VCE has decided that 30% of its revenue should come from services such as Site Operations, Connected Load Out, Task Manager, Connected Map. With a Product-as-a-Service (PaaS) approach, VCE can more easily get data into Windchill via ThingWorx (IIoT) and improve things like quality and speed up its product development process, effects that have the potential to sharpen customer services considerably.
Relevant in the context is also that PTC has for many years also invested in developing capable solutions for Product-as-a-Service such as the ThingWorx platform, as well as sharp systems for e.g. spare parts management (Servigistics). These solutions focus on enabling manufacturers to develop service-based offerings, optimize service operations and drive innovation by utilizing connected product data. Important focus areas include: optimizing the delivery of spare parts, efficient delivery of technical content and maximizing customer availability. With ThingWorx, for example, it becomes possible for manufacturers to connect their products to the internet and collect data on product performance and usage.
More about Volvo CE’s PLM arsenal
When it comes to VCE’s PLM setup, it is, among other things, a result of the decision made by the owner group, Volvo Group (including trucks and buses), in the latter part of 2021 to invest in a consolidation of PTC’s software. The announcement was then that there would be a major change of CAD system across the entire group to PTC’s Creo. Previously, for example, the cabins were designed in Dassault Systemes CATIA. But the announcement from Lars Stenqvist, EVP of Volvo Group Trucks Technology, went beyond just dealing with the CAD and truck side, the PLM/PDM area would also be affected by the consolidation. All companies in the group would be on the PTC platform; like Volvo Trucks, Buses, VCE (Volvo Construction Equipment), marine engines (Penta) and more included. The company also decided to use only PTC’s PDM solutions in the Windchill suite with this switch.
“Using a single PLM and CAD platform will serve as a key enabler in our digital technology transformation,” summed up Lars Stenqvist, CTO of Volvo Group.
He also included the use of PTC’s IIoT and AR solutions – ThingWorx and Vuforia – within the framework of the group’s digital strategy. The PTC investment is now also a reality at VCE, which now works with Windchill PLM, Creo CAD, ThingWorx (IIoT), and also PTC’s Codebeamer software (ALM/requirements management).
Digital Innovation with PLM
PTC has published more information about the Windchill implementation at VCE in an interesting case study. It notes that Volvo CE is committed to innovation, but was previously stuck in a fairly diversified environment and had an urgent need to improve its legacy systems. Like other manufacturers, Volvo CE has worked in distributed teams that previously worked in different systems, which means that processes often became fragmented, redundant and to some extent also inconsistent. “Insufficient transparency led to a lack of integration of projects, products and processes,” PTC further notes in the case study.
But Volvo CE drove the development with several key strategic initiatives, including portfolio growth, excellence and innovation, and with a focus on sustainability and environmental concerns. One point in these efforts was to unify its product development systems and to do this, Volvo CE decided to establish a PLM-enabled digital thread.
Creating Consistent Product Structures
In this, in the early 2020s, PTC chose Windchill and PTC’s Value-Ready Deployment (VRD) methodology – a pre-configured, flexible configuration built on 25 years of PLM best practices. By doing so, the manufacturer streamlined its product development processes compared to those used by VRDs. In its case study, PTC writes:
“To transform its organization for the long term, Volvo CE knew it needed to break down organizational silos and create a consistent product architecture, enabling all teams to collaborate and manage the complexity of the product’s hardware and software in one place. To do so, they decided to establish a PLM foundation, engage in collaboration, and make digital transformation a priority for management.”
The case study further shows that with the now-established digital innovation approach with the new product architecture, Volvo CE can share and reuse designs and subsystems across its entire construction vehicle portfolio, which provides faster time to market for new products. In terms of production and supply chain, modular production will enable better flexibility and scalability across global operations.
“And with model-based systems engineering (MBSE), Volvo CE can further capture functional requirements and link them to simulations and product structures.”
The conclusion is that with the unified technical tools, VCE has gained sharper control and traceability for real-time insight into data upstream and downstream. This has in turn increased efficiency and reduced costs by removing manual work and handovers and improving reusability. This has also eliminated duplicate records and provided an easy way to find and share parts throughout the ecosystem.
Heavy investment in electrification
Overall, Volvo CE has modernized its excavator range with advanced technology in recent years and created a wide range of electric machines, including the company’s first electric wheeled excavator, and equipment.
In line with the company’s ambitions, for example, last year it presented a new generation of innovative excavators, the Volvo EC500, EC400 and EC230. The series, which also includes the EC370, EC210 and ECR145, has been equipped with intelligent technology in a new electro-hydraulic system and improved HMI interface, and is designed for increased fuel efficiency, productivity, safety and total cost of ownership. HMI stands for human-machine interface and refers to a dashboard that allows a user to communicate with a machine, computer program or system. HMI displays data in real time and allows a user to control machinery through a graphical user interface.
But in addition to modernizing its conventional offerings, Volvo CE is showing its willingness to lead the industry transition towards fossil-fuel-free construction work with several exciting electric introductions in the mid-range segment. In addition to already launched electric solutions, VCE has also developed a range of new electric battery equipment. These, PLM&ERP News noted in a previous article, “include the EWR150 Electric, the first of Volvo’s electric wheeled excavators, and the L90 Electric and L120 Electric wheel loaders, planned for phased introductions from late 2024 in limited volumes in selected markets.” They are supported by the company’s widest range of charging solutions to date with the launch of the PU40 mobile power unit, an addition to the already available PU500 mobile power unit. The new My Equipment digital app, says CEO Melker Jernberg, also demonstrates Volvo CE’s commitment to securing a reliable electric ecosystem, to help customers manage the charging process more efficiently.
With the acquisition of Swecon, the company is now taking another step towards a deep integration of all aspects of construction machinery far into the customer and end-user chain, not least from the perspective of loading the products with services. PTC’s PLM solutions can play additional important roles in addition to product development as VCE aims to sharpen the connections between products and services.
