Expansion into new markets: PROSTEP intends to expand its range of consulting services

By Philipp Hasenäcker

It is a well-known fact that PROSTEP’s business model is based on three pillars that complement each other perfectly: (strategy) consulting, the development and sale of proprietary software solutions for integration, migration, data exchange and end-to-end digitalization, and the development of custom software. Thanks to this combination of different capabilities, we have achieved a fairly unique position on the German-speaking PLM market and are greatly appreciated by our customers. However, these three pillars are not yet equally strong. That is why we have set ourself the goal of systematically expanding our consulting services over the next few business years in terms of both content and geography.

One of the focal points of our consulting activities that we have our eye on is providing advice to companies that manufacture complex mechatronic and software-driven products. Together with our subsidiary BHC, we support these companies in the design and implementation of processes and methods for model-based system engineering (MBSE) throughout their development processes, and in the integrating their fragmented PLM and ALM (Application Lifecycle Management) landscapes.

In recent months, we have also expanded our comprehensive range of consulting services to include services that cover the topic artificial intelligence (AI), services that we have already successfully provided in initial customer projects. One objective of our AI strategy is to help SMEs that have limited IT resources to develop AI-specific know-how within their organization, implement AI technology in their business processes, and develop corresponding AI applications.
We also want to use AI to optimize and speed up our in-house software development.

PROSTEP has not only developed in-depth integration know-how in the industries it has traditionally focused on, i.e. the automotive and mechanical and plant engineering industries, but also in the shipbuilding industry. We want to utilize this know-how in the future to advise and support global shipbuilding companies, which are subject to high competitive and cost pressures, in modernizing their PLM landscapes and creating end-to-end digital processes. We will therefore be making explicit investments in expanding our capabilities in terms of shipbuilding expertise, both through internal measures and by expanding the team to include suitable consulting experts.

We will also be increasing our involvement in relevant international shipbuilding events, such as the International Conference on Computer Applications in Shipbuilding (ICCAS) in Genoa and the World Shipbuilding Conference (WSC) in Lisbon, with the aim of further expanding our network and promoting not only key topics such as our OpenPDM Ship software solution but also our range of consulting services.

PROSTEP’s executive board intends to internationalize not only our software business but also our consulting business to a greater extent. The reason for this is that we see that numerous international customers who use our time-tested PLM integration solution OpenPDM and/or our secure data exchange platform OpenDXM GlobalX have a lot of catching up to do in terms of modernizing their PLM landscapes. Initial focus with regard to internationalization is being placed on Europe and the USA but is by no means limited to these regions.

At this year’s Siemens Realize LIVE conference in Las Vegas, we were represented together with our US-American colleagues from PROSTEP, Inc. and presented not only our software products and solutions but also our consulting services to the Siemens user community. The great response and numerous discussions fill me with confidence with regard to our potential business development, and I hope to be able to report on a first consulting project with a customer from the USA very soon.

Our numerous references in the Siemens environment are an important door opener and, incidentally, also served to persuade ACO, a manufacturer of drainage technology. Although this case did not involve PLM consulting but rather a migration project, anyone who is able to provide customer with support for such complex projects can be trusted to provide expert advice when it comes to designing PLM landscapes.

Yours Philipp Hasenäcker

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PROSTEP INC

PROSTEP is the world's leading product life cycle integration and migration specialist for the discrete manufacturing industry.

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