PDM software
Too good to be true? -- Availl, Inc. is hawking some innovative new software for sharing files among remote offices. In our tests, performance didn’t match what the company promised. (2/12/03)
Toolworks BOM Manager -- Adding properties and cost data for bills of materials to CAD files can be a pain. A new product from Denmark tries to ease this task for SolidWorks users. (11/20/03)
EDS overhauls Insight PDM aid -- The Solid Edge team has improved its Insight PDM system to take advantage of Microsoft’s redesigned Sharepoint Services. The new version reduces the cost of Insight implementations while providing advanced PDM features. (11/13/03)
Autodesk’s Vault -- The new PDM software for Autodesk’s Inventor Series disappoints on many levels. Will Autodesk fix it? (10/2/03)
Cyco updates AutoManager PDM systems -- The Dutch PDM vendor has added the ability to manage solid-modeling files to its AutoCAD-focused PDM system. (2/13/03)
SolidWorks improves PDMWorks integration --
Since acquiring PDMWorks, SolidWorks has made the workgroup PDM software
behave more like an integral part of its CAD program. We review the latest
release of PDMWorks and recommend steps customers should take to get the
most from this software. (10/10/02)
Physician heal thyself -- Software giant SAP claims its software will manage your enterprise. But the company does a poor job of managing its own sales prospects. (9/5/02)
Mentor sets sights on ECAD PDM – Most PDM vendors all but ignore the electronic CAD market. Mentor Graphics has set its sights on dominating this segment with a PDM program for managing ECAD output files, component databases, and the symbol libraries of many different CAD programs. (8/29/02)
Can SAP dominate PDM? – Software behemoth SAP AG overcame a slow start in PDM to become the number-two firm in the market. Can it make the leap to number one? (8/8/02)
Buyers and sellers like this online catalog -- Developers of computer-based catalogs have struggled for a generation. Innovator GlobalSpec has developed a catalog-publishing business that’s a good deal for buyers and sellers. (8/1/02)
Everything’s a Teamcenter -- EDS has attached the Teamcenter name to a variety of seemingly unrelated products. Its goal is to eventually make them work together. (5/30/03)
Will Engineering talk to Enterprise? -- EDS is being pressured by its largest customers to integrate its TeamCenter Engineering (formerly Iman) and TeamCenter Enterprise (formerly Metaphase) PDM systems. Find out what EDS plans to do and whether it’s likely to satisfy customers’ needs. (5/30/03)
Simplified PDM from PTC -- PDMLink gives Pro/Engineer customers a data manager based on PTC’s Windchill technology that’s relatively easy to set up and learn. Find out about one company’s experience and why PTC has been reluctant to push PDMlink as a substitute for Intralink. (5/23/02)
PDM has the face of Windows Explorer -- To cut training costs, a Swedish PDM software developer embeds its client software in Microsoft’s Windows Explorer. Recently, the company added the ability to manage feature-based mechanical CAD data from SolidWorks and Inventor.
Hybrid PDM and process-planning software -- An application called PolyCAPP combines features of computer-aided process planning software with those of product-data management systems to help engineers store and organize manufacturing expertise.
Pro/Intralink stumbles -- Users are upset about flaws in the latest version of Parametric Technology Corporation's Pro/Intralink 3.1, the software used to manage Pro/Engineer files. Can the CAD software giant stabilize its PDM code?
Program combines PDM and ERP -- ThetisPro from Thetis Technologies Inc. gets around the difficulties of sharing data between PDM and ERP programs by providing the capabilities of both in one product.
Program tracks work history -- A new product called CrossPoint from Intersect Software is supposed to reduce the time engineers and managers spend in status meetings by automatically recording the processes and methods used to perform tasks. Will people buy it?
BOM.com adds version control -- In its most recent software release, the application-service provider BOM.com lets customers save versions of bills of material at various points in a design's development and provides functions for annotating BOMs.
