What companies do a great job at engineering document management syste

[jayazevedo]

Hello,

At my company, we just formed a team to identify a best document managment system for us.

One of our approaches is to determine what organizations out there do an excellent job at EDCM. We'd like to learn from them to understand why its so good. Hopefully, what we learn is transferrable to us. We've started on this approach rather that trying to find an ideal product because there are so many and I don't know that we could be sure of what we're buying before we bought it unless we can also evaluate it implemented somewhere.

Here is our problem statement:
The current organization and storage of engineering documentation makes retrieval of information difficult, allows duplicate documentation of the same revision, and uncontrolled documentation. This results in lost productivity associated with retrieval and identification of appropriate configuration, additional costs associated with rework/scrap of material fabricated to an incorrect configuration, and premature failure of incorrect components. It also limits our ability to competitively bid fabrication of components due to the risk associated with an incomplete or incorrect specification.

Although we are a manufacturer, we do not vary our products. The type of documentation we need to manage better are: engineering development files, project documents, published engineered drawings (both CAD & scanned) as well as paper media that is currently not scanned, process changes/history, maintenance or operating manuals. With this, we need to develop and incorporate change control protocols and figure out how to address legacy documentation from poor practice.

Our team plans to read a book by Frank B. Watts on the subject

With that in mind, can you recommend any industrial organizations that we could learn from?

Along this same line, if you can recommend a good consultant that would help us figure out what we need, please do.

Thanks so much for any response,
Jay

 

[KENAT]

Generally speaking, aerospace & defense companies will be reasonable at this because they tend to be forced to be by the government - that's not to say they'll be perfect but probably better than your typical small place.

Automotive might be good too although I have heard horror stories.

Some PDM/PLM providers also provide consulting, but of course there will be the sales pitch thrown in there somewhere.

How much money are you willing to spend? This may help narrow down your options if you're looking to achieve it largely with PDM/PLM system.

My company has/had some of these issues and My boss and immediate colleagues & I were hired in part to help fix it. Among the biggest obstacles we've hit is that a lot of people don't like change, and see time spent on this rather than directly on production or engineering as time wasted - somewhat short sited in my opinion but there you go.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[MadMango]

It doesn't sound like your company has any "working" ERP or PDM system, or are ISO9000-2000 certified. I can't recommend a company to contact, but you might want to locate a company that has similar products and configuration issues as yours.

I have been at companies with antiquated DOS-based ERP systems with manually routed hard copies, and at companies with the latest offerings from SAP, with automated workflow tasking, electronic signatures, etc. Both systems worked fine, but were entirely different.

So more information might be helpful to get better responses from others:
size of company
types of products manufactured
current processes

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of these Forums?

 

[CMGRL]

I'm having the same issues. My team really needs some well executable CM procedures and processes, which i'm working on, but project start up is always difficult. No one likes change, nor extra paperwork.

On top of that, does anyone know of any good version and change control COTS tools?

Thanks,
CMGRL

 

[MadMango]

CMGRL, have a look at

http://www.openworkbench.org/

I started to delve into their offerings at my last job, but changed companies before I was able to get heavily into their capabilities.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of these Forums?

 

[CMGRL]

MadMango,

Thanks for the help. I've seen this tool before on another project. Will this tool assist in CM of design drawings? I've only read a few pages, but it seems like the SW is directed mainly towards project management. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks again,

CMGRL

 

[MadMango]

CMGRL, sorry I lead you down the wrong path, had some wires crossed in my brain in that response. My same question to you as to the OP, what are you currently using, if anything at all? If you are using some mainstream CAD, their vendors should be able to direct you something for CM that will handle your basic engineering files and documents.

Some things that work if implemented correctly, not requiring software that doesn't come on your computer:

Change logs- a simple excel files on your network that everyone can access, but only one can change at a time.

Project notebooks- a 3-ring binder created at a project kick-off meeting, everything goes into tabbed sections.

Non-significant part numbers- simplify your data by killing off configured part numbers. If you need them, save them for your sellable SKUs.




"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of these Forums?

 

[plmguy]

PLM can be as simple (or as complicated) as you want to make it. Some PLM solutions are specifically designed for smaller companies with limited engineering time, IT resources, and budgets. Many PLM systems come pre-configured with a basic setup that reflects mainstream requirements and good practices.

As with CM itself, your trade-off is between simplicity and flexibility on the one hand, and control on the other. The simpler you make the process, the easier it will be to configure the tool (and sell it internally). If you can demonstrate that PLM software can create, process and release an engineering change form in under 1 minute, then it really comes down to how much more your company -- not the tool -- requires.

Here are a couple lists of PDM/PLM products:

http://www.infogoal.com/category.php?n=142&page=1&sort=title

http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/CAD_and_CAM/Product_Data_Management/

Good luck!

Engineering design without complete documentation is often called a "hobby".