Siemens Digital Industries Software announced today it has expanded its collaboration with Microsoft to make its cloud-enabled NX™ X software for product engineering available through Microsoft’s cloud and AI platform Azure and integrating it with generative AI and copilot features.
Siemens will deliver NX™ X software on Azure, so organizations can benefit from Microsoft’s responsible AI tools and access to enterprise-grade security combined with Siemens’ leading product engineering software. This follows the announcement earlier this year of Siemens’ Teamcenter® X software for Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) being made available on Azure.
“Our customers are continuing to ask Siemens to bring our industry leading industrial software to Azure,” said Bob Haubrock, senior vice president, Product Engineering Software, Siemens Digital Industries Software. “Our relationship with Microsoft is now more than 35 years and we are pleased, once again, to expand this collaboration so we can best enable our customers to digitally transform through our joint solutions. Building on the success we are seeing with delivery of Teamcenter X on Azure, we’re now expanding to also bring our industry leading NX X product engineering software to the Azure platform.”
Delivering NX X through Azure
A cornerstone of the Siemens Xcelerator as a Service cloud-based portfolio of industry software, NX X delivers industry leading product engineering capabilities as-a-service for advanced 3D product engineering, enabling customers to free up resources, so they can scale and focus on innovation. NX X delivers centralized cloud license management, configuration, and provision of capability while simplifying IT requirements. NX X seamlessly integrates with Azure Cloud Services, giving organizations the flexibility to either install NX X directly on desktops or access it through virtual desktop solutions, including Azure Virtual Desktop, when needed - maximizing flexibility for distributed teams and enabling them to work efficiently from any location. Through multi-session hosting and GPU partitioning as offered on Azure, NX X on Azure becomes even more cost effective.
Copilot functionality supporting an engineer in the creation of a materials report using the Visual Report functionality in NX X using natural language interaction.
Enhancing NX X with AI
Unveiled in advance of Microsoft Ignite 2024 and part of the Siemens Industrial Copilot ecosystem, Siemens' NX software for product engineering will leverage the power of Phi-3, part of Microsoft’s family of small language models, to enable users to ask natural language questions, access detailed technical insights and streamline complex design tasks for faster and smarter product development. Additionally, with advanced capabilities like Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and Domain Specific Language (DSL), the adapted AI model enables users to ask natural language questions, access detailed technical insights and streamline complex design tasks for faster and smarter product development.
The new NX X AI capability builds on the robust foundation of AI functionality in NX X by recommending solutions based on best practices, generating code to automate design tasks, and finding problem areas, all driven with natural, human-like interaction. Not only does this reduce errors and rework, but it also significantly cuts design time by learning from the user and automating repetitive tasks.
“Microsoft is pleased to expand our long-standing collaboration with Siemens, underscoring AI’s role in driving innovation, operational efficiency, and digital transformation in the industrial sector,” said Satish Thomas, Corporate Vice President, Business & Industry Solutions, Microsoft. “Through the availability of Siemens’ NX X software on Azure and the integration of its adapted AI model, powered by Microsoft Phi-3, into their copilot, Siemens and Microsoft are equipping engineers with cloud-based AI solutions to simplify complex challenges and drive productivity.”
Copilot functionality automating 3D modeling based edits to a component in NX X using simple selections and natural language inputs.
Siemens Xcelerator enables companies to create the most comprehensive digital twin, and this process often begins with NX X. NX X seamlessly integrates with solutions across the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio, from concept to design to simulation and manufacturing, across disciplines and managed by Teamcenter X. Through the ongoing collaboration between Siemens and Microsoft, NX X adds robust automation and knowledge to the design stage, resulting in a better digital twin with fewer errors in less time than ever before.
NX X on Azure will be available on the Microsoft Azure marketplace. To learn more about how Siemens and Microsoft are working together to build the next generation AI enhanced product engineering software, visit: https://blogs.sw.siemens.com/nx-design/siemens-nx-cad-ai-microsoft-ignite/
