Continuing the trend of integrating the many aspects of design and manufacturing into one comprehensive solution, Siemens has recently acquired the French firm Kineo CAM, specializing in computer-aided motion software. This acquisition expands the company’s PLM software line by adding motion system design capabilities. Already, Kineo CAM provides some key components for Siemens’ PLM core software products including the base PLM software known as Teamcenter, the NX CAD/CAM/CAE package, and the Tecnomatix digital manufacturing suite. Through the acquisition, Siemens aims to further enhance the computer-aided motion capabilities of its software and strengthen the company’s ability to grow market share.
Kineo CAM has been developing state-of-the-art software for applications in various industries such as automotive, aerospace and shipbuilding by optimizing robotic movements and path planning for the assembly and disassembly of parts. One example comes from the automotive industry. By using Kineo CAM software modules, a car manufacturer can better plan how to install an item, such as a car seat or a dashboard, and how to disassemble it again for maintenance.
In this example, the programmer of the spot welding robot tries to find a path that avoids the clamping tools in a highly cluttered environment. The unique solution requires the robot to reconfigure itself, which Kineo CAM’s KineoWorks solves in a matter of seconds.
Chuck Grindstaff, the CEO and president of Siemens’ PLM Software Business Unit, stated that “By acquiring Kineo CAM we add another advanced technology to our PLM portfolio. This technology enables our customers to make better informed decisions about their products, and to devise manufacturing, maintenance and repair strategies.”
Kineo CAM software products are delivered as application software to end-users and as software libraries to CAD and CAM software vendors and OEMs of advanced robotic systems.
Over the last five years, the Siemens Industry Automation Division has acquired a number of software companies with the aim of consolidating its position in the industrial software market. Those companies include UGS (PLM software), Innotec (digital engineering in the process industry), and Elan Software Systems (manufacturing execution software) among others, including this most recent Kineo CAM acquisition.
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