Establishing a single source of truth using Siemens Xcelerator tools for a connected digital thread

Designing and building automated warehouse solutions

As a newer European company, Movu Robotics (Movu) designs and builds automated warehouse solutions, from shuttles and charging stations that run in customized racking systems and picking stations to software and control systems that operate the workflows. Movu is part of the stow Group, a leader in warehouse automation and storage solutions – with over 40 years of experience delivering high-quality and flexible warehouse racking, shelving and storing systems globally. A high-tech enterprise, Movu works closely with customers across Europe and recently in the United States (U.S.) to automate warehouses with ease.

“Movu is a brand-new company,” says Thomas Pauwels, mechanical designer and Teamcenter X and Designcenter implementation lead, Movu Robotics. “There was no set goal. There was no set process. It wasn’t just translating it. It was building the processes up from scratch.”

Implementing a clean-slate start for PLM

Movu Robotics knew digitalization and data management were critical success factors. Additionally, since there were no legacy software or practices, the data ecosystem was a clean slate.

This allowed the team to try unique solutions when it came to their product lifecycle management (PLM) and data management. Their choice was Teamcenter® software and Teamcenter X software, along with PLM for Machine Builders – a preconfigured industry solution built on Teamcenter X.

PLM for Machine Builders combines the full power of Teamcenter with industry specific best practices, giving companies a ready‑to‑use PLM foundation tailored to industrial machinery. Delivered as software as a service (SaaS) via Teamcenter X, it provides a single source of truth for all product and process data, enabling global teams to manage complexity, scale quickly and collaborate seamlessly across disciplines and locations.

Movu Robotics knew PLM was not only about storing files, it was about putting a scalable solution in place from the start and aligning all product-related processes around a single source of truth. For the engineers and production teams, this meant the solution had to include all the engineering information readily available and easy-to-find in the Belgium and U.S. development offices. Additionally, the teams needed to ensure version reliability and accuracy when sharing data downstream. For the information technology (IT) team and management, they wanted a solution that reduced costs and required less infrastructure, eliminating the need to purchase and maintain servers and related IT administration, while also improving cost transparency and making it easier to upscale or downscale usage spontaneously.

“The first challenge is ensuring people work together and give them the right tools to do so,” says Maarten Smet, mechatronic design lead, Movu Robotics. “Not only that, but once we finish our design, it also has to be handed over to our colleagues in production engineering that need to take our engineering BOM and transform it into a manufacturing BOM. To make sure everyone gets the right information and the right tools at the right time, that’s why we need a good PLM solution.”

Partnering with Siemens

Siemens Digital Industries Software stepped into the picture when the company was just starting up. Knowing they wanted to grow fast, Movu was looking for a technology partner that could match their ambitions. After comparing several options, Movu selected Siemens.

“We worked together with Siemens,” says Smet. “They showed us how everything in Siemens Xcelerator fits together. One of the reasons we chose Siemens is because it gives the opportunity to really go to complete digital environments or digital factories. The Siemens solution offers a complete integration of all the products.” Currently, PLM for Machine Builders installed at Movu is centralized on a comprehensive Teamcenter X digital thread backbone and integrated with Designcenter™ software for computer-aided design (CAD). The team has recently added Simcenter™ 3D software for advanced simulation work. Teamcenter, PLM for Machine Builders, Designcenter and Simcenter are part of the Siemens Xcelerator business platform of software, hardware and services.

Choosing Teamcenter X as a PLM solution

Anticipating rapid growth, Movu knew they needed scalable PLM and to avoid IT infrastructure overhead like maintaining on-site servers, back-up systems and administrative processes that can be expensive and budget overruns were possible.

“We looked at Teamcenter,” says Smet. “We also looked at Teamcenter X. For Movu and for the company that we wanted to be, while also looking at the scaling that we wanted to do, Teamcenter X looked like the solution for us.”

“The fact that Teamcenter is in the cloud means we don’t have to worry about the server,” says Pauwels. “We don’t have to worry too much about our IT issues. It allows us to centralize all our data, files and workflows. It allows us to establish one single source of truth.”

