Moving from prototype to factory floor without losing your mind [with VIDEO]
Ask anyone in equipment manufacturing: getting a product from the lab to the factory floor is messy. As a global leader in automated test equipment for the semiconductor, automotive, storage, and defense industries, Teradyne manufactures complex instruments that demand both speed and precision—and there’s no room for compromise on either front.
Here’s where the real pressure hits: Teradyne’s New Product Introduction (NPI) team takes a new instrument from concept and systematically matures it—refining the design, improving product quality, and boosting yield until it’s ready to be manufactured at scale by contract manufacturers around the world. During the development cycle is where product launches either click into place or face obstacles..
Narayanan PC, lead functional architect at Teradyne, has watched this play out firsthand for nearly a decade. The challenge isn’t just speed—it’s managing the complexity of getting dozens of moving pieces aligned so that what the NPI team perfected actually translates to consistent, high-quality manufacturing at scale.
“We needed our NPI process to be flexible and able to change the way we test pretty rapidly,” PC explains. “And we needed to ensure that the data our teams entered was accurate and reliable.”
Teradyne needed a different approach—one that could actually match the pace of their business and keep the NPI team’s work synchronized in real time.
As PC put it, they needed a platform that could “effectively innovate and work on our NPI process so that we can quickly ensure that our products are ready to be manufactured at high volume.”
Finding the right partner
Teradyne recognized that solving this problem required more than tweaks to their existing setup. They launched a strategic initiative to replace their legacy system with a modern, integrated MES platform. After a thorough evaluation, the choice became obvious: Siemens Xcelerator and Opcenter MES.
Several factors drove this decision:
Manufacturing execution built for complexity
Opcenter Execution Electronics wasn’t designed as a one-size-fits-all solution. It was purpose-built for the intricate workflows that semiconductor test equipment manufacturing demands—something a generic system simply couldn’t handle.
Seamless connection with engineering data
Teradyne was already using Teamcenter on the engineering side. Opcenter’s native integration meant that product data, bills of materials, and engineering changes could flow directly from design into manufacturing without manual handoffs. This eliminated the data gaps that often cause manufacturing to drift away from engineering intent.
Rapid interface development without heavy coding
One of Opcenter’s standout features is its integration with Mendix, a low-code development platform. This meant Teradyne could quickly build and adjust user interfaces tailored to different teams and workflows—without needing extensive custom development.
“Mendix allows us to quickly modify our UI as needed,” PC noted. “We wanted different interfaces for different user groups so they could enter data accurately without confusion.”
Built to grow
Opcenter’s architecture was designed with scalability in mind. It could support multiple industries, product lines, and global manufacturing sites without breaking a sweat.
The real-world impact
Beyond the numbers, Opcenter has changed how Teradyne thinks about innovation and manufacturing:
Faster time to market
The NPI development phase is now optimized for speed while maintaining Teradyne’s strict quality standard. Real-time analytics catch issues early. Flexible workflows handle new product variations. And synchronized data keeps manufacturing aligned with what engineering intended.
Consistency across borders, flexibility where it matters
Teradyne maintains the same quality standards across multiple global sites while adapting to regional requirements and contract manufacturer capabilities.
Better decisions, backed by data
Engineers, manufacturers, and quality teams have real-time visibility into what’s happening on the floor. The Mendix-powered interfaces make sure the data they’re working with is accurate and actionable.
An ecosystem that actually works together. Rather than juggling separate systems that don’t talk to each other, Teradyne now benefits from an integrated platform where Opcenter MES, Teamcenter PLM, and Mendix work in harmony. Data flows naturally. Systems support each other.
Watch the full interview
What this means for manufacturing leaders
Teradyne’s adoption of Siemens Xcelerator and Opcenter MES illustrates something important: in today’s market, manufacturing excellence and digital excellence are inseparable.
By moving away from their old system, Teradyne has:
- Moved faster through flexible workflows and rapid interface updates
- Operated smarter with real-time analytics and data-driven choices
- Maintained quality through synchronized data and integrated change management
- Scaled confidently with a platform that grows with the business
The payoff? A company that innovates even faster, manufactures smarter, and gets products to customers quicker.
If you’re facing similar pressures—balancing speed with excellence, managing complexity across multiple sites, or trying to turn data into better decisions—Teradyne’s experience offers a roadmap. The solution isn’t working harder. It’s building the right digital foundation.
Siemens Opcenter MES, integrated with Teamcenter PLM and powered by Mendix, provides exactly that. It’s designed not just to run today’s operations, but to enable tomorrow’s breakthroughs.
In an industry where innovation cycles are measured in months and market windows in weeks, that capability isn’t just nice to have—it’s essential.
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