ANSYS and GE work together to enable a world of smarter industrial machines

By Niraj M Wanikar, Chief Editor, CNCTimes.com, 2015-10-05 13:46:55

ANSYS announced that it joined GE’s Digital Predix early adopter program. This move combines the power of the leading engineering simulation platform with the first and only industrial cloud offering for industrial data and analytics, GE's Predix cloud platform. As part of the Predix early adopter program, the two companies will demonstrate a pilot integration of ANSYS flagship simulation platform with GE's Predix industrial internet platform at GE's Minds + Machines event in San Francisco.

GE's Predix industrial internet platform is the world's only industrial cloud offering designed specifically for industrial data and analytics across such industries as aviation, transportation, oil and gas, and healthcare. Organizations use this platform to create innovative Industrial Internet applications that turn real-time operational data into insight for better and faster decision making while maximizing machine efficiency.

Engineering simulation software has traditionally been used in the design phase, and almost every innovative product in the market today has benefited from it. With the Internet of Things, simulation is becoming even more essential as advanced products now combine mechanical, fluid, electronics and embedded software. A complete systems level model is now necessary to benchmark operational field data analytics with simulated system performance.

This collaboration with industry visionary GE will demonstrate the benefits of extending the engineering simulation to the full product lifecycle from initial design to operation and maintenance and back again to design of the next-generation machines.

Connecting ANSYS's industry-leading portfolio of engineering simulation software to the data and analytics platform of GE's Predix industrial internet platform will help companies analyze the performance of smart machines in real-world operating conditions – and make confident predictions that were previously mere speculation. Physics-based simulation with big data analytics and industrial devices augmented with embedded intelligence can reduce risk, avoid unplanned downtime and speed up new product development.  

The resulting efficiency and productivity gains will have a dramatic effect on organizations' bottom lines as well as on the global economy in general. GE estimates that Industrial Internet technologies will help drive hundreds of billions of dollars of savings alone over 15 years.

By combining machine connectivity with a data lifecycle management platform powered by engineering simulation, ANSYS and GE will enable organizations to optimally design their products for the Industrial Internet, then take the data being relayed on their performance and use it in the development of the next generation of those products. The pilot collaboration between ANSYS and GE is aimed at demonstrating this vision for the Industrial Internet of Things.

"With Predix, GE is helping to drive digital innovation across the industrial world—but the success of the Industrial Internet depends on a collaborative ecosystem," said Mr Harel Kodesh, vice president, Predix and chief technology officer, GE Digital. "With ANSYS, we look forward to giving our customers the tools they need to adopt digital technologies and software to drive better outcomes for their businesses."

"GE has been a longtime, strategic ANSYS customer, and we're excited to take our relationship to the next level by helping its customers around the world innovate faster," said Mr Walid Abu-Hadba, ANSYS chief product officer. "By combining the power of ANSYS solutions with Predix, we will be able to empower our customers to push the boundaries of innovation and productivity – impacting top- and bottom-line business results."

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