windchill experience

Company I work for is considering implementing windchill PDM.
Do you have any negative experience with it?
What could be interesting to ask our supplier during their presentation of
the product....(something they will try to hide)?

Thanx

 

Company I work for is considering implementing windchill PDM.
Do you have any negative experience with it?
What could be interesting to ask our supplier during their presentation of
the product....(something they will try to hide)?


The big this is how well you know what you want this system to do and how well you can formulate it. One thing to be aware of: they endlessly repeat "out of the box" solution. And then lots of stuff involves "customization". So a good thing to find out upfront is how much of what you want this system to do can be accomplished, relatively effortlessly, "out of the box" and how much (and what) will require time-consuming, expensive, consultant-managed customization. And get some ROM estimates of how much and how long.

Another thing you need to be clear about is how MUCH of PDMLink you want to implement, short and long term. You may want it to just manage electronic releasing (why doesn't you current system do that?) Or, you may wish, over a period of years, to migrate all digital data management into a single PLM system ~ much more complex and nothing to rush into. Get a VERY good handle on what's involved. When you get slogans, require details and numbers and time tables and specific costs, including how many people they think it will take to administer this system (then add 2, short term; more long term)

Ask them about one-button releasing, automation of releasing process (name some things like storing native files, changing release states, exporting PDF images of drawings and saving them with a 'check-in' of the digital data, with minimal manual intervention.) Unfortunately, so far, I've found PDMLink needs a babysitter, and a big bruiser that can take care of lugging around Baby Huey. It seems to do little for you and require a lot of attention and massaging. Maybe it's just the way the doofus IT people set it up. But, find out what it does for you, what it automates, what burdens it lifts. You don't want to just trade paper burdens for an electronic ones.

David Janes

David Janes

 

David, thank you very much.
Company I work for is considering implementing windchill PDM.
Do you have any negative experience with it?
What could be interesting to ask our supplier during their presentation of
the product....(something they will try to hide)?


The big this is how well you know what you want this system to do and how well you can formulate it. One thing to be aware of: they endlessly repeat "out of the box" solution. And then lots of stuff involves "customization". So a good thing to find out upfront is how much of what you want this system to do can be accomplished, relatively effortlessly, "out of the box" and how much (and what) will require time-consuming, expensive, consultant-managed customization. And get some ROM estimates of how much and how long.

Another thing you need to be clear about is how MUCH of PDMLink you want to implement, short and long term. You may want it to just manage electronic releasing (why doesn't you current system do that?) Or, you may wish, over a period of years, to migrate all digital data management into a single PLM system ~ much more complex and nothing to rush into. Get a VERY good handle on what's involved. When you get slogans, require details and numbers and time tables and specific costs, including how many people they think it will take to administer this system (then add 2, short term; more long term)

Ask them about one-button releasing, automation of releasing process (name some things like storing native files, changing release states, exporting PDF images of drawings and saving them with a 'check-in' of the digital data, with minimal manual intervention.) Unfortunately, so far, I've found PDMLink needs a babysitter, and a big bruiser that can take care of lugging around Baby Huey. It seems to do little for you and require a lot of attention and massaging. Maybe it's just the way the doofus IT people set it up. But, find out what it does for you, what it automates, what burdens it lifts. You don't want to just trade paper burdens for an electronic ones.

David Janes

David Janes