Case Study Molex Page 1 of 2

Connected Worldwide with CoCreate Software

from PTC

Molex, Ettlingen, Germany

The more electric and electronic components in products, the more
connections required. Companies like Molex Incorporated, which
develops and produces electronic components and connectors for
telecommunication devices, computers, vehicles, consumer goods
and industrial applications, benefit from this trend. In recent years,
the company, founded in 1939, has experienced dynamic growth as
a result of acquisitions and its own successes. It now employs more
than 32,000 people in 54 locations across five continents.

To improve the organization’s global processes, Molex recently cut

regional divisions and replaced them with five global divisions, which
will market products via a single sales organization. The automotive
division, with a key European development center located in
Ettlingen, Germany, pioneered the restructuring. “In the future, our
developers will work more closely with colleagues across the globe
and will use each other’s designs,” says Gary Hart, European CAD
Manager at Molex.

The Challenge:
• Product development at multiple locations with globally
distributed teams
• Many development projects with customers from the automotive
industry
• Intensified time and cost pressures in customer-specific projects
• Development of new products as an essential success factor

The Solution:
• Universal application of CoCreate Modeling in product and mold
design
• Streamlined product data management with CoCreate Model
Manager in connection with the global ERP system (planned)

The Results:
• Rapid response to customer requests for changes, thanks to the “In the future, our developers will work much
explicit modeling based approach
more closely with colleagues across the globe
• Easier reuse of existing data at other locations
and will use each other’s designs.”
• Quicker integration of other departments by using 3D
Gary Hart
• Easier communication with web-based online conferences using
CoCreate OneSpace.net European CAD Manager
Molex
Case Study Molex Page 2 of 2
Connector Specialist
Even for an international company like Molex, global product
development using project teams made up of employees from
different locations is still something of a novelty.
“One of our biggest challenges is communication between users in
different units who do not all speak English as their first language,”
says Gary Hart. “In order to communicate more smoothly, we would
like to use the CoCreate OneSpace.net collaboration platform, as this
provides for excellent visual explanations.”
New Challenges for Global Product Development
Global product development creates new challenges for Product
Lifecycle Management (PLM). Hart says, “We want to record how
quickly we can launch our products on the market and where delays
occur during the process. In this way, we can improve the flow of
information from product development right through to production.
And when the product goes into production, we need to ascertain
where it is at any given time so that if changes occur, the engineers
will know who needs to be involved.”
At Molex, the change process is mapped in the ERP system, which is
installed at all locations and largely controls the production process.
The developers create new material masters and parts lists in the
product data management system. Molex is currently replacing its
existing solution with CoCreate Model Manager from PTC. As soon
as the global rollout is complete, this data and other information,
such as version status, will be exchanged via a PDM/ERP interface.
The development of new products is key in Molex’s success. Last
year, the company launched more than 300 new connectors into the
market—an all-time record! Overall, the company’s portfolio
comprises more than 100,000 products, including standard
connectors as well as customer-specific developments. In the
automotive industry in particular, many of the connectors are
developed in close cooperation with the OEMs or their main system
suppliers. Time and cost pressures are a given in this industry.
Success through Innovation
Although automotive customers occasionally pressure Molex to use
the same CAD system they use, the company designs its products
using CoCreate Modeling. In a benchmark comparison, the software
outshone other leading CAD systems, especially because of its
explicit modeling based approach. Hart says, “When developing a
new product, we generally don’t know exactly what the customer
wants. Consequently, our drafts have to undergo several revisions,
which we cannot anticipate and cannot map in parametric
relationships.”
Also, the customer’s change cannot always be implemented by the
same engineer who worked on the original draft. This issue takes on
even more importance as a result of global cooperation within the
new organizational structure. The explicit modeling based approach
to CAD enables engineers to use models from other locations and to
work as if they had created the models themselves.
Apart from its functionality, CoCreate Modeling’s ease of use offers a
competitive advantage that should not be underestimated, as it
reduces the need for training and speeds up familiarization. After all,
the software is used on more than 1000 workstations at Molex, e.g.,
in product development, mold design, and quality assurance.
Consequently, one day of training would be roughly equal to an
investment of several man-years. Hart ensures that “Normally, users
can create their first 3D models with CoCreate Modeling after just
three days of basic training.”
3D as Communication Platform
Development has fundamentally changed since the arrival of the 3D
system. Even though the 2D drawing remains the main reference
document, Molex engineers use 3D models in milestone meetings.
“Seeing the model in front of you makes things much easier to
understand and helps to include employees from other areas, such as
mold construction or quality assurance, in the decision-making
process,” says Hart. “We try to do this early on so that product
development and mold design overlap as much as possible.”
Hart is convinced that Molex made the right choice for facing the
new challenges of global product development. The combination of
the explicit modeling approach, streamlined data management, and
Web-based collaboration offers the ideal basis for cooperation
between globally distributed development teams.
“Engineers can locate data easily, reuse it without restriction, and
discuss issues with other team members in online conferences,” says
Hart. “I am absolutely convinced that OneSpace.net, in particular,
offers us enormous potential.”
© 2008 Parametric Technology GmbH (a subsidiary of Parametric Technology Corporation), All Rights
Reserved. Information described herein is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without
notice, and should not be construed as a guarantee, commitment, condition or offer by PTC. PTC, the PTC
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