Industrial AI, Total Digital Twins, and a Bom That Controls Everything

Written by Alberto Falchi, originally on Industria Italiana

"Complexity is accelerating rapidly," said Robert Jones, executive vice president, global sales & customer success at Siemens Digital Industries Software, from the stage at Realize Live 2025, the annual event where Siemens Digital Industries Software meets with partners and customers. "Strategies, products themselves, manufacturing processes, and people management are more complex." Siemens Digital Industries Software's goal is to help its customers simplify processes. It has two tools to achieve this. The Digital Thread Backbone, not a single product, but a series of software solutions that cover the entire lifecycle of a product. Among these is Teamcenter, which also includes the BOM (Bill of Materials, the list of materials used in a product) that serves as the single source of truth. The second key tool for simplification is artificial intelligence, on which the company is focusing heavily, integrating it into every product. In collaboration with Microsoft, Siemens Digital Industries Software has developed industrial copilots trained on company data (clients include Airbus, Briggs Automotive Company (BAC), Northrop Grumman, Rolls Royce, Leonardo, General Atomics, and BAE Systems). It has also invested in acquisitions, such as Altair (a $10 billion investment) and, more recently, Dotmatics, a company operating in the life sciences sector, one of the new areas the German giant has decided to focus on.

As for its growth strategy, it revolves around three pillars: total digital twins, lifecycle intelligence, and adaptive operations. To understand the direction Siemens Digital Industries Software is heading, Industria Italiana flew to Amsterdam to attend Realize 2025 and meet with Franco Megali, VP and CEO Italy, Israel & Greece of Siemens Digital Industries Software, Dale Tutt , vice president of industry strategy, and Brenda Discher, SVP of business strategy and marketing. And also to see how customers leverage these solutions to accelerate innovation. These include BAC, a British sports car manufacturer; Rapidus and ASML, which produce semiconductors; and Navantia, which designs and builds ships for the defense sector.

The BOM (Bill of Material) as the sole source of knowledge

"Realize 2025 clearly highlighted the centrality of embedded Artificial Intelligence in our solutions," Franco Megali, who was with us in Amsterdam, told us. "AI makes a company's production know-how easily accessible and always up-to-date, and in a way democratizes it, allowing access to workers who need it. Once upon a time, there were hundreds of pages of engineer's manuals on one side, and the informal knowledge of many on the other. Now everything is accessible in just a few clicks." For Megali, Realize 2025 also highlights the importance of the BOM, or Bill of Notes, a concept we will return to. "It is the cornerstone of a company's intellectual property and has multiple dimensions, spanning the entire product conception, lifecycle, and disposal cycle."

In recent months, Siemens has enhanced its Enterprise Engineering BOM solution within Teamcenter, offering a unified platform for managing the entire product lifecycle—from design to service—with full traceability and synchronization between EBOM (Engineering BOM), MBOM, and SBOM (Software BOM). The latest version of Teamcenter Manufacturing introduces significant improvements to MBOM authoring and management, including advanced change management, production impact visualization, and configuration for each individual production site. These capabilities are part of a strategy based on the “digital thread,” which aims to unify mechanical, electrical, and electronic domains into a single source of truth, optimizing collaboration, reducing errors, and accelerating time to market for complex products.

A three-pronged strategy to accelerate innovation and address growing complexity

Digital twins have long been central to the industrial world, as they enable accelerated product development by testing them under all conditions before they're even built, thus reducing errors. Siemens Digital Industries Software has long offered digital twin solutions, which it continues to evolve and enhance over time. "Our strategy has always been to invest in what we call the most complete digital twin. And we continue to do so," says Brenda Discher. A complete digital twin is a tool that extends across the entire product lifecycle, from design to manufacturing, including maintenance over the years and its disposal. In the case of Siemens Digital Industries Software, this tool is Teamcenter PLM, now also accessible as a service and enhanced with new features, especially related to AI.

The second pillar of the strategy is Adaptive Operations, which for Siemens means merging the worlds of software with those of automation and hardware. "We are one of the only companies that have both software and automation. How can we unite these two worlds and have more adaptable operations, adaptable manufacturing, adaptable production? We will do this by investing significantly more in software-enabled hardware and software-defined automation."

