Aurobay uses OpenDXM GlobalX as Cloud Service for Secure Data Exchange

Building on Volvo Cars' 100-year heritage, Aurobay Sweden develops and manufactures world-class powertrain solutions. The former Volvo Powertrain division, which has an R&D center in Gothenburg and plants in Skövde and Zhangjiakou, China, was carved out in 2021 and merged with Aurobay China, the powertrain business of China's Geely Automobile Group. The brand combines Swedish and Chinese engineering expertise to supply the global automotive with next-generation powertrain solutions.

In May 2024, Aurobay became part of Horse Powertrain Ltd., a newly formed joint venture between Geely and Renault Group, headquartered in London. With 19,000 employees, Horse Powertrain is the worldwide leading manufacturer of hybrid and combustion powertrains, serving not only Renault, Geely, Volvo, Proton, Nissan and Mitsubishi but also offering end-to-end powertrain solutions to other automotive manufacturers.

Although the demand for electric vehicles is on the rise, next-generation combustion engines and hybrid solutions are here to stay: “We need a systemic approach that combines different technologies and solutions, including hybrid systems, to accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions”, says Bjarne Sund, Digital Program Lead for cross-functional and external collaboration initiatives and responsible for the implementation of OpenDXM GlobalX at Aurobay Sweden.

Need for action after the carve-out

PROSTEP’s MFT software was introduced at Aurobay Sweden because the company needed a solution quickly following the carve-out to ensure that confidential data could not only be exchanged securely with suppliers and partners but also within its own organization. Volvo Cars used another software for data exchange. However, it did not meet all the users' requirements, who, in addition to mere file transfer, also wanted better support for collaboration processes in distributed development projects in the future.

Aurobay China has so far only used OpenDXM GlobalX occasionally for data exchange with its Swedish sister company. However, following the founding of the joint venture with Renault, the Chinese colleagues are now also faced with the challenge of having to decouple their IT landscape from Geely. As a result, there are currently intensive discussions about whether OpenDXM GlobalX should also be used for communication with customers, suppliers and partners in China. As Sund says: “This would not only create synergies but also facilitate communication. However, it must of course meet Chinese requirements.”

The Swedes chose OpenDXM GlobalX for a number of reasons. One of these was a trust-based relationship with the software vendor PROSTEP, which has extensive knowledge of the processes in the automotive industry and with which Bjarne Sund was already familiar from his time at Volvo Cars. Another reason was the range of functions offered by PR    OSTEP's product family, which not only supports both data exchange and collaboration processes but is also easy to use. “We saw potential for expanding the solution,” says Sund. It can also be easily integrated into the existing PLM and IT system landscape.

OpenDXM GlobalX is an integral part of PROSTEP's Digital Thread Platform, which also contains components for PLM system integration and ensuring end-to-end cross-domain digital continuity. With its multi-level encryption mechanisms and a special transfer protocol, it enables mass data to be transferred securely, quickly and without interruption. Data transfer can be automated to a very large extent and expanded to include processing steps such as CAD data conversion or quality checks. Customers who do not want to install their own data exchange solution can use the software as a service (SaaS) from the cloud.

Private SaaS solution in a public cloud

Aurobay Sweden decided to use OpenDXM GlobalX as a SaaS solution, firstly because it was in line with the company's general cloud strategy and secondly because it promised a quick start. After the carve-out, the purchasing department in particular needed a functional solution as quickly as possible so that it no longer had to provide confidential quotation documents via Sharepoint, e-mail or other insecure communication channels. However, the decision regarding the system took a little longer than expected because different departments had to be involved in the decision-making process. In particular, R&D and Manufacturing Engineering had more extensive collaboration requirements and wanted to be sure that OpenDXM GlobalX could meet them, as Sund says.

The data exchange solution is implemented in the AWS public cloud infrastructure in Frankfurt, although not as a multi-tenant but as a single-tenant application in a private environment. This is because Aurobay Sweden had special requirements regarding post-processing and storage of the data exchange jobs. Furthermore, it wanted to be able to integrate the solution with the PLM system Teamcenter. This also requires customization, which is only possible using a private single-tenant solution.

The company wants to integrate OpenDXM GlobalX into Teamcenter so that engineers can initiate their data exchange processes directly from the PLM system and receive data in their familiar working environment. It is also using the MS Outlook integration so that departments that do not work with Teamcenter can send and receive sensitive data in the most convenient way possible. While the integration is not yet used across the entire organization, it was an important criterion for choosing OpenDXM GlobalX, says Sund.

Security and ease of use as main benefits

Currently, almost 700 internal and external users are registered in OpenDXM GlobalX with their roles and rights, of whom around 520 actively work with the solution. Product Development, Manufacturing Engineering and Purchasing are the internal departments that use it most intensively. The external users are mainly employees of suppliers and development partners but also of some customers. Autobay Swede’s most important customer is Volvo Cars, which, although it has a few accounts, normally requires its engineers to provide their data using the Volvo data exchange system. “If Volvo Cars were to also use OpenDXM GlobalX, it would greatly simplify the exchange of data,” says Sund.

The most important benefits provided by the data exchange solution, in addition to data security, are ease of use and the good logging of data exchange operations, as Sund explains. “User acceptance is very good. We haven't had a single complaint so far.”
Another important advantage is the low level of support required because the solution is so easy to use and is very stable. And if something does not work as it should, PROSTEP is very quick to provide support.

The company plans to take a closer look at PROSTEP’s collaboration platform OpenPDM CCenter in the near future. It offers the option of managing the documents for distributed development projects on a separate platform and continuously synchronizing them with the backend systems within the company. In addition, Sund wants to persuade his colleagues at Aurobay China and at other Horse Powertrain subsidiaries of the advantages of a common data exchange and collaboration solution.