PDM vendor finds its roots – During the last few years Workgroup Technology Corporation pursued a product strategy that wasn’t working, and its cash drained away. Customers like its ProductCenter PDM program, however, and the company's new management has again made it the focus of attention. Find out why customers like Workgroup's PDM software better than offerings from PTC or Dassault Systèmes and whether this loyalty will be enough to save Workgroup financially.
Complete PDM for small firms -- Small companies often have trouble finding PDM systems that offer advanced functions. Programs with capabilities such as CAD-file, parts-list, and change management are often too expensive, while affordable programs don't usually offer such options. A program from Enabled Systems Ltd. called ESysPDM may fill the PDM gap for small firms.
Eigner adds two modules -- PDM firm Eigner recently added two modules, Requirements Management and Traceability and Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul to its Axalant software line.
Adept enhancements – Discover the ways in which the latest version of Synergis Technologies, Inc.'s Adept, a PDM program for Autodesk CAD software, promises to perform better on low-bandwidth connections.
Sharing files on the Web -- Sometimes traditional PDM with its central vault and relational database isn't the best way to manage files. Maxim I/T's FindView is a search engine that locates and retrieves CAD data and technical documents no matter where they're stored.
EDS merges IMAN and Metaphase -- Within the next 18 months, EDS PLM Solutions will complete its integration of its Metaphase and IMAN PDM products into a number of modules that will be sold as part of the TeamCenter line. Find out what EDS is keeping and what it's throwing away.
Cyco Slims down AM-Meridian -- When Cyco Software BV delivered its AutoManager Meridian document-management software, some customers found it too complex to implement. Cyco's new AutoManager Teamwork is a slimmed-down version of Meridian that provides preset processes so that users can get running quickly.
Ingersoll Rand endorses Windchill -- Large companies rarely endorse PDM products. Find out why Ingersoll Rand recently spoke up for Parametric Technology Corporation's Windchill. Learn how IR justifies the costs of its new PDM system and why the company is high on PTC's technology.
New software manages electronic data -- Two recently introduced programs provide a more sophisticated approach to managing electronic-design data, handling files produced at various stages of the design process, including schematics, printed circuit layouts, HDL source, and engineering bills of material.
BOM.com's new module -- This novel application service provider allows customers to give their suppliers access to parts lists, CAD, and other files attached to a master bill of material.
Two more Inventor data managers -- Synergis Technologies Inc. and MatrixOne Inc. have introduced PDM software for Autodesk's Inventor CAD program, bringing the number of systems that can manage Inventor files to four.
More project management software -- Software companies continue to revamp software for handling in-process design work. Framework Technologies has refocused its marketing from designers of construction projects to manufacturers. E4eNet Inc., a subsidiary of Valor Ltd., includes unique features for makers of printed-circuit boards. Read what users have done with them.
Solid Edge makes PDM standard -- EDS' PLM Solutions becomes the second CAD software firm to include basic product data management functions in a CAD package at no extra charge. The PDM system is built atop Microsoft's SharePoint Portal Server a new document management tool that offers the advantages of systems based on relational databases with fewer hassles.
Windchill for catalogs –Parametric Technology Corporation's newest packaged Windchill program for performing specific data-management tasks helps component vendors produce on-line parts catalogs. A first customer's implementation illustrates the benefits and pitfalls of PTC's technology.
Turnkey PDM – Systems integrator IntegWare Inc. wants to eliminate installation and maintenance problems with a turnkey PDM system that includes configured software and hardware. Will manufacturers buy turnkey PDM?
Replication in SmarTeam -- In a bid to court larger customers, Dassault Systèmes' SmarTeam subsidiary now allows its SmarTeam PDM software to replicate descriptive data and file vaults at multiple locations. The move creates confusion and competition between Dassault's SmarTeam and Enovia PDM product lines.
SmarTeam beefs up replication -- SmarTeam Corporation (a Dassault Systèmes subsidiary) recently incorporated snapshot software into its replication product, Smart Multisite.
CAD vendors tout Web services – Services that allow designers to share CAD files with others over the Internet usually don't handle three-D models well. This month three CAD vendors launched Web services that enable customers to share virtual prototypes on the Web. Do these products make the grade?