Finally, the last pillar of Siemens' strategy is Lifecycle Intelligence, which for Discher means "giving more value to the data we have," leveraging AI. This data comes from years of collaboration with leading players in key sectors such as automotive, aerospace, and defense. Siemens draws its knowledge from two data sources: the first is Teamcenter PLM, adopted for years by leading manufacturing companies. This solution includes product information at various stages of design, from design to actual production, all the way to maintenance. Teamcenter data, Discher emphasizes, "is anonymized," as it belongs to Siemens customers and does not include sensitive information.

The second data source is internal, represented by Siemens' own factories. "We have hundreds of factories around the world. We also have our own automation equipment in our customers' factories: PLCs, controllers, Simatic devices. From here, we acquire data on the lifecycle of products, systems, and entire factories. We transform this data into intelligence we can offer customers through new technologies like AI."

Industrial AI according to Siemens: copilots trained on real factory and plant data

Design Copilot NX offers an interface based on artificial intelligence and natural language that allows users to accelerate their learning—whether they are new to the software or experienced users who want to expand their knowledge and explore new features.

The adoption of generative AI in the factory faces a problem: most of the large language models available today are trained on text and images. "We are investing heavily in training large-scale language models with the language of industry. Information on simulation, asset properties, material information, production information, and digital twins," explains Discher.

The adoption of AI in the factory, however, faces an objective problem: most manufacturing companies still consider themselves immature when it comes to digital transformation. This is according to Dale Tutt, vice president of industry strategy at Siemens Digital Industries Software. These findings emerge from surveys conducted by Siemens, the results of which highlight how many respondents believe there is still a long way to go in terms of digitalization. "Our job is to offer them solutions that make adoption easier," says Tutt. But it's not just about providing technology, but also about helping customers by facilitating the adoption of SaaS as well as AI agents.

To accelerate AI, Siemens Digital Industries Software has partnered with Microsoft to create a series of ready-to-use industrial copilots (35 to be precise) trained on real-world industrial data. What's more, it has hired Vasi Philomin, former vice president of generative AI at AWS. A key figure in the AI world, his contributions have been crucial to the development of Amazon Bedrock and the cloud giant's AI models.

Successfully adopting AI requires a cultural shift

One of the main advantages of adopting AI agents is that there's no need to learn complex commands. Simply communicate in natural language, which "has democratized this technology," says Tutt. Of course, without training, you won't get very far, and people must be accustomed to understanding how to use AI tools in their daily lives. This will automate repetitive tasks while simultaneously unlocking people's creativity. Tutt explains that today, 50% of engineers' time is invested in low-value activities, primarily moving and transforming data. Being able to focus engineers on deeper aspects would have a positive impact, in short, but to realize this vision, companies must change their mindset and approach change management.

Today, in fact, many companies are skeptical about AI for fear of losing control of their data and sensitive information. This is an understandable fear, and that's why Siemens' approach is centered on data security. Private data isn't fed into the LLM programs accessible to everyone, but even within the company itself, data is classified. Those without authorization, for example, won't be able to get answers to specific questions involving confidential information. In short, Siemens places great emphasis on customer privacy, and it couldn't be otherwise, considering that its customers operate in highly regulated fields, such as aerospace, defense, and, with the acquisition of Dotmatix, also in the life sciences.

Siemens is exploring new avenues and entering the world of life sciences with the acquisition of Dotmatics

In April, Siemens announced the acquisition of Dotmatics, which represents a step forward in the company's strategy. With this acquisition, the German giant aims to enter the life sciences sector, which it had not previously approached. "Many people think of Dotmatics as a pharmaceutical company, operating in the medical sector, but what we're interested in with this operation is investing in the process industry," explains Discher. "We're the world's number one in the discrete space. We're quite strong in the process, but we believe that the entire game—from design to simulation, manufacturing, optimization, implementation, and maintenance—for the process industries could be a game-changer. The acquisition of Dotmatics is a first step in this direction. Discher explains, "Further acquisitions in this area will likely be needed, but we believe it's crucial to start here."

Siemens Digital Industries Software's strategy leverages acquisitions. Among the most recent are Altair (a $10 billion deal) and Dotmatics, which allowed the company to enter the life sciences sector.

