How Arena Connect Helps Manufacturers Scale Their Digital Product Ecosystem

Most organizations reach a point where disconnected systems slow the business down. Information is re-entered across applications, workflows stall as teams wait for updates, and integration projects compete for limited IT resources.

To help teams connect critical business processes across their technology stack, Arena by PTC introduced Arena Connect, an embedded integration platform as a service (iPaaS) designed specifically for product companies.

We sat down with Arena Product Manager Alan Goodrich to discuss the challenges Arena Connect addresses, its key capabilities, and how customers can use it to build a more connected digital product thread across their organizations.

What exactly is Arena Connect?

Alan: Arena Connect is an embedded iPaaS solution that gives our customers access to a powerful workflow engine and governance dashboard for connecting business applications and automating workflows.

Because it’s embedded directly within Arena PLM and QMS, customers can manage integrations on the same platform they already use to manage product and quality information.

Why did Arena by PTC decide to introduce this embedded iPaaS solution?

Alan: Typically, teams rely on custom point-to-point integrations to move information between systems. This approach can be expensive to build, difficult to maintain, and highly dependent on specialized IT resources, including third-party vendors and development partners.

Arena Connect addresses these challenges by providing a unified platform for building and managing integrations across the product value chain. It helps customers connect business systems while reducing technical barriers, lowering maintenance costs, and accelerating time to value.

Our goal is to make integrations more accessible while maintaining the flexibility needed for complex use cases.

How does Arena Connect fit within Arena’s existing Developer Platform?

Alan: Arena Connect expands the Arena Developer Platform by delivering an embedded iPaaS experience for building, automating, and managing integrations across the product ecosystem. The Developer Platform already offers customers flexible integration options via application programming interfaces (APIs), webhooks, and data services. Arena Connect adds a visual workflow environment, pre-built templates, and integration orchestration capabilities, making it easier to connect systems and automate business processes. Together, they provide a scalable foundation for creating and extending the digital product thread across the organization.

Does Arena Connect replace APIs and custom integrations?

Alan: No. Arena Connect complements existing integration methods rather than replacing them. Some organizations require highly tailored integrations built with APIs and custom development, while others need a faster, lower-maintenance approach for common business workflows. Arena Connect gives customers additional flexibility by supporting everything from low-code automation to advanced customization, enabling them to choose the right integration strategy for each use case while maintaining a connected, future-ready architecture.

What are some of the key capabilities of Arena Connect?

Alan: Key capabilities of Arena Connect include:

• Visual workflow builder: Enables customers to design, build, and test workflows through an intuitive interface while supporting advanced development scenarios.

• Connection library and workflow templates: Provide customers with access to hundreds of pre-built templates that help accelerate workflow creation and reduce development effort.
• Workflow automation: Works seamlessly with webhooks, the Arena Events Engine, and custom action triggers, enabling organizations to automate real-time and recurring business processes.
• Administration and governance framework: A centralized dashboard provides users with visibility into workflow instances within the Arena workspace, executions, logs, error handling, and alerts.

What systems can customers integrate using Arena Connect?

Alan: Arena Connect is designed to support integration across the broader product ecosystem.

For example, customers can connect Arena PLM or QMS with ERP, MES, collaboration tools (Microsoft Teams/Slack), and project management systems like Jira. Organizations can also use the platform to connect multiple Arena workspaces or to run custom, complex logic or validation rules.

How does Arena Connect reduce the burden on IT teams?

Alan: One of the core benefits is empowering process owners to build and manage many of their own integrations. Rather than relying entirely on developers or third-party consultants, business users can use templates and the visual workflow builder to create connections that support their processes. This reduces IT dependency and accelerates execution. For IT teams, this means spending less time maintaining individual integrations and more time on strategic initiatives.

Arena Connect can significantly reduce integration backlogs and improve agility across the organization.

What value does Arena Connect deliver as organizations grow?

Alan: Scalability is one of the biggest advantages. As organizations expand, launch new products, onboard suppliers, acquire companies, or add new applications, integration requirements grow more complex. Arena Connect scales with that growth rather than forcing companies to continually rebuild their integration architecture. Organizations can standardize workflows, connect new systems more efficiently, and maintain consistent processes across evolving business environments. The platform also strengthens long-term technology partnerships by making integrations easier to maintain and adapt as systems evolve.

By eliminating manual data entry and automating information flows, companies can reduce errors, improve operational efficiency, and accelerate decision-making with Arena Connect.

What message would you convey to organizations considering Arena Connect?

Alan: The opportunity is much bigger than simply connecting systems. Arena Connect helps organizations extend the value of their Arena investment by providing a fast, accessible, and secure way to connect data and processes across the business. It delivers the visibility, governance, and flexibility companies need to support modern product development and quality management at scale.

Whether you’re a system integrator, workflow architect, engineer, or IT leader, Arena Connect provides a foundation for building the connected product ecosystem your business needs to grow and adapt in today’s increasingly complex manufacturing environment.

Connect Your Product Ecosystem Without Barriers

Disconnected systems cause delays, manual work, and costly errors, slowing growth. Arena Connect gives product companies a scalable way to unify processes across PLM, ERP, QMS, MES, CAD, and other business-critical applications. With no-code to full-code flexibility, pre-built templates, built-in governance, and enterprise-grade workflow automation, you can create a connected digital product thread that keeps data flowing and teams aligned.

Discover how Arena Connect can help your organization eliminate integration bottlenecks and scale with confidence. Learn more.

FAQs

How does Arena Connect enhance collaboration across engineering, operations, and manufacturing teams?

Arena Connect automates the flow of product and quality information across business systems, ensuring that engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, and quality teams work from consistent, up-to-date data. This reduces communication delays, manual updates, and process bottlenecks.

What are the benefits of an embedded iPaaS solution?

An embedded iPaaS provides integration capabilities directly within the product lifecycle management platform. This simplifies integration management, reduces reliance on custom development, accelerates workflow automation, and gives organizations centralized visibility into integrations and data flows.

When should a manufacturer consider adopting an iPaaS platform?

Manufacturers should consider an iPaaS platform when they manage multiple business systems, rely on manual data transfers, encounter inconsistent data across applications, or need a more scalable way to integrate workflows as the organization grows.