Optimize Product Development with Teamcenter

For European aerospace and defense companies, dual-use compliance is business survival. One export control error can freeze shipments, cancel contracts, and trigger penalties in the millions. With regulations tightening across the EU following geopolitical shifts, companies handling items with both civilian and military applications face unprecedented scrutiny.

The costs of getting compliance wrong extend far beyond fines, creating ripple effects through operations, reputation, and market access. Let's look at why forward-thinking organizations are discovering that robust compliance can be a competitive edge.

Short on Time? Here's a Brief Overview  

• Dual-use items account for 2.5% of total EU exports, valued at approximately €147 billion annually.
• A single documentation gap can trigger investigations and penalties even when physical exports were properly licensed.
• Sanctions violations can result in fines of up to 5% of worldwide turnover or fixed penalties up to €40 million.
• Modern PLM systems reduce compliance processing time while minimizing the risk of non-compliance.

The Risks of Non-Compliance

According to the European Commission's official statistics, dual-use items account for roughly 2.5% of total EU exports, with a value of approximately €147 billion in 2021. The same report indicates that the EU processed applications for dual-use trade valued at €45.5 billion, with 568 applications being denied despite the reported high approval rate.

With dual-use items being such a significant part of trade, there's a careful balance that regulators must maintain between facilitating legitimate trade and enforcing security controls.

1. Fines and legal penalties
Under EU Directive 2024/1226, companies breaching sanctions face fines of 1% to 5% of total worldwide turnover or fixed penalties between €8 million and €40 million. Intentional embargo violations result in at least one year of imprisonment, while negligent export restriction violations can incur fines up to €500,000.

2. Operational impact
There are repercussions to consider beyond potential fines. When compliance flags appear, shipments stop completely. For aerospace manufacturers in just-in-time supply chains, even a one-week customs hold can trigger contract penalties and production halts across the network.

Defense procurement increasingly favors suppliers with robust, digitally enabled compliance systems. So companies without verifiable compliance trails find themselves eliminated early from bidding processes, regardless of their technical capabilities or competitive pricing.

Once flagged for compliance issues, rebuilding trust becomes exceptionally difficult. The aerospace and defense sector operates within small networks where reputation travels quickly. A compliance failure with one customer can lock you out of entire market segments.

Real-World Compliance Failures

However important, not all companies have succeeded in implementing it correctly. These recent real-world examples bring the importance of getting dual-trade right:

• ΡTX (formerly Raytheon) reached a $200 million settlement with the US State Department for violations involving employees traveling with laptops containing sensitive military program data to sanctioned countries.
• 3D Systems faced a $2.77 million penalty for unlicensed exports of controlled aerospace technology. The violations included emailing military electronics design drawings to a Chinese subsidiary and storing controlled technology on a server in Germany.
• A 2024 case in Germany saw individuals sentenced to seven years in prison for exporting battlefield electronics to Russia via intermediaries. The court ordered the profit confiscation of €2.1 million from one individual and €3 million from a related Swiss company.

Evolving EU/NATO Standards

Dual-use regulations are continuously changing, driven by geopolitical tensions and technological advancements.

The European Commission adopted a significant update to the EU dual-use export control list in September 2024, while recent EU sanction packages targeting Russia have removed exemptions for dual-use items that could enhance military capabilities. This means that companies are now required to implement more sophisticated monitoring of end-users and end-uses.

But also regulatory authorities have moved from periodic reporting to expectations of continuous compliance readiness. Annual self-certifications are giving way to audit-ready systems that can demonstrate compliance at any moment.

Why Traditional Systems Can't Keep Up

Many aerospace companies still rely on compliance approaches designed for a different era, creating serious vulnerabilities.

Spreadsheets, shared drives, and email approvals introduce unacceptable risks. Manual classification and tracking processes inevitably produce inconsistencies as products, regulations, and teams change.

When regulators request audit trails, these fragmented systems often can’t produce the coherent evidence needed. And when engineering, compliance, and logistics operate in separate systems, critical handoffs become vulnerability points.

Design changes may not trigger compliance reviews, and compliance teams may approve configurations without visibility into recent engineering modifications.

Building Compliance into the Workflow With PLM

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems transform compliance by embedding it directly into product development and management processes. Here’s how:

Compliance by design
With a modern PLM system like Siemens Teamcenter, compliance becomes an integral part of the product lifecycle. Classification and export control parameters become attributes of the product record itself, ensuring visibility at every stage from design to delivery.

Aerospace and defense companies can implement role-based access controls, ensuring only authorized personnel can view, modify, or transfer controlled information. The system maintains comprehensive audit trails of all product-related activities, creating verifiable records of who accessed information, when, and what changes were made.

