PTC recently announced that Eurocopter, an EADS subsidiary, is expanding its use of PTC technology solutions to enhance the contribution Eurocopter support services makes to the company’s overall business performance. In 2008, EADS selected PTC technology solutions to serve as the backbone of its PHENIX Master Product Definition platform, an initiative to harmonize its product lifecycle management (PLM) environment across the entire company. The latest milestone in this long-standing relationship is the completed deployment of a new Spares Configuration Data Management (SCDM) system that leverages PTC technology to more efficiently manage spare parts across Eurocopter’s global service network.

PTC’s 2012 acquisition of Servigistics (as well as perhaps the preceding acquisition of 4CS) has made possible this newest initiative that marks an expansion of the relationship between PTC and EADS into an emerging area called service lifecycle management (SLM). True enterprise SLM solutions connect service planning, delivery, and performance analysis into a complete and strategic view of service that helps drive increased service revenues and profitability. The former Servigistics had a great product, but had a limited wherewithal for scaling the business. PTC should be able to achieve good growth rates with Servigistics and its SLM offering that is not easily matched by many direct competitors.

As the PlanetPTC Live 2012 conference’s tagline “Product and Service Advantage” intimated, in today’s highly competitive global environment, discrete manufacturers are increasingly turning to their service organizations as a way to differentiate their market offerings, strengthen their relationships with customers, and provide increased customer value (see the recent TEC report on PTC). To that end, at a corporate level, EADS has outlined an aggressive vision for increasing its service revenue to 25 percent of total revenue by 2020. For Eurocopter, the successful execution of its customer service strategy is critical to achieving its overall growth and profitability goals.