HIROTEC Selects ThingWorx Platform from PTC for Remote Monitoring and Real-Time Insight into its World-Wide Production Systems

Visualizing Factories Decreases Downtime and Improves Productivity

PTC (NASDAQ: PTC) today announced that HIROTEC Corporation, a globally recognized manufacturing equipment and parts supplier, selected the ThingWorx® Platform from PTC to remotely monitor its factory operations to improve operational efficiency and factory quality.

For over 60 years, top vehicle producers, such as Mazda and General Motors, have relied upon HIROTEC for its proven, high-quality automotive components and production machines. With 27 facilities in nine countries around the world, this parts and tooling supplier designs and builds approximately 8 million closures and 1.8 million exhaust systems each year, making it one of the largest private production companies in today’s global automotive market.

After an exhaustive due diligence process, during which dozens of software vendors were evaluated, HIROTEC selected ThingWorx for its rapid application enablement, connectivity, machine learning capabilities, augmented reality, and integration with leading device cloud offerings. ThingWorx is expected to:

• Reduce downtime caused by unplanned events by sending breaking news alerts of the errors to the proper parties and predicting the amount of time until a system fails
• Improve the quality of products by providing a full digital reporting of products produced
• Reduce delays in decision making by enabling team members with real-time detailed data and creating dynamic visualizations of the status of production systems
• Identify trouble spots within the facility by observing real-time data on the factory floor with augmented reality (AR) providing a bird’s eye view

HIROTEC intends to set up a model production line this year and then utilize this model to implement the system globally.

“With ThingWorx, we are able to combine HIROTEC’s expertise in world class manufacturing with PTC’s extensive IoT solutions ecosystem to bring rapid value to our stakeholders,” said Kazuyoshi Takahashi, general manager, Advanced Engineering Center, HIROTEC.

“The combination of ThingWorx with our existing production systems offers us the connectivity and detailed analytics to rapidly visualize and analyze our operations, enabling further productivity and quality improvement,” said Justin Hester, senior researcher, IT Lab, Advanced Engineering Center, HIROTEC. “We are very pleased that we chose ThingWorx as we continue towards digital excellence.”

“HIROTEC’s success with ThingWorx is an example of realizing fast time to value with PTC Customer Success’ IoT enablement services,” said Matt Cohen, executive vice president, customer success, PTC. “By leveraging ThingWorx, HIROTEC can globally deliver high-quality manufacturing services and more robust IoT enabled solutions for their customers.”

HIROTEC America first implemented ThingWorx for full remote visualization of the real-time status of 8 Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Machines in 2016. With this success at HIROTEC America, HIROTEC Corporation in Japan implemented ThingWorx for full remote visualization of real-time and historical data from an automated inspection system for exhaust lines in 2016. Then, in 2017, they deployed ThingWorx on an entire automotive door production line. HIROTEC expects to implement AR and predictive analytics technology in the future to further improve productivity.

Additional Resources

• ThingWorx Internet of Things Platform
• Harvard Business Review: "How Smart, Connected Products are Transforming Companies," authors PTC CEO Jim Heppelmann and Harvard Professor Michael Porter
• Case Study: HIROTEC Launches IoT Initiative

About Hirotec

Hirotec Group is a leading tier-one component and tooling supplier for the Automotive Industry, a $1.6 billion corporation with over 60 years of mass production experience and engineering discipline, supplying automobile manufacturers such as Mazda and General Motors with automotive components and production solutions. HIROTEC produces 8 million closures and 1.8 million exhaust systems a year. They also provide production tooling and stamping dies to automotive OEMs for their production needs.

About PTC (NASDAQ: PTC)

PTC has the most robust Internet of Things technology in the world. In 1986 we revolutionized digital 3D design, and in 1998 were first to market with Internet-based PLM. Now our leading IoT and AR platform and field-proven solutions bring together the physical and digital worlds to reinvent the way you create, operate, and service products. With PTC, global manufacturers and an ecosystem of partners and developers can capitalize on the promise of the IoT today and drive the future of innovation.

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PTC, ThingWorx, and the PTC logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of PTC Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

The announcement of a customer’s selection or implementation of PTC software is not necessarily indicative of the timing of the related booking, recognition of related revenue or the level of revenue for any particular period.

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PTCJack McAvoy, 781-370-6143Corporate [e-mail] Nonaka, +81 (0)3/-3346 2365Corporate [e-mail]