge F1 technology (currently only available to UK residents and can only be viewed until  21:59 Sunday, 4^th December 2011).

Manufacturing’s Role in Global Product Development: Does Where Matter?

By CHRISTIAN BARR | Published: NOVEMBER 22, 2011

Last month, MIT held its annual Emerging Technology conference, EmTech 11. The conference focused primarily on advocating—and demonstrating—innovative and disruptive technologies, but also business drivers and means of innovation.

In other words, new ideas are great, but are there markets for them and if so, how do you produce and deliver the final goods?

What really caught my eye while looking through the session agenda was the day-one, session-one panel discussion titled “Does Manufacturing Matter?” This was an interesting discussion set amid topics such as the cloud, energy, and healthcare.

So why is manufacturing relevant in the context of innovation and emerging technologies? And what role does it play in a 21^st century global economy?

Professor Willy Shih of Harvard Business School, spoke convincingly at the conference about manufacturing’s role in the innovation value chain and its impact on global competitiveness.

Shih argues for the need to develop, maintain, and nurture manufacturing know-how. Modern manufacturers can use this ecosystem of knowledge and insight for economic advantage as new technologies emerge from all corners of industry.

The challenge is to apply the knowledge and insight gained at manufacturing sites, and share that amongst R&D and other manufacturing outlets, globally, and without delay.

We’re not in a binary world where single-site product development is effective for a globally consumed product. Companies design, build, and sell in just about every corner of the globe.

Global product development requires a different approach to managing the product’s lifecycle for those who are strategically expanding to new geographic markets.

Companies must intelligently target their manufacturing operations for geographies with desirable markets, but also ones that can foster the innovation and expertise required for best-in-class products.

For example, Cummins, a leading global engine manufacturer based in Columbus, IN, recently announced a joint venture to supply mid-range engines to Chinese construction equipment maker, Guangxi LiuGong Machinery.

For LiuGong, this partnership will not only serve the needs of its Chinese customers, but also customers around the world.

In 2009, LiuGong became the first Chinese manufacturer to build and operate a site outside of China. In order to expand its reach, it opened a site in Pritampur, India in order to quickly adapt to the market and better meet the requirements of that region.

The important lesson here is globalization is not just about finding cheap labor or materials, but about sharing innovative processes and technologies which drive shorter time to market and deliver better targeted products.

How can manufacturing innovation and excellence grow and flourish in a global economy? What challenges do you see?