Automated classification and change management
Advanced PLM systems automate much of the compliance burden through rules-based classification. When engineers modify designs, the system automatically flags potential compliance implications. And when export control regulations change, these updates can be systematically applied across the product portfolio.

Oil and gas leader Optime Subsea experienced this benefit when it implemented a PLM solution with CLEVR. Its unique engineering-to-order business model required meticulous recordkeeping and history tracking. CLEVR helped it establish uniform business processes and agile integration that streamlined supplier collaboration while ensuring data security—important for companies dealing with dual-use technology.

Single source of truth for audit readiness
The most significant advantage of PLM-enabled compliance is creating a single, authoritative source of truth for all product information. This centralized repository becomes the definitive record for regulatory documentation, component histories, and material compositions.

Nexans, one of the world's largest cable suppliers, turned to CLEVR to move its processes onto Siemens Teamcenter. With 25,000 employees in 40 countries, its previous systems often contained unreliable data that needed double-checking. Through its PLM implementation, the company improved data quality and standardized working methods—allowing staff to work faster, with greater accuracy, while maintaining compliance.

The CLEVR Approach: Compliance Without Bottlenecks

Implementing compliance-focused PLM requires both technological expertise and a deep understanding of aerospace regulatory requirements. CLEVR specializes in helping A&D companies implement Siemens Teamcenter and other PLM solutions that embed compliance into everyday workflows.

CLEVR integrates compliance requirements directly into engineering and operational processes, ensuring teams work efficiently while maintaining audit readiness. Engineering, quality, procurement, and legal departments can all work with one traceable system.

For companies operating under multiple regulatory frameworks (ITAR, EAR, EU dual-use regulations), CLEVR's implementation expertise ensures PLM systems accommodate these overlapping requirements while navigating both NATO and EU requirements.

Turn Compliance From a Cost into a Competitive Edge

Forward-thinking aerospace companies recognize that compliance excellence represents a strategic opportunity.

When properly implemented, advanced compliance capabilities become a competitive edge. Prime contractors increasingly favor suppliers who can demonstrate robust compliance systems, both to minimize their own risk exposure and to simplify their supply chain management. For tier-one and tier-two suppliers, documented compliance excellence can open doors to higher-value contracts and strategic partnerships.

Companies with mature, PLM-enabled compliance capabilities can also respond more quickly to new business opportunities. When RFPs arrive, they can immediately determine classification requirements and licensing timelines, allowing for more accurate bidding and delivery commitments.

For more information on PLM solutions for A&D, get in touch with CLEVR today.

FAQs

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Dual-use items in aerospace include components, software, and technologies with both civilian and military applications. Examples include composite materials, inertial navigation systems, thermal imaging equipment, encryption technologies, and high-performance computing systems. The EU's Regulation 2021/821 provides a comprehensive control list in Annex I, with Category 9 specifically addressing aerospace and propulsion items.

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Start by examining technical specifications against relevant control lists, including the EU's dual-use list in Regulation 2021/821. Consider the product's inherent capabilities and its potential end-users and end-use. Modern PLM systems can automate much of this classification process, but final determination should involve qualified export control specialists familiar with aerospace and defense requirements.

","title":"How do I determine if my product requires export controls?"},{"content":"

Yes, modern PLM systems can be configured to address multiple regulatory frameworks simultaneously. Leading implementations incorporate both EU dual-use regulations and US controls like ITAR and EAR, mapping product attributes to appropriate control parameters for each jurisdiction. It's particularly valuable for European aerospace companies with US-origin components or technologies in their supply chain.

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Product development teams often work with systems that don’t communicate effectively. It’s not uncommon for engineering updates made in one system to take days or weeks to reach manufacturing, and sales teams find it hard to access current product specifications. These disconnected processes can slow down production and introduce errors that affect product quality.

Product lifecycle management (PLM) integration addresses these challenges head-on by connecting core systems and automating data flow between them. Let’s take a look at the practical benefits of PLM integration with real-life examples from manufacturers who have transformed their operations through connected systems.

Short on Time? Here’s a Brief Overview

• PLM integration automates information flow between CAD, ERP, CRM, and other business-critical platforms.
• Connected systems create a unified source for product data across departments.
  Integration streamlines approvals and updates, with documented improvements in development speed.
• Modern low code approaches simplify PLM integration implementation.
  Manufacturing companies report measurable improvements in time to market after system integration.

The Benefits of PLM Integration

PLM systems are central to modern product development, managing everything from initial concepts through manufacturing and service. While PLM software organizes product data, its real power becomes evident when integrated with other business systems. PLM integration can connect your PLM platform with computer-aided design (CAD), enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and other critical business systems.

With PLM integration, data flows automatically between systems and eliminates manual transfers and synchronization issues. That makes it possible for teams to access current information without switching between applications. The result is a connected environment that supports innovation while reducing errors and administrative overhead.

