The Hidden Glue in ETO Manufacturing

Table of Content:

Real-World Proof: How Global Manufacturers Use Rulestream

RuleStream doesn’t just speed up one task. It scales engineering know-how across sales, design, and manufacturing. Below, we can see that companies like Mitsubishi and Riello are already seeing the benefits in reduced lead times, more accurate quotes, and fewer errors.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries: Automating Design & Quotation

At Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor International, engineers used to piece together proposal data from different spreadsheets and disconnected tools. By adopting RuleStream, they consolidated all their rules into a single system. With Rulestream:

• All rules were centralised
• Inputs → validated configurations
• Outputs → costed proposals & CAD
• Proposal time dropped from hours to nearly one hour

More bids. Faster turnaround. Higher win rates.

Riello: Scaling Presales & Engineering Through a Unified Configurator

Riello’s web-based configurator with RuleStream is used by more than 1,600 users across their sales and engineering network. It automatically generates:

• quotes
• spec sheets
• energy reports
• 3D visualisations
• detailed BOMs
• ROI analyses

This standardised expertise across the organisation, accelerated quote cycles, and improved accuracy.

John Crane: Automatically Generating CAD Deliverables

According to Siemens’ product literature, RuleStream supports deep integration with CAD systems (like NX, Solid Edge, Creo, SolidWorks) so that design templates can be dynamically generated based on rules.

Using Rulestream integrated with Solid Edge, John Crane automated the configuration of custom rotating-equipment components, reducing engineering turnaround and improving consistency.

Where Most ETO Automation Fails (And Why Rulestream Alone Isn’t Enough)

ETO transformation fails for human and process reasons—not because the software is lacking.

 1. Tribal Knowledge Lives in People, Not Systems

If senior engineers haven’t documented their logic, Rulestream has nothing to automate.

For example, let’s say a 20-year veteran remembers that whenever the tank diameter goes above 1.2 meters, you must switch to a thicker grade of steel or the weld fails under pressure.

But they have never documented this anywhere, so when a junior engineer designs a 1.3-meter tank using the thinner steel, production discovers the mistake after cutting the raw material. RuleStream depends on rules being explicit. If engineering logic lives in people instead of systems, automation has nothing solid to work with. 

2. CAD & PLM Workflows Are Undisciplined

If engineers bypass PLM “because it’s faster,” inconsistencies multiply.

For example: An engineer updates the CAD model for a custom conveyor, adjusts the roller spacing, and saves it locally because “the PLM check-in is too slow right now.” Later, another engineer pulls the design from PLM, not knowing that a newer version is sitting on someone’s desktop. When production finally assembles the conveyor, the rollers don’t line up with the frame because two different versions existed. 

RuleStream can automate, but it can’t cure inconsistent discipline unless workflows are cleaned first. 

3. ERP Isn’t Ready for Rapid Design Changes

ETO requires clean item masters, part families, and mappings, things many companies underestimate.

For example, Sales enters an order for a dust collector with a 15-horsepower motor. Midway through engineering, the airflow requirement changes and engineers update the CAD model and PLM record to use a 20 HP motor. But no one pushes the update to ERP. ERP still thinks the BOM contains a 15 HP motor and sends procurement off to buy it,  a ₹12,000 mistake and a 3-day delay. 

ETO companies underestimate how much their ERP data discipline needs strengthening before automation works smoothly.

 4. No One Owns the End-to-End Flow

ETO spans engineering, IT, operations, and finance.
Unless responsibility is unified, automation fails.

Best Practices for a Successful Rulestream Implementation

 1. Start with the Product Families that Burn the Most Hours

Focus on high-variation, high-volume product lines, your quickest ROI.

Not everything needs automation on Day 1. Start with high-volume, high-variance products.

For example, A manufacturer of industrial dryers might have 40 product lines, but only two of them, say “High-Capacity Dryers” and “Pharma-Grade Dryers”, account for 70 per cent of engineering hours because every order comes with 10–15 custom requests.
Starting with these gives the quickest ROI. Trying to automate all 40 at once only slows the program and spreads engineering capacity too thin.

 2. Fix CAD Standards Before Automating

If modelling practices vary wildly across engineers, automation only multiplies inconsistencies.

For example, if five engineers model a pressure vessel using five different naming conventions, three different ways of creating the same flange, and inconsistent folder structures, RuleStream cannot apply standardised rules because there is no standard to begin with. 

Cleaning CAD templates, part naming, constraints, and modelling methods create the foundation for meaningful automation.

3. Stabilise PLM Workflows

Revisions, naming, approvals, and everything must be disciplined before automation.

ETO automation cannot fix broken discipline. 

For example, if PLM lets anyone revise a drawing without an approval workflow, a junior engineer could accidentally push a half-baked version into production. Once RuleStream starts generating CAD variations and BOMs automatically. 

PLM must be the place where every change is reviewed, approved, documented, and version-controlled; otherwise, automation amplifies errors.

 4. Build a Clean Digital Thread from CAD → PLM → ERP

Rulestream thrives only when the flow is consistent and structured.

 If the customer changes the size of a hopper from 500 litres to 750 litres, then:

•   CAD updates the geometry
•   PLM captures the change request, revision, and approvals
•   ERP recalculates cost, material requirements, and routing
  Today, most companies manually push this change through three people in three departments

 5. Create a Central Engineering Rules Library

This becomes a strategic asset, codifying decades of tacit engineering expertise.

For example:
  A company making heat exchangers may have internal rules like:

•   If fluid temperature exceeds 140°C, use titanium tubes
•   If the flow rate drops below 2 m/s, increase the baffle spacing
•   If the tube length exceeds 2.5 m, consider an extra support bracket

Capturing all these in RuleStream means every engineer, even new hires, automatically designs correctly. This also prevents “hero engineering,” where only one senior engineer knows the correct logic.

 6. Treat Rulestream as a Business Transformation, Not an IT Project

It is a business transformation project. The ROI comes from shorter lead times, fewer redesigns, and less rework. For example:

If your project approach is “IT installs RuleStream, engineering will figure the rules out later,” the implementation will stall.

Successful companies treat it as a business transformation project with cross-functional ownership: Engineering + Manufacturing + IT + Finance. This is what leads to shorter lead times, fewer redesign loops, and a predictable workflow,  which is the actual ROI.

Why This Matters Now More Than Ever

Manufacturers face intense pressure:

• shorter lead times
• more customisation
• lower cost
• limited engineering talent

ETO companies that win are not the ones with the biggest factories—but the ones with the cleanest, smartest, most connected processes.

Rulestream becomes the backbone of that modern ETO engine.

Where Pratiti Comes In: Your Rulestream Centre of Excellence

For over five years, Pratiti Technologies has been the exclusive product engineering partner for Rulestream, working closely with Siemens to:

• Enhance the core product
• Build new capabilities
• Advance CAD–PLM–ERP integrations
• Refine rules engines and configurator logic
• Support enterprise-wide implementations

We don’t just implement Rulestream—we help shape the product roadmap.

That means your transformation is guided by teams who know Rulestream inside out, from code-level architecture to enterprise-level adoption patterns.

Conclusion: Rulestream Isn’t Magic—It’s Multiplication

Rulestream will amplify whatever foundation you already have. If your CAD, PLM, and ERP workflows are clean, Rulestream transforms your ETO operations into a predictable, scalable system.

And with Pratiti’s implementation expertise + product partnership with Siemens, ETO companies can get there faster, cleaner, and with far less friction.

Ready to build a future-proof ETO automation engine?
Pratiti can help you turn engineering knowledge into a repeatable, automated digital thread.

Contact us to begin your Rulestream journey.

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