Last year, global software company Siemens announced that it would be expanding its Frontier Partner Program, an initiative that partners with startups and gives them access to Siemens’ technology. One of the additions to the program at that time was Identify3D, a company that provides security and traceability software for digital manufacturing. The partnership has worked out well on both sides – Identify3D has benefited from Siemens’ software and support, and today the startup is giving back to Siemens through a new, expanded partnership. Under the terms of the new agreement, Identify3D will integrate its security technology with Siemens’ Sinumerik CNC and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software.
Identify3D’s technology enables features like encrypted product data, certified authentication of users and machines, and timed expiration of all digital product designs. The software creates a “Digital Twin” in the engineering phase, allowing manufacturers digital intellectual property protection.
“Identify3D provides design protection, quality assurance, and secure data distribution for digital manufacturing. They are experts in data distribution and digital rights management ensuring security and integrity of data along the complete manufacturing value chain – from design to the final product,” said Uwe Ruttkamp, Head of Business Segment Machine Tools Systems at Siemens. “Security and digital rights management will gain more and more importance in various industries.”
Siemens’ Sinumerik CNC and PLM software are products of its Digital Factory division, which offers a hardware and software portfolio that allows customers to utilize digital technology at every stage of the manufacturing value chain. Digital manufacturing may be the future, but it comes with plenty of its own unique security risks, meaning that security protection must evolve along with it. With the new integration of Identify3D, Siemens’ customers will be able to secure their intellectual property with full peace of mind. They can make sure that all products are being produced in accordance with defined engineering requirements, and can rely upon full traceability of manufactured parts.
Companies’ design data can also be protected by setting limits on how many parts can be manufactured, and repeatability can be managed by indicating on which machine, with what parameters, and using which materials each part is produced. Data obtained through this process provides traceability for in-depth analytics and reporting.
“Siemens understands the importance of creating an efficient and reliable digital supply chain and is creating the industry standard for the Digital Factory,” said Stephan Thomas, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Identify3D. “We are excited to be the strategic partner chosen by Siemens to ensure a secure and repeatable digital manufacturing process.”
Based in San Francisco, Identify3D was founded in 2014 and has been working steadily to provide protective measures for companies working in digital manufacturing. The Identify3D team has several decades’ worth of collective experience in engineering, security solutions, and several other related fields.
“The promise of decentralized manufacturing cannot materialize if IP protection, data security, manufacturing repeatability, and part traceability are not assured,” Thomas told 3DPrint.com. “We believe this partnership will accelerate the adoption of new digital manufacturing technologies and enable their use beyond internal prototyping to full production of end parts at the time and place of need.”
The integrations with Siemens’ software will be demonstrated at EMO Hannover, which will be taking place from September 18th to the 23rd. The security features will be available to Siemens’ customers in December of this year. If you’d like to know more about Identify3D’s products, you can contact the company here. Discuss in the Siemens Identify3D forum at 3DPB.com.
[Images: Identify3D]
