Hexagon’s Nexus: the platform powering smarter manufacturing

Hexagon’s connectivity and collaboration platform, Nexus, is rapidly gaining traction throughout the manufacturing value chain, providing its customers with powerful new productivity-boosting digitalisation, AI, and open integration experiences with Hexagon and third party platforms and data.

Since its launch in February 2023, Nexus has attracted over 30,000 registered users, enabling each of them to access innovative solutions, training and tailored support that tackle long standing industry challenges.

Hexagon has been expanding Nexus’ product portfolio to empower users at every stage of the workflow:

• Hyperscale computing for simulation: Nexus Compute offers on-demand access to Hexagon’s best-in-class CAE simulation solvers, regardless of company size
• Cloud-native applications: solutions such as Virtual Test Drive X (VTDx) – Hexagon’s IF award-winning automotive software testing SaaS – simplifies ADAS and autonomous vehicle software testing through thousands of orchestrated cloud simulations
• Accessibility-boosting UX: from the outset, user experiences, such as Metrology Reporting, are designed to save experts time on quality deviation reporting while allowing non-experts to quickly interpret data with accessible web-based reporting and cloud collaboration
• Productivity-Boosting AI: automated programme generation for machine tools (ProPlanAI), metrology (Metrology Mentor), and CoPilot customer support is empowering desktop software users to boost personal productivity and helping employers achieve operational excellence and retain vital knowledge.
• Connecting workflows and processes: highly flexible and open cloud integration enables effortless data sharing between software tools, IoT sensors and machines, helping organisations to overcome technical barriers and build efficient engineering and manufacturing workflows, connect quality into the digital thread and empower data-driven operations with connected worker applications

Nexus is built on a legacy of innovation, combining Hexagon’s decades of industry expertise with Microsoft’s latest cloud and AI technologies. The platform’s open and flexible data-centric architecture offers customers several distinct integration options to connect a wide variety of third-party applications, from simple file exchange to real-time data sharing powered by Microsoft’s Fluid Framework. This versatility enables seamless connectivity across the digital thread, linking CAE tools, simulation and process data management (SPDM), and PDM/PLM systems of record that have traditionally operated in isolation with production systems, shopfloor IoT and quality data sources.

Stephen Graham, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Nexus at Hexagon, stated: “There’s growing recognition that successful digital transformations start with people and what they are trying to achieve. Regardless of where they are in the value chain, Nexus is helping these people to improve their work and how they collaborate with their peers. It’s exciting to see this approach gain momentum and envision how we can further amplify individual’s efforts as we ramp up developments in workflow automation and AI.”

As Nexus continues to evolve, customers across automotive, aerospace and advanced manufacturing are already seeing tangible benefits, from streamlining simulation and testing to improving production efficiency and knowledge sharing.

Jinhwa Lee, Research Engineer and Part Leader at Hyundai Motor Company commented: “At Hyundai Motor Company, we are leveraging Nexus with Hexagon’s mature and trusted CAE suite to accelerate our development cycles, optimise engineering performance, and drive a more agile, data-driven approach to vehicle development. Building a cloud-based vehicle development platform is our key strategy goal and we are incorporating the innovative approach and open integration Nexus offers to achieve that vision.”

Gabe Schulze, Industrial Engineer at Path Machining, explained: “ProPlanAI has been a game-changer. It excels by capturing the best practices and expertise we have built as a company and applying them to new parts. We don’t need to learn all about AI – we simply use ESPRIT EDGE, and the Cloud app refines our processes over time. Nexus is more than just a tool; it’s an evolving system that helps us capture know-how, maximise productivity, and improve operational excellence.”

Nexus is an open platform for connecting with third-party vendors, making new technologies and solutions accessible to Hexagon’s user base. Software partners include Acerta LinePulse, CASTOR, Instrumental, JITbase, MachiningCloud, Moldex3D, OCTOPUZ and Zaptic. Integrations and data libraries include Solera VTD Catalog, Arcane Tech (for Cabinet Vision), and material databases through Materials Connect.

Nexus now seamlessly connects with Hexagon’s popular PC-DMIS, VGSTUDIO MAX, and QUINDOS software, further integrating quality data into the digital thread, and helps users of its ESPRIT EDGE, EDGECAM, DESIGNER and VISI CAD/CAM software tools improve shopfloor productivity. These initiatives, among others, are setting the stage for increased use of quality control and measurement data to improve quality faster, optimise manufacturing processes and improve products and customer satisfaction.

Hexagon’s Nexus platform is an evolving ecosystem that promotes access to the newest technologies that enhance productivity, foster collaboration, and enables iterative digital transformation for organisations of all sizes across the manufacturing value chain where 500,000 people use Hexagon’s technologies in every industry daily as part of their chosen technology stack.