Volkswagen, PTC & Microsoft Partner on Product-focused AI

PTC, Microsoft and Volkswagen Group have partnered up to develop an innovative generative AI copilot based on the PTC Codebeamer® application lifecycle management (ALM) solution.

This Copilot is geared towards the manufacturing industry, enabling software engineers to create and manage product development, requirements, validating and testing more efficiently. 

The development of Codebeamer Copilot builds on Volkswagen Group's adoption of the AI to support software development across its vehicle and brands portfolio. 

Microsoft is helping to amplify the Copilot's value by embedding it with the powerful capabilities of Microsoft Azure AI.

Codebeamer will benefit manufacturers in a myriad of ways, highlighting vital new use cases that will help drive industry adoption forward. 

How Codebeamer benefits manufacturers

Codebeamer is designed to address the scale and complexity of modern manufacturing, streamlining the vital development and deployment of products.

Its benefits are visible across the entire product lifecycle, from prototyping to disposal to traceability. 

Enhanced traceability & collaboration

Codebeamer AI enables seamless collaboration across multidisciplinary teams, a critical requirement in manufacturing.

By integrating workflows, this AI ensures that all stakeholders, including engineers, designers, and quality assurance teams, can collaborate effectively on a single platform.

The software's robust traceability features helps manufacturers better track requirements, changes, and compliance throughout the product lifecycle, reducing the risk of errors and miscommunication.

Streamlined product development

Codebeamer optimises the product development processes by automating repetitive tasks such as tracking requirements, generating documentation, and managing change requests.

This frees teams to focus fully on problem-solving and innovation, saving precious time.

The AI also identified potential bottlenecks through its predictive analytics capabilities, providing actionable insights that help mitigate delays.

Kevin Wrenn, Chief Product Officer at PTC highlights how this streamlining is thanks to Codebeamer's generative AI, which also enables companies to better capitalise on market trends and opportunities.

“We apply generative AI to help customers solve problems and capitalize on market opportunities, like the efficient development of software-defined vehicles,” said Kevin Wrenn, Chief Product Officer, PTC.

“Our collaboration with Volkswagen Group and Microsoft on Codebeamer Copilot gives us the best of both worlds: an industry-leading manufacturer in Volkswagen Group that demonstrates how these solutions apply in a real-world context, and a partner in Microsoft that is pushing the envelope on generative AI and bringing state-of-the-art technology to the market.”

Compliance & risk management

Manufacturers must adhere to stringent industry regulations and standards, such as ISO, FDA, and IEC.

Codebeamer AI simplifies compliance management by offering built-in templates and workflows aligned with these standards.

Its risk management tools help identify, evaluate, and mitigate risks early in the lifecycle, reducing liability and ensuring regulatory adherence.

Integration with manufacturing ecosystems

Codebeamer is designed to integrate effortlessly with other Microsoft tools like Azure DevOps and Microsoft 365, as well as third-party platforms commonly used in manufacturing including ERP and PLM systems.

This interconnectedness allows manufacturers to maintain a unified data ecosystem, facilitating improved decision-making and operational efficiency.

Robert Kattner, Head of IT Engineering at Volkswagen Group, believes the integration with tools like Microsoft Azure AI will take this efficiency to a whole new level.

“By having Microsoft Azure AI in the Codebeamer software, it can assist us with creating new specifications and test cases,” said Robert Kattner, Head of IT Engineering at Volkswagen Group, in the video above.

“It can also improve the quality of our requirements by removing duplicates and checking against existing quality standards. And furthermore, it can help our teams to import requirements references from older IT systems. It will drive our productivity gains by reducing the time to import, review, and write requirements. In a nutshell, our engineers will do their work more efficiently.”

Customisability & scalability

Manufacturing projects frequently vary in scope and complexity.

To ensure Codebeamer works for every manufacturers distinctive needs in this area, the AI offers extensive customisation options.

These include the ability to tailor workflows, processes and dashboards.

Through this scalable architecture, Codebeamer supports both small and enterprise-level manufacturing projects.

AI-powered insights

At the core of Codebeamer is its ability to provide intelligent insights to manufacturers designed to improve resource allocation and predictive maintenance schedules.

By analysing data from previous projects, the AI can suggest best practices and improve time-to-market for new products.

“The manufacturing sector holds tremendous opportunities for generative AI use cases, and we’re thrilled to support this collaboration with PTC and Volkswagen Group, both leaders in the industry,” said Dayan Rodriguez, corporate vice president, Manufacturing & Mobility, Microsoft.

“Codebeamer Copilot is a meaningful example of how generative AI can make a longstanding, complex process like product development simpler and more efficient.”

Ultimately Codebeamer empowers manufacturers by ensuring compliance, streamlining product development, increasing collaboration and leveraging AI for smarter decision-making. 

With the flexibility to adapt to diverse manufacturing environments and requirements, the copilot is set to play a critical role in driving industry adoption of AI forward.

Select PTC customers can expect to access the beta release of codebeamer Copilot in early 2025.

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