Siemens announced on the 24th that it has signed an agreement with British Aerospace Systems (BAE Systems) to innovate engineering and manufacturing technologies. Based on this, the two companies will introduce digital transformation and utilize digital capabilities throughout the program life cycle.

This five-year agreement is designed to explore and develop a strategic blueprint for future engineering and future factory capabilities across BAE Systems’ design and manufacturing functions, built on and leveraging the latest versions of Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio of industrial software for product engineering and Teamcenter® software for product lifecycle management (PLM). Edge computing solutions and technology validation are also being successfully deployed in several catapults and technology centers.

The agreement will see the two companies collaborate nationally and internationally in the areas of Sustainability, Industrial Digitalisation and Supply Chain Modernisation, developing a framework to accelerate the benefits of BAE Systems’ commercial applications within the scope of technology development and adaptation.

This framework builds on decades of successful partnership between Siemens and BAE Systems. This includes developing and supplying a wide range of Siemens technologies, sharing knowledge among engineers, and showcasing joint solutions at industry forums.

The two companies plan to continue to innovate on existing initiatives and develop new digital manufacturing approaches to support BAE Systems’ Factory of the Future initiative.

Brian Holliday, regional director for Siemens Digital Industries in the UK and Ireland, said: “This agreement builds on the existing successful collaboration between BAE Systems and Siemens. Our collaboration with BAE Systems provides a true testbed for how far digital transformation can be taken in the UK to advance Industry 4.0.”

“This relationship is a key example of Siemens’ broader vision for how we collaborate with our customers,” he continued. “It is also aligned with the principles of our global Siemens Xcelerator business platform, which supports collaboration to accelerate large-scale digital transformation more easily and quickly.”

“Collaborations like this help us develop and invest in technologies that support the digital thread in a more integrated and seamless way,” said Iain Minton, head of technology capability delivery at BAE Systems. “Siemens understands the complexity of BAE Systems’ operational environments and can take ideas through to implementation very quickly.”

For example, he said, "When we want to implement and optimize new engineering, support and manufacturing capabilities, the trust and understanding that our two companies have built together drives performance in the aerospace sector." “It exerts a powerful force,” he said.