{"id":2931,"date":"2016-04-18T05:44:55","date_gmt":"2016-04-18T12:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.plm.automation.siemens.com\/t5\/Teamcenter-Blog\/An-Integrated-Product-Definition-Driving-Innovation\/ba-p\/342776"},"modified":"2026-03-26T08:54:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T12:54:07","slug":"an-integrated-product-definition-driving-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/an-integrated-product-definition-driving-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"An Integrated Product Definition: Driving Innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"integrated-product-definition-overview.jpg\"<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Let’s explore how an\u00a0Integrated Product Definition can help drive innovation.\u00a0Learn more by watching this webinar, “Multi-domain BOM management<\/a>,” as part of our\u00a0webinar series on strategies to streamline product innovation<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Have you ever watched a ski jump competition?\u00a0Skiers fly down a giant hill and shoot into the air off a ramp at the bottom. It\u2019s one of the things I love to watch when the winter Olympics roll around.<\/p>\n

For decades, athletes would fly down a hill, come off that jump, put their skis together and make a flat board. They tried to \u201cride the wave\u201d of air as far as they could. This was the standard from the 1920s until the mid-1980s, when a young Swedish man named Jan Boklov<\/a> forever changed the sport.\u00a0He found himself attempting a jump on a windy day while dealing with a lower body injury.\u00a0Unable to hold his form in the strong winds, his skis were forced into a V shape. The result was a longer jump than ever before.<\/p>\n

\"integrated-product-definition-boklov.jpg\"<\/span><\/p>\n

The traditionalist ski jump community hated the V style because it was thought to look ungraceful. The judges docked Boklov style points on every jump. But he continued doing this jump and experimenting with different angles. And he began blowing away the competition. On a hill where the average jump was 70 meters, he would fly 90 meters.<\/p>\n

Boklov wasn\u2019t the first skier to try this style \u2013 others tried without much sucess. Boklov continued refining the technique while weathering tremendous criticism and opposition \u2014 and three broken collarbones. But his perseverance paid off. As much as the judges were penalizing him for style points, it wasn\u2019t enough to keep him from winning competitions. His jump ultimately became the standard for ski jumping that the world has been using for the past few decades.<\/p>\n

Innovation comes in many forms. In Boklov\u2019s case, what began as an accidental discovery of a ski jump technique led to years of experimentation and refinement that ultimately established a new global standard.<\/p>\n

New ideas and technologies that revolutionize parts of our lives or dramatically impact how we approach a challenge are most often a transformative way of combining and expanding existing capabilities.<\/p>\n

Innovation is equally important for how you rise to meet the challenges of your customers. You must continually push to stay one step ahead of the competition, and Siemens PLM is propelled by the same drivers to innovate.<\/p>\n

This push is the how auto manufacturers evolve from a vehicle captained by a vigilant driver, to one that assists drivers in avoiding hazards and staying safe, to one that drives itself. This push is how photos on film moved to photos on digital devices. But connecting those devices to the Internet revolutionized how we share special moments in our lives.<\/p>\n

Much of the recent and ongoing innovation at Siemens PLM has followed some common themes:<\/p>\n