Horror stories! Why we need teamcenter PDM 2

[Manifolddesigner]

Hello all,
I would like some horror stories from past experiences why we need a good PDM/PLM system.
Our group is integrating Teamcenter where we had a simple SVN system before. I have a difficult new user who doesn't think we need all this junk. We are also integrating w/ Agile. He thinks that an excel bom is fine.

Look forward to some good stories.
Jason

 

[looslib]

PLM systems provide the following benefits:
1) Revision control and release
2) Limit checkout for changes to one person
3) Uses a workflow to automate the release procedure
4) Provides a mechanism for tracking incidents that may require a part to be revised
5) Can lock certain files to be read-only so only selected people may make changes (Library/Librarian)

There are some cons to PLM systems, too.
1) Requires a well thought out process for the implementation (Most have a good OOTB basic one)
2) User training is a must
3) Management buy-in to the project is required (These systems are not cheap!)
4) You will always have the 1 or 2 users who resist change


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[Taner41]

For me as a mechanical designer, one reason is that all the parts are stored in one folder in server. There is no more lost parts in an assembly or you dont need to search in what folder the part was. And because each part has a uniq id, there is no more complication if there are two different parts with same name.
Second reason is that more than one designer can work on an assembly at the same time.

 

[Mechdesignron]

I installed and set up Teamcenter with NX 5 years ago. I currently administer the product and use it daily as I am a project engineer. I can't say that there have been any "horror stories" or "home runs" that the system has averted or been responsible for. It is for this reason I have not been able to get much buy-in from management. It sits on lagging servers with incomplete information (Not all hardware is classified, all assemblies do not have attributes filled in etcetera.) used by a small group of of engineers. I personally love it as a great place to store and retrieve information. The ability to store a variety of files under a part number saves me countless hours searching for information that might not be there. But because the system is not given the attention it deserves, I also spend a lot of time waiting for files to upload and download. For older people in the company who have done their jobs based on their memory and their easy to access personal files, they hate it. I don't think there will ever be a situation where we can point to it and say "wow we saved $xxxx". It lies more in the realm of cutting away at the small annoying, daily time consuming tasks that hinder overall performance, at least for us, where we "can" do the job other ways. Some companies that perhaps need to keep data secure or regularly work on projects that require teams of specialists, IE an electrical team and a mechanical team, the benefits become more apparent. Don't get me wrong, I think that the software is beneficial for anyone, but there must be a plan and a vision. You have to be able to see the accumulation of the smaller gains that may be hard to find in a quarters balance sheet. It's a way to start implementing standard work and developing some rough metrics of output from engineering. It is very difficult to make the argument that PDM/PLM is needed if you don't have any metrics to start with. It would be incredibly powerful to keep fixtures and work instructions directly associated with the parts. But if that's not a problem or it's something that gets "caught" most of the time, it's hard to justify the expense to the management.

From my experience you have to have the support from management to put in the resources needed to make it work. It is like every other new process or system, it will not work as expected out of the box, you will always have nay sayers, and there will be other ways of doing it, like an excel sheet for a BOM. You have to think about what you do, where is your time spent, where improvements can be made then make the software work for you.

I think that the companies that organize their data will have a great advantage over those that don't. I do not consider a collection of files in folders organized data.

good luck!