The Case for Boosting Digital Transformation with Low-Code
Why should Siemens Xcelerator customers embrace low-code capabilities from Mendix, a Siemens Digital Industries Software Business, to accelerate their #digitaltransformation journey?
In today’s fast-paced manufacturing environment, using data from various sources to make informed decisions is crucial for operating profitably. This dynamic data often resides in systems like ERP, CRM, PLM, and MES. However, most manufacturers lack the resources to rapidly develop and deploy software applications integrating data from these systems. IT teams struggle to meet these needs, often too company-specific for solution providers like Siemens to address directly.
Our research, Filling Digital Transformation Gaps with Applications, found that digital transformation increases the speed of change, demands more agility, and creates the need for more (and faster) software development. The survey also found, however, that manufacturers using low-code development are better able to fill their digital transformation gaps to meet their evolving needs.
To stay competitive, manufacturers must repurpose existing solutions, connect them, and augment them with new capabilities. Mendix, Siemens’ low-code platform, enables this adaptability. A recent Mendix briefing to Tech-Clarity analysts shed light on their strategy for helping manufacturers efficiently extend and enhance their core systems.
Adapt and Extend Siemens Xcelerator with Mendix
Mendix makes low-code available for any industry, but Siemens has invested in making Mendix more valuable for industrial customers using Siemens’ existing solutions. There are two ways Siemens customers can use Mendix to extend their product development and manufacturing data:
- Use the Mendix platform to build applications: Manufacturers can use the Mendix platform to easily build and manage applications. Its low-code capabilities empower teams to develop, deploy, and maintain applications more efficiently, which is helpful to get the most out of limited IT resources. Mendix enables application developers to integrate data from Siemens solutions like Teamcenter (PLM) and Opcenter (MES) and make it available to more users. Additionally, it supports external data sources such as ERP, allowing manufacturers to create comprehensive, composite applications that unify multiple systems. By centralizing data and providing access to stakeholders, Mendix helps manufacturers make informed business decisions.
- Use Mendix capabilities embedded in Siemens Xcelerator products: Siemens has strategically embedded Mendix low-code technology within its core Xcelerator portfolio, driving greater flexibility and accessibility. Key Mendix functionalities are already integrated into Opcenter (see our earlier Insight on Mendix Lowcode for Industrial Applications), enabling users to personalize, extend, and enhance the way they use Opcenter in their factories. Siemens is set to embed Mendix into Teamcenter Active Workspace, extending Teamcenter’s existing configurable user experience and empowering product development teams to seamlessly connect and enrich their data with Mendix-powered solutions. This will further the ability of Teamcenter, providing additional capabilities beyond what is available today. This deep integration ensures manufacturers can rapidly adapt to evolving business needs and unlock new levels of efficiency.
Do More with AI, Integrate New Technologies
No briefing today is complete without the mention of #AI, and the Mendix team delivered. Developers can harness AI-assisted development in Mendix to streamline and enhance the application-building process. This capability provides real-time guidance, helping both novice and experienced users develop applications faster, with fewer errors, and accelerating their path to expertise. Beyond the AI capabilities of Mendix itself, Mendix’s low-code approach allows companies to embed new technology, including AI, into their existing solutions. Mendix also enables seamless integration of Generative AI, allowing manufacturers to build intelligent, AI-augmented applications that enhance decision-making, automate processes, and drive greater efficiency across their operations.
Accelerate Digital Transformation and Stay Competitive with Mendix
Mendix offers Siemens Xcelerator customers a new way to stay competitive by enabling rapid custom-application development, seamless data integration from core systems such as PLM, MES, ERP, QMS, and CRM, and leveraging AI. Whether building stand-alone custom Mendix applications or leveraging embedded low-code capabilities within Siemens solutions, Mendix offers manufacturers the potential to enhance agility and drive smarter decision-making. With Mendix, Siemens aims to help manufacturers gain the flexibility to adapt and extend their systems to meet rapidly changing business needs and unlock new efficiencies, ensuring they stay profitable in an increasingly digital and data-driven world. Thank you, UV Subba Rao, Gregory Rosa, and Shaun Ennis, for updating us on Mendix’s latest developments.