Case Study Molex Page 1 of 2

Connected Worldwide with CoCreate Software from PTC Molex, Ettlingen, Germany

The more electric and electronic components in products, the more connections required. Companies like Molex Incorporated, which develops and produces electronic components and connectors for telecommunication devices, computers, vehicles, consumer goods and industrial applications, benefit from this trend. In recent years, the company, founded in 1939, has experienced dynamic growth as a result of acquisitions and its own successes. It now employs more than 32,000 people in 54 locations across five continents. To improve the organization’s global processes, Molex recently cut regional divisions and replaced them with five global divisions, which will market products via a single sales organization. The automotive division, with a key European development center located in Ettlingen, Germany, pioneered the restructuring. “In the future, our developers will work more closely with colleagues across the globe and will use each other’s designs,” says Gary Hart, European CAD Manager at Molex. The Challenge:

• Product development at multiple locations with globally distributed teams

• Many development projects with customers from the automotive industry

• Intensified time and cost pressures in customer-specific projects

• Development of new products as an essential success factor The Solution:

• Universal application of CoCreate Modeling in product and mold design

• Streamlined product data management with CoCreate Model Manager in connection with the global ERP system (planned)

The Results:

• Rapid response to customer requests for changes, thanks to the explicit modeling based approach

• Easier reuse of existing data at other locations

• Quicker integration of other departments by using 3D

• Easier communication with web-based online conferences using CoCreate OneSpace.net

“In the future, our developers will work much more closely with colleagues across the globe and will use each other’s designs.” Gary Hart

European CAD Manager

Molex

Case Study Molex Page 2 of 2

Connector Specialist

Even for an international company like Molex, global product development using project teams made up of employees from different locations is still something of a novelty.

“One of our biggest challenges is communication between users in different units who do not all speak English as their first language,” says Gary Hart. “In order to communicate more smoothly, we would like to use the CoCreate OneSpace.net collaboration platform, as this provides for excellent visual explanations.”

New Challenges for Global Product Development

Global product development creates new challenges for Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). Hart says, “We want to record how quickly we can launch our products on the market and where delays occur during the process. In this way, we can improve the flow of information from product development right through to production. And when the product goes into production, we need to ascertain where it is at any given time so that if changes occur, the engineers will know who needs to be involved.”

At Molex, the change process is mapped in the ERP system, which is installed at all locations and largely controls the production process. The developers create new material masters and parts lists in the product data management system. Molex is currently replacing its existing solution with CoCreate Model Manager from PTC. As soon as the global rollout is complete, this data and other information, such as version status, will be exchanged via a PDM/ERP interface.

The development of new products is key in Molex’s success. Last year, the company launched more than 300 new connectors into the market—an all-time record! Overall, the company’s portfolio comprises more than 100,000 products, including standard connectors as well as customer-specific developments. In the automotive industry in particular, many of the connectors are developed in close cooperation with the OEMs or their main system suppliers. Time and cost pressures are a given in this industry.

Success through Innovation

Although automotive customers occasionally pressure Molex to use the same CAD system they use, the company designs its products using CoCreate Modeling. In a benchmark comparison, the software outshone other leading CAD systems, especially because of its explicit modeling based approach. Hart says, “When developing a new product, we generally don’t know exactly what the customer wants. Consequently, our drafts have to undergo several revisions, which we cannot anticipate and cannot map in parametric relationships.”

Also, the customer’s change cannot always be implemented by the same engineer who worked on the original draft. This issue takes on even more importance as a result of global cooperation within the new organizational structure. The explicit modeling based approach

to CAD enables engineers to use models from other locations and to work as if they had created the models themselves.

Apart from its functionality, CoCreate Modeling’s ease of use offers a competitive advantage that should not be underestimated, as it reduces the need for training and speeds up familiarization. After all, the software is used on more than 1000 workstations at Molex, e.g., in product development, mold design, and quality assurance. Consequently, one day of training would be roughly equal to an investment of several man-years. Hart ensures that “Normally, users can create their first 3D models with CoCreate Modeling after just three days of basic training.”

3D as Communication Platform

Development has fundamentally changed since the arrival of the 3D system. Even though the 2D drawing remains the main reference document, Molex engineers use 3D models in milestone meetings. “Seeing the model in front of you makes things much easier to understand and helps to include employees from other areas, such as mold construction or quality assurance, in the decision-making process,” says Hart. “We try to do this early on so that product development and mold design overlap as much as possible.”

Hart is convinced that Molex made the right choice for facing the new challenges of global product development. The combination of the explicit modeling approach, streamlined data management, and Web-based collaboration offers the ideal basis for cooperation between globally distributed development teams.

“Engineers can locate data easily, reuse it without restriction, and discuss issues with other team members in online conferences,” says Hart. “I am absolutely convinced that OneSpace.net, in particular, offers us enormous potential.”

© 2008 Parametric Technology GmbH (a subsidiary of Parametric Technology Corporation), All Rights Reserved. Information described herein is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change withoutnotice, and should not be construed as a guarantee, commitment, condition or offer by PTC. PTC, the PTClogotype, The Product Development Company, CoCreate and all PTC product names and logos aretrademarks or registered trademarks of PTC and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and in othercountries. All other product or company names are property of their respective owners.

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