ADR Group’s PT Selamat Sempurna Tbk must redesign components almost every time a new car model is released. This cycle leaves no margin for error and little time to spare. To handle the pressure, the Indonesian auto parts maker turned to Siemens Digital Industries Software to overhaul how it designs and delivers components.
Frontier Enterprise spoke with Surja Hartono, Vice President Commissioner at PT Selamat Sempurna Tbk, and Alex Teo, Vice President & Managing Director of Southeast Asia at Siemens Digital Industries Software, about how this partnership is reshaping product development.
Out with the old
Almost every time a new car model is introduced, the parts maker must redesign its product from the ground up to ensure fit and reliability. According to Hartono, meeting customer demand, particularly in terms of quality, has long been a challenge.
“The primary pain point was the need for us to move away from traditional two-dimensional computer-aided design (2D-CAD) software to three-dimensional computer-aided design (3D-CAD) software, as it was no longer sufficient for creating the highly accurate parts drawings,” he said.
This shift, Hartono explained, was essential, since the precision of these drawings directly affects the quality of the final assembly design.
Among several vendors, the company chose Siemens Digital Industries Software for its integrated approach.
“Siemens’ CAD software is well connected with the rest of the manufacturing-related processes. This includes simulating how products will work, planning how they will be made, linking to business operations, and tracking production on the factory floor. This integration helps different departments work more smoothly together, cutting down on manual tasks and making the overall process more efficient,” Hartono said.
Paradigm shift
Serving global automakers, ADR Group faces mounting pressure to innovate quickly and cost-effectively, driven in part by regionalisation.
“Automakers are shifting toward more localised sourcing to reduce dependency on distant suppliers and minimise potential disruptions,” Teo noted.
According to Hartono, one of the company’s key technical challenges was moving from traditional parametric modelling, where each design step is recorded and dependent on the previous one, to direct modelling using Siemens’ synchronous technology, which lets designers alter geometry without relying on the earlier sequence of steps.
“To manage this, we had one person set standard guidelines for drawing certain parts and train the rest of the team to get similar results and timing. This helped ensure consistency and efficiency across the team. Regular check-ins were also conducted to align expectations, address any gaps in understanding, and continuously refine the workflow,” he said.
Teo said ADR Group adopted tools from Siemens’ Xcelerator suite, which brings together software for design, simulation, and production planning in a single system so that data can move smoothly between them.
“This lets them create a digital twin of their products, a detailed virtual model that can be updated and tested before anything is built, and add new technologies into their existing IT set-up,” Teo explained.
Siemens also worked with ICT services and solutions integrator PT Hitachi Sunway to support the transition.
“PT Hitachi Sunway showed how the Xcelerator tools could be used to meet ADR Group’s needs. As one of our long-standing partners in Indonesia, their role was important in building trust and ensuring the project moved forward,” Teo said.
Fruits of labour
Hartono said the company has now migrated 99% of its work from 2D-CAD to Siemens’ 3D-CAD software, Solid Edge. This transition lets them create detailed digital models of every product part, including complex elements such as paint jobs.
“From these models, we can automatically generate a complete list of all the materials and parts needed to build the product, ensuring accuracy in ordering. It has also allowed us to identify tolerance and interference issues early in the process,” he said.
The company also integrated a blue-laser scanner with Siemens’ Quick Surface software to improve reverse engineering, and used Simcenter FLOEFD simulations to check structural strength early in the design stage.
“We’ve streamlined mould design using NX tools for mould development, which come with built-in library templates, and used NX Mechatronics Concept Designer to design the full production line, from gasket installation to palletising and the use of automated guided vehicles,” Hartono said.
As a result, ADR Group cut the development time for new products by 25-30%, allowing them to bring products to market more quickly and adjust to customer needs more effectively.
Future transformation
With its improved agility, ADR Group plans to integrate its product development capabilities with product lifecycle management and eventually connect these with the enterprise resource planning system currently in use. This integration is intended to streamline processes across development and operations.
Much like replacing an old oil filter or repairing the exhaust system to keep a car running smoothly, succeeding in the automotive parts industry means retiring tools and processes that no longer work and adopting more efficient approaches. For ADR Group, using Siemens Digital Industries Software has been part of that shift.
Hartono said ADR Group’s aim is to keep improving efficiency and product quality so it can compete on a global scale.