For manufacturing and retail companies, especially those with complex products or strict regulations, PLM integration provides the foundation for digital transformation.

A unified product data environment

When product data is stored in separate systems, consistency is challenging. For example, engineering changes in CAD systems may not immediately reflect in ERP, and production teams might be working from outdated specifications. These disconnects create inefficiencies and quality issues.

PLM integration creates a unified environment where changes propagate automatically between systems. When engineers update a design, the changes flow to connected systems, keeping all teams aligned with current product information.

Nel Hydrogen demonstrates this benefit in practice. Working with CLEVR to implement Siemens Teamcenter, the sustainable energy provider centralized product data access across the organization, improving project management and visibility. The integrated system also helped maintain compliance and streamline operations.

Manufacturing, in particular, benefits significantly from integrated PLM systems, especially in quality control. When test data and inspection results automatically sync with product specifications and engineering models, teams can quickly identify trends and address potential issues.

Automated workflows improve efficiencies

Product development involves numerous handoffs and approvals between teams, which is necessary. However, manual processes for these interactions consume time and increase the risk of error.

Connected PLM systems automate many of these interactions. When a design passes review, the system notifies relevant teams and automatically advances the process, reducing administrative overhead and helping to maintain process consistency.

Connected teams accelerate development

Product development requires coordination between multiple disciplines—design, engineering, manufacturing, purchasing, and quality teams all contribute to the process. Disconnected systems create barriers between these groups.

PLM integration removes these barriers by providing shared access to product information. Engineering can view supplier data during design, while quality managers can access production metrics alongside specifications.

Subsea oil and gas leader Optime Subsea achieved this collaboration by integrating Siemens Teamcenter with other tools via a low code solution. The integration improved configuration and change management processes by connecting engineering data with other departments.

Another advantage of integrated PLM is that change management becomes more robust. When an engineering change is initiated, the system automatically assesses the impact across connected platforms, from bill of materials (BOM) costs in ERP to production schedules in your manufacturing execution system (MES).

Supply chain integration improves coordination

Product development extends beyond internal teams and includes suppliers and partners. To keep all stakeholders in the loop, PLM integration can incorporate these external collaborators into connected workflows.

Integrated systems enable:

• Secure sharing of product specifications with suppliers
• Automated tracking of supplier quality metrics
• Coordinated change management across the supply network
• Streamlined procurement processes
  
  

Product decisions based on hard data

Effective product decisions need information from multiple sources: cost data from ERP, design history from CAD, quality metrics from manufacturing, and customer feedback from CRM. Isolated systems make this synthesis difficult.

PLM integration aggregates this data to provide visibility into product development. Teams can analyze trends across systems and base decisions on complete information rather than partial views.

Nexans exemplified this approach by partnering with CLEVR to centralize its PLM data across locations. The integration improved project visibility while maintaining consistent quality standards throughout their operations.

Accelerated product development

According to research from Gartner, 76% of CIOs report increased demand for new digital products and services. Traditional development methods often can’t meet these accelerated timelines, but PLM integration helps companies respond to this pressure by removing systematic bottlenecks.

The Mendix Barometer 2024 found that companies experienced measurable improvements after implementing integrated systems. Design cycles accelerated by 50%, and time to market decreased by 20%.

Scalable system architecture

Business requirements evolve through growth, market expansion, or the adoption of new technologies. Modern PLM integration approaches, particularly those using low code platforms, create adaptable connections that support this evolution.

The flexibility allows organizations to:

• Incorporate additional systems and data sources
• Modify workflows to match process changes
• Scale to support organizational growth
• Integrate emerging technologies
  
  

Final Thoughts

PLM integration transforms product development by connecting systems, automating workflows, and providing comprehensive data visibility. While implementation requires careful planning, the documented benefits of faster development cycles, reduced errors, and improved decision-making support the business case for integration.

As product complexity increases and market pressures grow, connected PLM systems provide a foundation for sustainable competitive advantage via improved operational efficiency.

CLEVR specializes in implementing and optimizing PLM integrations for manufacturing companies. By combining deep expertise in PLM systems like Siemens Teamcenter with proficiency in low code development, CLEVR helps organizations create connected environments that streamline product development and drive innovation.

Research Methodology

This guide is based on documented PLM implementations across manufacturing industries. The insights and examples come from verified case studies and measured outcomes in actual manufacturing and retail environments.

FAQs

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PLM (product lifecycle management) systematically manages product information and processes throughout the complete lifecycle—from concept through design, manufacturing, service, and eventual retirement. PLM software coordinates product data and team collaboration across these phases.

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PLM integration connects product lifecycle software with business systems like CAD, ERP, and CRM to create automated information flow between platforms. These connections streamline processes and coordinate work across departments.