Software to model processes -- Any flow-charting program can be used to describe processes, if an engineer wants to start from scratch. Special software products from CASEwise give engineers a leg up on process definition by providing predefined procedures as a starting point.
Phaseout for Metaphase -- Structural Dynamics Research Corporation (SDRC) plans to phase out Metaphase, replacing its venerable PDM program with new software called TeamCenter. Find out what customers need to know before migrating to this new system.
SAP upgrades Web solution -- SAP AG announced several additions to its line of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) applications that make SAP R/3 an even stronger contender for enterprise product data management.
Find files in Pro/Intralink -- A program called EQuery from Fishbowl Solutions Inc. lets people use a Web browser to look for and view CAD drawings and models in Parametric Technology Corporation's Pro/Intralink data manager without having Intralink's client software installed.
PDM for parts lists -- Neither PDM systems for file management nor enterprise-resource-planning software can keep track of part costs and specifications during product development as well as a new Web-based application from Bom.com.
Simpler PDM for Autodesk customers – Synergis Technologies Inc. introduced a PDM system called Adept that will manage files from Autodesk's AutoCAD, Mechanical Desktop, and Inventor without taking away your file names.
The companies time forgot – Find out how a group of industrial companies replaced 30-year-old mainframes with modern CAD, PDM, and enterprise-resource-planning systems to reduce by more than half the time it takes to design and build machine tools.
PDM to improve product design -- Most PDM systems don't help engineers design better products, but improving product design is the purpose of new software called Magik from Ceimis Enterprise Inc.
A new way to exchange data -- InfoShark Inc.'s new software helps database developers analyze the structure of databases and write software to automatically transfer data among them using the Extensible Markup Language (XML).
Metaphase to manage teams -- Can Metaphase software, usually employed to manage released files, help engineers track their CAD work in progress? Structural Dynamics Research Corporation says yes.
Metaphase Aerospace and Defense Solutions -- Competitors recently have whittled away at Structural Dynamics Research Corporation's PDM market share with PDM systems that can be run with little or no programming. Now SDRC is retaliating with three products configured to manage specific kinds of data.
Occulus Technologies promotes distributed PDM -- Peer-to-peer data sharing avoids complexities of centralized relational databases employed by most PDM systems. Two new software products use a peer-to-peer model to manage engineering data files.
SAP links to SolidWorks – SAP R/3 now can be used for managing three-D CAD files but only if customers have the right software. We look inside two new programs for managing files from Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks in SAP.
More software to manage drawings -- PDM software does not usually distribute documents and drawings well, but companies such as Digital Paper, EQuorum, and Océ Graphics now offer software to plug these holes.
CAD program comes with PDM -- Many CAD vendors' data-management aids have proven disappointing. Relative newcomer Think3 Inc. is swimming against the tide with its Thinkteam, which is integrated with its CAD package.
Microsoft Project For Teams -- The latest version of Microsoft's project-management program, Project 2000 for Windows, works with a program called Microsoft Project Central that allows sharing of plans and tasks over the Internet. What's more, Project Central's application-programming interface allows customers to integrate it with other programs so they can exchange data with the project-management software.
MySAP.com opens PDM window -- The newest addition to the mySAP.com product line from SAP AG gives customers a way to access the PDM features of SAP R/3 over the Internet.
Tracking test files -- A new software program called LMS Reporting Seat from LMS International makes it easier for test engineers to share information in large data files with each other.
Cyco's switch to client/server -- Engineering data management company Cyco Software BV's new AutoManager Meridian program is a client/server alternative to its AutoManager WorkFlow software for managing Autodesk AutoCAD and Mechanical Desktop files as well as text files such as spreadsheets and word-processing documents.
Hope for a paperless factory? -- Neither CAD nor PDM technology can really handle document distribution in manufacturing plants. Digital Paper Corporation is unusual in that it makes its business by plugging the document-distribution holes left by PDM systems.