The reason for such interest is that the process industry is 20 years behind the product industry. "Today, cars and car factories are built in less than a year. Cars are produced from concept to product coming off the production line in eight months. BYD is doing it faster than anyone else. The pharmaceutical sector, however, takes 10 to 20 years to develop new drugs." Siemens' vision is to leverage its experience in sectors such as automotive, aerospace, and manufacturing in general and bring innovation to process industries, starting with pharmaceuticals.

This isn't the only area Siemens wants to expand into: after discrete and process industries, there's at least a third, but "it's still too early to talk about it," says Discher.

The Altair acquisition: a $10 billion investment that brought pleasant surprises

Last year, Siemens acquired Altair for approximately $10 billion. It was an acquisition that positively surprised Siemens: "When we acquired Altair, we had very limited time to evaluate the target. Based on this information, you can sense the potential, but you never know everything. But we were pleasantly surprised," says Discher.

With more than 16,000 customers globally, Altair is a major player in simulation and supercomputing. Siemens acquired it for $10 billion.

The enormous potential of the simulation business was evident from the start, but once the deal was completed, Siemens realized that Altair had two hidden gems: high-performance computing (HPC) and AI. In particular, it was the RapidMiner data analytics and AI solution that impressed Siemens, specifically its knowledge graph technology, which is crucial for AI. "There are many different ways we can leverage it across our portfolio: in manufacturing, in our hardware, in our automation business. We can leverage it in Teamcenter and also in Mendix [a low-code development platform. Editor's note: Mendix], an acquisition we made a few years ago."

Siemens Digital Industrie Software Supports Semiconductor Manufacturers: The ASML and Rapidus Case Studies

Rapidus Corporation will collaborate with Siemens to jointly develop a process design kit based on the Calibre platform, the industry-standard verification solution. This platform enables highly accurate and efficient physical verification, manufacturing optimization, and reliability assessment throughout the entire process, from semiconductor design to manufacturing, while also helping to further strengthen the design and verification ecosystem.

In the semiconductor industry, Taiwanese company TSMC is currently the undisputed leader, having developed more expertise than any other company. However, there is no shortage of companies seeking to bridge the gap and represent a viable alternative. One such company is Japan's Rapidus Corporation, which has entered into a strategic collaboration with Siemens Digital Industries Software to develop design and manufacturing solutions for next-generation 2-nanometer chips. The core of the partnership is the joint development of a process design kit based on Siemens' Calibre platform, considered the industry standard for physical verification, manufacturing optimization, and chip reliability assessment. One of the key milestones is the adoption of the Manufacturing for Design (MFD) concept, a model that aims to optimize both production yield and development times from the earliest stages of manufacturing, reducing complexity and inefficiencies along the entire value chain.

Another key element of the agreement is the creation of a complete and integrated reference flow capable of supporting every phase of the chip lifecycle: from design (front-end) to verification, to manufacturing (back-end). This flow will be perfectly aligned with Rapidus' proprietary platform, called RUMS (Rapid and Unified Manufacturing Service), into which Siemens' EDA solutions, specifically the industry-standard Calibre and Solido technologies, will be directly integrated.

Strategically, the collaboration aims to accelerate the Design Manufacturing Co-Optimization (DMCO) paradigm by building a secure digital environment for managing design data and increasing supply chain resilience. Ultimately, the most concrete and measurable objective will be the drastic reduction in "tape-out" times, i.e., the transition from the design to production phase, for new 2nm processes based on gate-all-around architecture.

While Siemens' partnership with Rapidus stems from recent agreements, the situation is different for Norway's ASML, which has been working with Siemens Digital Industries Software since 1997. Initially, they leveraged the German company's CAD software, which was later supplemented by other Siemens software, such as BOM (Bill of Materials) management software. Today, in 2025, Siemens' solutions represent ASML's Single Source of Truth, encompassing all of the company's knowledge. "Teamcenter helps us manage complexity on a large scale," says Casper Baghuis, IT Director, PLM at ASML, explaining how the Siemens solution offers a series of advantages. Among these is its modular design, which integrates physics, hardware, and software. But it's above all the introduction of AI into the platform that brings the greatest benefits: "The future of the world is in AI, and we are an integral part of this," says Baghuis.