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Progressive web apps (PWAs) offers great opportunities for this intermediate form between site and app. In this article, we will look at what PWAs are, how you can develop them in Mendix, and the value they can bring.

Put simply, a progressive web app is a web page that behaves like an app. The technology allows a PWA to work without an internet connection and be added to the home screen of a phone or tablet, without the user having to download it from an app store. A PWA thus offers equivalent performance to a native app, and performs much better than a website in terms of user experience.

"25% of apps are removed from a device after just one use."

Opportunities in customer interaction

Any point in the customer journey where you need intensive digital interaction is an opportunity for a PWA. A PWA is quickly found via the home screen and interaction is quick and intuitive, while the user does not have to download or install anything. This is important because people are installing fewer and fewer apps, and many apps are also quickly deleted. 25% of apps are removed from a device after just one use.

A user usually works with a kind of “hard core” of apps, and in fact would prefer not to install anything at all. This is especially true for people with a device with limited memory, which is already pretty much filled by the standard social media & communication apps, photos and videos. At the same time, users are demanding more interaction. For example, they want to be kept informed through notifications and also be able to view and change their information offline. As far as performance is concerned, users have been spoiled by the tech giants. Whereas a few years ago we were willing to wait 3 seconds for an image to load, now we want to be able to interact with an app or site within a fraction of that. If that doesn’t happen, we are out of there very quickly.

"In industry, we are seeing many PWAs for employees in the field."

Support your process, including mobile and offline

The most appropriate area for the use of PWA is in internal processes. In industry, we are seeing many PWAs for employees in the field. In the Netherlands you can usually assume that a 4G connection is always available, but in the rest of the world this is not always the case. PWAs deliver a much better user experience in those situations and are used to ensure that worklists, forms and documents remain accessible, for example. The Mendix platform already supports many of these types of processes. The addition of PWAs provides a new dimension in this respect. For example, the Product Lifecycle Management System we recently launched with Siemens will be getting a mobile app for quality control of production workflows. This will make it possible for information on semi-manufactured products to be shared directly with the designers.

A similar PWA supports shoe manufacturer Van Bommel in the purchasing of products and materials.

Build faster with greater control

PWAs don’t only offer benefits to users. Building a PWA is similar to developing a website. Building a mobile app for iOS and/or Android is much more work, and also requires expensive specialists. Publishing your app to app stores also takes time and money. We are also seeing that businesses only give limited permission for apps to be installed on their devices. Large organizations often use their own, limited, version of app stores, which you can’t easily get your app into. With PWAs, you don’t have to deal with this, and therefore achieve a shorter time to value. That advantage also applies to updates: you have 100% control and never have to wait for third-party approval.

PWAs with Mendix

Starting in early 2021, Mendix will support PWAs. That means Mendix’s rapid build process will be available to PWAs. A business consultant can take on the entire process, from establishing requirements to delivering the app to a test environment in the cloud. So there is no need to employ software engineers - who are currently difficult to recruit. The consultant builds the data model and creates the screens using drag & drop, i.e. without code. In these, we can then easily build business logic using flow diagrams.

"A low-code PWA that is in production can be modified or expanded by business people or IT administrators, without the intervention of a development team. This provides extra speed and agility."

These indicate what should happen when a user clicks a button, for example, or when a status changes. The app is then ready to be tested. The Mendix platform provides all the underlying technology. Integration with the underlying software such as order management, supply chain, PIM or CRM is also realized quickly in Mendix. A low-code PWA that is in production can be modified or expanded by business people or IT administrators, without the intervention of a development team. This provides extra speed and agility.

Where do PWAs fit into your strategy?

PWAs fit well into the trend that everything needs to be faster and more flexible. PWAs can be a differentiating factor in your digital strategy in several ways:

• Shorter time to market. Flexible, digitized internal processes allow for faster product development and an improved response to changes in your market.

• More digital and innovative thinking. One app project inspires another. Once people see what you can accomplish in a few weeks with a Mendix PWA, the innovative ideas and projects will start coming thick and fast.

• Differentiation and personalization. With PWAs, you easily add interaction to the buying and configuration process to support differentiation and personalization.
• New services. From razor blades to cars and from the hairdresser to the notary: everything is becoming a subscription or digital service. And all those services are supported online with customer portals and apps. PWAs allow you to experiment quickly and with a limited budget, in the search for new opportunities.

Although PWAs are a new functionality in Mendix, the impact on the development process is actually small. Do you have experience in Mendix building interactive, responsive websites? Then building a PWA is hardly different, in theory. In theory, because with a PWA you will probably want to take advantage of the extra features, like offline usage, camera, location data, login and intensive user interaction. Setting this up naturally takes extra time. Low-code platforms like Mendix are being deployed in B2B in a variety of ways, but with the new capabilities, demanding B2C users can also be served increasingly well, and on a larger scale.