PLM seems to be catching on in Asia

The need for smoother collaboration among trans-global trading partners is fueling interest in product life-cycle management (PLM) applications in Asia, says Chuck Yuan, VP of Greater China Operations for PLM vendor UGS. "Facilitating cross-border collaboration among midsize companies for complex engineering tasks is mission-critical in the competitive China marketplace," he says.

Yuan adds that UGS is successfully marketing its Velocity Series of PLM solutions in Asia, including a recent contract with Wanfeng Auto Holding Group, the largest aluminum alloy wheel producer in Asia, and one of the top 50 auto parts suppliers in China.

"As a forward-looking company, we are constantly seeking new technologies to drive our business," says Chen Ailian, president of Wanfeng Auto.

Teamcenter Express, the product data management component of Velocity, has applications for designing new products, analyzing designs, and building finished parts—preconfigured to work with industry best practices.