The ASML cleanroom, where the world's most advanced lithography systems are built. These machines enable the production of today's most powerful microchips.

With Semens Xcelerator, Navantia manages the entire life cycle of its vessels

Navantia, S.A., S.M.E is a Spanish company that builds military vessels. A young company (founded in 2005 following the separation of the military activities of the public company Izar), it has chosen to adopt Siemens software throughout all phases: from the initial concept to design, through simulation, and finally to operations once the vessel has been launched. The advantage of choosing Siemens is that it has allowed it to achieve two important results: improving the quality of internal processes and simultaneously reducing costs and production times.

Navantia is using Siemens Xcelerator industrial software in the Coastal Hydrographic Vessels (BHC) project for conceptual, functional, and detailed design. This project, the first of its kind, involves the construction of two naval units for the Navy at shipyards in the Bay of Cadiz.

For Navantia, digital twins are a key tool, so much so that the company leverages a Marine Digital Twin, a complete and dynamic digital replica of a vessel capable of realistically simulating its structure, operation, and behavior throughout its entire life cycle: from design to production, seagoing operations, and maintenance. It was developed using Siemens Xcelerator, which integrates advanced tools such as NX for design, Simcenter for engineering simulation, Teamcenter for collaborative lifecycle management, and Tecnomatix for manufacturing process modeling. In the future, the digital twin will also be enriched with operational data collected in real time from onboard systems, thanks to the use of Industrial IoT and solutions such as Insights Hub.

This infrastructure allows naval designers and technicians to virtually simulate every aspect of the vessel, verify performance and configurations in advance, identify potential issues before physical construction, and make rapid and targeted changes. But the added value doesn't stop at the development stage: throughout the ship's entire operational life, the digital twin allows for monitoring its condition, anticipating potential failures, and predictively planning maintenance interventions, with a positive impact on efficiency, safety, and costs.

Supporting this evolution is the Siemens Center of Excellence for the Digital Naval Industry (Cesena), located in Ferrol. This center trains engineers involved in new Navantia programs, such as the Buque Hidrográfico Costero (BHC), and lays the foundation for a more mature and competitive industrial ecosystem. The center is not only a technology hub, but also a skills laboratory: a place where the future of the digital shipyard is being built.

Mono, BAC's single-seater sports car

Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) , a small English company that produces single-seater sports cars, has chosen to adopt Siemens Xcelerator, specifically the Designcenter/NX X solution, to overcome the challenges of developing next-generation vehicles and meeting the complex requirements of homologation in the global market. The previous toolset was no longer capable of meeting the company's ambitions, which aims to always be one step ahead in the design and manufacturing of its vehicles. For Ian Briggs, BAC's Technical Director, NX X today represents the most powerful tool to bring their vision to life and take it to a new level.

Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) is a pioneer in creating road vehicles designed to deliver the purest driving experience possible. The company continues to use Designcenter software to address homologation challenges while ensuring a high level of customization for customers.

One of the most challenging aspects is international homologation. Regulations regarding the placement of components such as headlights and driver sightlines are intricate and vary from country to country. With Designcenter, these regulatory requirements can be directly integrated into the 3D CAD model, increasing design confidence and significantly speeding up the entire development process.

The decision to switch to Siemens Xcelerator is part of a broader transformation of design, engineering, and manufacturing processes. The goal is to make everything faster, more efficient, and more connected. With this in mind, BAC is also exploring the use of Siemens' immersive engineering technology, based on extended reality (XR), to revolutionize the customer experience. Future buyers will be able to explore their customized vehicle in an immersive and realistic way, previewing every detail in a virtual environment. They will be able to virtually "sit" in their custom-made seat, observe the requested modifications, and feel an active part of the process, thus fueling excitement and engagement.

From an operational standpoint, the benefits are also felt in production: the time between design review and production start-up has been drastically reduced, in some cases almost exponentially. The advanced capabilities of NX X and integration with XR technologies also open up new perspectives for design innovation. The impact of aesthetic and functional modifications—such as the shape of a wheel's spokes—can be assessed in real time, directly in the virtual environment, before even building a physical prototype.