Untitled Document
UGS wins
Nissan
23 December 2005
In mid December, UGS announced that it had won a "significant order"
from Nissan. UGS followed up with a conference call which we attended. TechniCom
also had one on one calls with additional UGS and Dassault Systemes (DS) executives
to really understand the "deal," the reasoning behind the selection,
and the size of the win. Here are the highlights:
• UGS wins
a 2 year evaluation with NX, which evaluation included a 50 seat competitive
benchmark with DS
• UGS will
migrate and upgrade the existing 4000 I-deas seats
• UGS expects
considerable revenue from expanding the software suite available to each user
• The manufacturing
side of the business (with about 100 Delmia seats) is not effected
• UGS notes
as key reasons for the win: its systems engineering capabilities, its easier
to use process/ knowledge capture, and its migration techniques from I deas
to NX
• No revenue
or seat projections were disclosed, nor were we able to coax any from UGS
• This will
be the technology platform for all new Nissan cars
This is an extraordinary
win for UGS, coming at a time when DS appeared to have the Automotive industry
locked up. Admittedly, UGS appeared to have the lead since Nissan was looking
to replace some 4,000 seats of I-deas. Nevertheless, UGS won the business after,
what must have been, an exhaustive 2 year benchmark.
But who really won the benchmark? In a follow up call and several emails with
DS, DS claimed to have won the benchmark "hands down," intimating
that UGS won only because they made a better business deal. Hey, isn't this
what it's all about -- making the best deal for the customer? What matters is
that Nissan evidently felt that the UGS offering is the best deal for them AND
that NX and any transition they make from I-deas would support their aggressive
plans for the next three years.
This win, while
shaded by a large installed base of UGS seats (namely I-deas), offers an opportunity
for UGS to take a big step outside its GM base and prove to the rest of the
automotive industry that they offer a viable alternative. UGS's offering consists
of a wide set of NX modules, impressive Teamcenter capabilities, NX Nastran
as the basis for simulation, a steady approach to systems engineering, an excellent
approach to knowledge capture, allowing process capture and re-use. Now is the
time for UGS to prove to the rest of the industry that they can meld this together
into a cohesive automotive platform.
----
[In December 2003, TechniCom reviewed UGS Systems Engineering. Readers can go
to here
for a copy of the review.]
Ray Kurland
TechniCom Managing Partner
