“Addition of simulation management to the Aras PLM Platform extends Digital Thread traceability” was the subhead to the press release announcing this acquisition. Based on our decade-plus end-user research into the capabilities of Comet’s technology, we have to concur 100%.
Aras, the leader in open product lifecycle management (PLM) software for the enterprise, acquired Comet Solutions, Inc., a provider of best-in-class software for simulation process management. Using Comet’s technology, manufacturers are able to reuse complex simulations in order to scale the application and use of simulation results. The addition of Comet’s capabilities to the Aras PLM Platform provides a way for organizations to connect simulation – and simulation experts – to mainstream engineering processes for traceability, access, and reuse across the product lifecycle.
“Extending the Digital Thread to include simulation tools and processes has emerged as a critical enabler for future business models. Simulation can add significant value to product development, manufacturing and field operations, but has not yet reached its potential due to limited connection to the rest of the enterprise. The addition of Comet’s capabilities will allow us to bring repeatability, reusability and traceability to simulation across the product lifecycle,” said Rob McAveney, Chief Architect, Aras.
“Joining the Aras family turbo charges Comet’s vision to bring simulation to the enterprise. Comet’s philosophy and approach to simulation align well with Aras’ approach to PLM. We see significant increased value for both Comet and Aras customers.” –Malcolm Panthaki, Chief Technology Officer and Founder, Comet Solutions
“Bringing simulation processes mainstream with an open PLM platform”
Industry experts anticipate increasing demand for simulation across the product lifecycle driven by product complexity, competitive pressure, and emerging opportunities with Digital Twin and IoT. To date, broader use of simulation has been held back by the failure of simulation process and data management (SPDM) tools to connect simulation users to the enterprise.
Aras says its acquisition of Comet Solutions is an “important step on Aras’ roadmap to develop platform-based SPDM to support higher-volume simulation for the most complex scenarios. With the addition of Comet’s technology, Aras closes the gap between simulation and mainstream design by providing simulation analysts with the means to repeat and reuse simulation while connecting their analysis to through-life product configuration and cross-discipline design.”
Our deep firsthand research among Comet technology users, from 2009 to today, very, very strongly supports that statement. Its technology is simply two or three generations beyond anything else out there today.
Comet’s vendor-agnostic application also mirrors Aras’ open approach by connecting with a wide array CAD, FEA, meshing, 0D/1D simulation tools, and in-house applications which is a requirement to support organizations’ heterogeneous simulation tool environments – and therefore essential for SPDM to work.Comet’s capabilities for managing mixed fidelity models, different data types, and various representations of the same product or assembly for simulation purposes are an important aspect for simulation management across systems engineering disciplines. The ability to extract intelligence from simulation models and results – rather than simply managing data at the file level – is also a significant benefit above and beyond that of other SPDM systems on the market. Ora Research’s end-user research has confirmed this over and over.
Flexibility and efficiency for simulation experts
Comet Solutions enables simulation experts to be more productive through creation of simulation processes for re-use and tool chain automation for job execution i.e., linking of simulation tools to perform a complex function or analysis. Comet’s technology provides a range of features to increase the volume and effectiveness of simulation:
- Achieves better product simulation coverage.
- Empowers experts to rapidly conduct analysis on product variations, options, and concepts.
- Performs required calculations using pre-specified CAD and CAE software.
- Manages job execution of tool chains including job server, data extract, pull files, operations on cloud, high-performance computing clusters, and others.
Comet software will be available for Aras subscribers at no charge. To request Comet software or inquire about subscriptions, companies may submit a request here.
Aras Core Tenets for Simulation Across the Product Lifecycle
