Case Study
Molex Inc. connects its worldwide operations with
Creo Elements/Direct Software
TM TM
Molex Inc., Ettlingen, Germany
Molex Incorporated develops and produces electronic com-
ponents and connectors for telecommunication devices, com-
puters, vehicles, consumer goods and industrial applications.
In recent years, the company, founded in 1939, has experi-
enced dynamic growth not only as a result of acquisitions and
its own successes, but also because today’s products feature
more and more electric and electronic components, which
need connectors – very often supplied by Molex. The company
now employs more than 32,000 people in 54 locations across
five continents.
To improve the organization’s global processes, Molex recently
replaced its many regional divisions with five global divisions,
which now market products via a single sales organization.
The automotive division, with a key European development
center located in Ettlingen, Germany, pioneered the organi-
zational restructuring.“ In the future, our developers will work
more closely with colleagues across the globe and will use each
other’s designs,” says Gary Hart, European CAD Manager
at Molex.
With Creo Elements/Direct, Molex designs highly complex
and sophisticated electronic components, like this junction
box, directly in 3D.
Page 1 of 3 | Creo Elements / Direct – Molex Inc.
Formerly CoCreate ®
The challenge: manage global product development
teams and projects
• Conduct product development at multiple locations with
globally distributed teams
• Manage many development projects with customers from
the automotive industry
• Handle intensified time and cost pressures in customer-
specific projects
• Develop new products as an essential success factor
The solution: direct modeling solutions from PTC
• Universal application of Creo Elements/Direct Modeling TM
(formerly CoCreate Modeling ) in product and mold design
TM
• Streamlined product data management with
Creo Elements/Direct Model Manager (formerly
CoCreate Model Manager ) in connection with
TM
the global ERP system
The results: seamless collaboration across global divisions
• Rapid response to customer requests for changes, thanks
to the direct modeling-based approach
• Easier reuse of existing data at other locations
• Quicker integration of other departments by using 3D
“In the future, our developers will work much
more closely with colleagues across the globe
and will use each other’s designs.”
– G ary Hart
European CAD Manager
Molex
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New challenges for global product development
Molex’s new global product development strategy creates new
challenges and opportunities for its Product Lifecycle Manage-
ment (PLM). Hart says, “We want to record how quickly we can
launch our products on the market, and where delays occur
during the process. In this way, we can improve the flow of
information from product development right through to pro-
duction. And, when the product goes into production, we need
to ascertain where it is at any given time, so that if changes
occur, the engineers will know who needs to be involved.”
At Molex, the change process is mapped in an ERP system,
which is installed at all locations, and largely controls the
production process. The developers create new material mas-
ters and parts lists in the product data management (PDM)
system. Molex is currently replacing its existing PDM solution
with Creo Elements/Direct Model Manager from PTC. As soon
as the global rollout is complete, product data and other infor-
mation, such as version status, will be exchanged via a PDM/
ERP interface.
The development of new products is key to Molex’s success.
Last year, the company launched more than 300 new connec-
tors into the market– an all-time record for the company. Over-
all, the company’s portfolio comprises more than 100,000
products, including standard connectors as well as customer-
specific developments. In the automotive industry, in particular,
many of the connectors are developed in close cooperation
with OEMs or their main system suppliers. In this industry, in-
tense time and cost pressures are a ‘given’.
The Automotive Division produces connection systems for air bags and other
electronic components in vehicles.
Page 2 of 3 | Creo Elements / Direct – Molex Inc.
Case Study
Success through innovation
Although automotive customers occasionally pressure Molex
to use the same CAD system that they’re using, the compa-
ny prefers to design its products using Creo Elements/Direct
Modeling software from PTC. In a benchmark comparison,
the PTC software outperformed other leading CAD systems,
particularly because of its direct modeling-based approach.
Hart says, “When developing a new product, we generally
don’t know exactly what the customer wants. Consequently,
our drafts have to undergo several revisions, which we can-
not anticipate and cannot map in parametric relationships.”
Direct modeling gives designers and engineers the speed
to make changes to models ‘on the fly,’ which means that
designers can quickly produce unlimited iterations of the
product to find the ideal design. Another advantage is that,
with direct modeling, it’s easy for one designer to work on a
design initiated by another designer, much like a writer can
open up an existing Microsoft® Word® doc and continue the
work of another writer.
For instance, at Molex, a customer’s change request cannot
always be implemented by the same engineer who worked
on the original draft. This issue takes on even more impor-
tance as a result of global cooperation within the new orga-
nizational structure. The direct modeling-based approach to
CAD enables engineers to use models from other locations
and quickly pick up and work on the design as if the new de-
signer had created the models themselves.
Apart from its functionality, Creo Elements/Direct Modeling’s
ease-of-use offers a competitive advantage that should not
be underestimated, according to Hart, as it reduces the need
for training and speeds up familiarization. After all, the soft-
ware is used on more than 1000 workstations at Molex, in-
cluding product development, mold design, and quality as-
surance. Consequently, one day of team training would be
roughly equal to an investment of several man-years. Hart
ensures that “Normally, users can create their first 3D models
with Creo Elements/Direct Modeling after just three days of
basic training.”
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Product development has fundamentally changed since the
arrival of the 3D system from PTC. Even though the 2D drawing
remains the main reference document, Molex engineers now
use 3D models in milestone meetings. “Seeing the model in
front of you makes things much easier to understand and helps
to include employees from other areas, such as mold construc-
tion or quality assurance, in the decision-making process,” says
Hart. “We try to do this early on, so that product development
and mold design overlap as much as possible.”
FPO
During development, the connection systems experience some major
changes, which are unforseeable and cannot be handled with a parametric
CAD system. This is the reason Molex prefers direct modeling with Creo
Elements/Direct.
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Case Study
Hart is convinced that, with the implementation of the
Creo Elements/Direct solutions, Molex made the right choice
for facing the new challenges of global product development.
The combination of the direct modeling approach, stream-
lined data management, and Web-based collaboration offers
the ideal basis for cooperation between globally distributed
development teams.
© 2010, Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC). All rights reserved. Information con-
cerning the benefits and results obtained by customers using PTC solutions is based upon
the particular user’s experience and testimonial, is furnished for informational use only,
and should not be construed as a guarantee or commitment by PTC. Due to the varying
degree of complexity of our customers’ products and/or their design processes, typical or
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and all PTC product names and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of PTC
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6003 – Creo Elements–Molex Inc.–CS–EN–1210
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