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In my message on January 26, about the strategic alliance between Schaeffler and PTC, I wrote that Schaeffler had not told me anything about Aras. Now I have received answers to a few questions from the press office. They confirm my interpretation of the fundamental change.
To my question whether the Engineering Cockpit based on Aras still exists, Schaeffler’s answer was: “We currently have no software from Aras in operational use.” And the main reason given to me for switching back to PTC standard software was: “We think we can achieve our goals better with PTC. PTC has the most suitable technologies & competencies for our current needs. PTC is also leading in current benchmarks such as Gartner (IIoT), Quadrant (PLM), Teknowlogy (AR) or ABI Research (CAD).” (Image PTC)
So Schaeffler has indeed abandoned its attempt to create a solution integrating all areas of engineering and making it the basis of its processes with its own, company-specific solution based on the easily customizable Aras Innovator.

And as I was assured, the strategic alliance with PTC means not only a continuation of work with the familiar solutions already in use, but also an expansion in due course with other components from the provider’s portfolio: “We are currently reviewing PTC’s product portfolio and will make decisions about future software after this analysis,” was the general response to my specific question as to whether Onshape would also be among solutions used in the future.

The future at Schaeffler in terms of on-premises and cloud? “The general trend is towards SaaS, we will also follow this in many cases.”

Schaeffler is probably not alone in this assessment. And it is precisely this trend, which does not even stop at small and medium-sized companies, that might lead to an even stronger preference for standard software “out of the box” in the coming years. The more the focus is on the solution currently available via the cloud, the less sense it will make to maintain company-specific adjustments, which cannot keep pace with the development of the standard in the cloud.