“Teamcenter X was the only product on the market that could deliver us a solution that we trusted would work for us from the get-go,” says Smet. “The financial benefit for us with this setup is that we know what we’re spending. With the SaaS solution, Teamcenter X, it allows us to scale up, if necessary, then hold off for a while, and then keep scaling from there.”

Benefiting from a single source of truth

The shuttle systems and autonomous mobile robots that Movu creates are complex products that require precision design and engineering tools. What the Designcenter and Simcenter users do not want is misinformation during design iterations. With an integrated Digital Twin and all the information in Teamcenter X, engineers ensure quality and correctness during every step.

“The biggest benefit of the Teamcenter X system on a daily basis is that I know there is one single source of truth,” says Jens Walrave, PLM software lead/test and validation manager, research and development (R&D), Movu Robotics. “There is one system I have to look into when I search for something.

“When you send your files to the supplier to make the part, you are confident. Other people checked the same file and specs. There are less chances of making mistakes. Daily, you gain a lot of time. You don’t have to go to a range of different software tools to start looking for your stuff. You can go to the Teamcenter X platform. You can access it from everywhere. Just go there. It’s always the same. You type in what you are searching for, and you find it.”

Establishing a cross-discipline rollout

Today, the Movu rollout of Teamcenter X covers essentially every department that needs access to engineering data, from R&D to manufacturing and purchasing, leveraging a unified bill-of-materials (BOM) that includes Designcenter and Simcenter data.

“Once we finish our design, it has to be handed over to our colleagues in production engineering that need to take our engineering BOM and transform it into a manufacturing BOM that can actually be made,” says Smet. “So, to make sure everyone gets all the right information and the right tools at the right time, that’s why we need a good PLM solution.”

“Everyone can see all the data,” says Pauwels. “The manufacturing and purchasing teams can see all the drawings and technical data about the sensors and systems, down to every bearing, bolt and screw that R&D has decided on. We have also added all data sheets and reference things to Teamcenter X.”

From Teamcenter X, the purchasing team easily accesses and transfers the right information down the supply chain to effectively manufacture the various new robotic shuttles on site.

“They can find all the details in Teamcenter X and only in Teamcenter X,” adds Pauwels. “There is no discussion about wrong drawings, an old drawing or a new drawing. No. It is the single source of truth.”

Achieving service-ready PLM

The beauty of Teamcenter X and its industry-tailored PLM for Machine Builders solution is that the digital ecosystem easily extends to the field. Maybe the Movu service team needs to go on site to check a sensor issue or see why a certain shuttle is not recharging properly. At the customers’ warehouse, Movu service experts can easily access Teamcenter X and see, for example, a Designcenter or Simcenter 3D model of the specific shuttle sensor or charging system. They can compare the Digital Twin with reality for smooth troubleshooting on site.

“On site, our service teams can click the parts, compare the situation and identify potential issues,” says Pauwels. “Then they can get detailed information, like a data sheet for a specific sensor that seems to be causing an issue. They can just pull all the information from the cloud, and it is up-to-date and ready to help correct the issue on site.”

Extending the Teamcenter X digital thread

Currently, Pauwels and his team are working further on setting up the processes and methodology of communicating between Teamcenter X and other mission-critical company systems like their enterprise resource planning (ERP) and documentation systems.

“We‘re currently looking into how we can extract all the necessary data from Teamcenter X and feed it into other software or services and how we get the data from them and feed it back into Teamcenter X,” says Pauwels. “Hopefully soon, we can link them automatically. We’ll be out of the picture; the different software solutions will communicate with each other automatically.”

Creating a scalable PLM foundation for rapid growth and financial control

For a fast-moving engineering organization like Movu Robotics, using Teamcenter X and PLM for Machine Builders offers a solid, scalable and cost-effective PLM foundation with built-in domain knowledge that makes decisions easy and guarantees data accuracy and quality. All this results in less time wasted, fewer production errors and lowers the risk of costly production mistakes.

“With Siemens as a partner, we can evolve Teamcenter X and other Siemens Xcelerator solutions to bring the most benefit to Movu and our customers,” says Smet.