February 9, 2009
By DE Editors
Aras announced today at SolidWorksWorld 2009 advanced search capabilities seamlessly embedded in the ArasInnovator suite for enterprise Product Lifecycle Management ]PLM]. The new Arassearch functionality provides additional options for submitting queries in theAras PLM environment and accesses cloud-based search services in Microsoft LiveSearch and GlobalSpec, an engineering part, product, and specification databaseon the Web.
Explaining that Aras has been experiencing 800 to 1,000downloads every month for the past several months, company Chairman andPresident Peter Schroer said in a phone interview that the Aras Enterpriseopen-source business model appealed to both Microsoft and GlobalSpec, and helpedforge those partnerships.
“Our introduction of cloud-based searchcapabilities brings the power of the Web to the enterprise PLM softwareenvironment so that engineering professionals can locate product informationmore quickly and cost effectively than previously possible,” said Schroer. “Inseconds a user can search millions of parts, BOMs, drawings, data sheets,specifications, suppliers, and quality information to find the right part at thelowest cost.”
The new search functionality makes possible:
- Parametric searching on GlobalSpec’s PartFinder and SpecSearch, providing accessto a library of more than 24,000 OEM and distributor product catalogs spanningmore than 177 million parts in 2.3 million product families
- Full textsearching on GlobalSpec’s Engineering Web vertical search engine index coveringhundreds of millions of pages of product development content includingengineering articles, technical research papers, material properties, productpatents, standards, and more
- Web searching using Microsoft’s Windows LiveSearch for instant access to the Internet
- Enterprise searching usingWindows Search 4.0, the next generation Microsoft enterprise search with supportfor a wide variety of languages including Chinese, French, German, Japanese,Russian, Spanish, and more.
“Windows Search Version 4 is new forMicrosoft and is pretty powerful so it made sense to incorporate it,” saidSchroer, who noted Aras had signed up 20 partners in 2008. “]The] goal for 2009is to ]sign] another 20 partners, working on a Russian language pack,” he added.“Now it’s a matter of covering regions that we haven’t been able to coverbefore.”
Aras search capabilities include the ability to save frequentlyused searches for additional convenience and instant reference. Complicatedsearches that are commonly conducted across the enterprise can be saved andshared to all users without creating custom reports to provide quick access toinformation such as “currently active engineering change orders” and “supplierqualification status.”
“GlobalSpec is committed to providing the mostcomprehensive, accurate, and easy to search source of engineering,manufacturing, scientific, and technical information on the Web,” said JeffreyKilleen, chairman and CEO of GlobalSpec. “With advanced search from within theAras PLM software solution out to the GlobalSpec online information services weare helping companies around the world reduce the cost and time it takes tobring new products to market.”
Aras
Andover, MA
GlobalSpec
Troy, NY
MicrosoftCorp.
Redmond, WA
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DE’s editors contribute news and new product announcements to Digital Engineering.
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