One Aras Estate for 3,000 Users: From RFQ Management to Training Inside the System

The Aras estate serves 3,000 PLM users. The immediate problem was the sales process: handling the demands of multiple automotive OEMs meant working across several systems with no master data between them, so there was no single version of an RFQ, a production schedule or a plant record. Underneath that sat two structural issues — no in-house Aras administration expertise to build on, and a user base that needed to be taught the system before any of it would stick.

A Sales Portal was implemented as a new module inside Aras, carrying RFQs, new production schedules, plants and departments on one record. It was integrated with the finance and reporting systems, extending the digital thread across the IT landscape rather than adding another island to it. Alongside the build, an in-house team was deployed to maintain the existing modules, the Supplier Portal among them, and Aras Rabbit and TrackPLM were put to work.

Rather than treat training as a separate exercise, Aras was integrated with Rise Articulate to act as a user training portal for both business users and suppliers. Contextual help was implemented inside Aras itself, eLearning courses were developed for each implemented module, and access management was tied to course completion — so the system opened up as people learned it. Reporting dashboards were developed to track progress.