Industrial software is now within arm's reach.
Small, agile startups developing hardware, industrial, or logistics solutions are the bastions of innovation; they usually don’t struggle with a lack of talent, but rather with covering the costs of industrial software licenses. Such a license can cost as much as several million forints a year—enough to keep a young team running for several months.
As a result, many early-stage companies get stuck on the path from the lab to real-world industrial applications. Siemens is helping to overcome this obstacle by making its professional software packages available to startups.
Doors Are Opening Wider for European Startups
Over the past year and a half, the Siemens for Startups program has supported more than 7,000 hardware technology startups by providing them with access to software.
Thanks to this, for example, the French aerospace startup Latitude is using Siemens tools to develop and simulate the operation of its launch vehicle and its additive-manufactured rocket engine in a virtual environment. Meanwhile, the Ethon artificial intelligence platform, which originated at the University of Zurich, analyzes the behavior of manufacturing processes in real time, identifying deviations and explaining their causes. With the help of this platform, not only can costs be optimized, but Siemens’s plants in Switzerland, Germany, and the United States have already been able to reduce the amount of waste generated during production by half using this tool.
Siemens is expanding this program, as announced last week at the VivaTech startup and technology trade show in Paris.
New Software Packages at Super-Discounted Prices
European startups will be able to apply for three new, pre-configured software packages tailored to common product development needs at a discounted rate. During their first two years of operation, they can obtain the licenses included in the packages at a discount of up to 95 percent, while additional portfolio products are available at prices up to 75 percent lower.
The packages are built around two core tools. One is NX X, cloud-based 3D design software that allows teams to work on the same product simultaneously from anywhere, without the need to maintain a physical server. The other is the cloud-based Teamcenter X Essentials version control and management system, which houses all design files and documents related to each project—ensuring that everyone is always working with the latest version.
In addition, simulation tools and software tools that facilitate electronic design will be available, which—depending on the package—come with varying amounts of usage credits and cloud credits.
Software, Market, and Partnerships
Built on three pillars—Connect, Collaborate, and Empower—the program does more than just provide industrial-grade technologies to startups. In addition to software access, it offers a channel to market through the Siemens Xcelerator open business digital platform, and in certain cases, Siemens also acts as an early adopter and development partner.
Startups participating in the program have been able to increase their profitability by up to 36 percent by using 3D design and simulation, as they have improved their productivity, reduced the number of errors and the resulting costs, and retained more customers. Furthermore, thanks to simpler file sharing and integrated CAD and simulation solutions, they were able to reduce the time spent on engineering analyses and simulations by up to 80 percent, while virtual testing reduced the need for physical prototypes by 23 percent.