After 16 years on Pro/E at an expert level, for the first time......

[Patriot_1776]

....I'm contemplating a switch to Solidworks. I am THAT fed up with Windburn. It has taken ALL the fun out of using Pro/E, struggling with that monstrous piece of garbage. I'm spending most of my time trying to get bad software to do simple things like delete files, check in files, etc. Things that NEVER were a problem in Intralink. If this is PTC's version of the "future", I'm out of here.

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[GrahameWard]

Can you get someone from PTC out to look at your setup? (Sorry, I wasn't trying to be funny)

[Patriot_1776]

No offense taken my friend! I'm looking at getting an external group to look at things, NOT the people that wrote it or the other people who set us up with the dreaded "F000" release.

[GrahameWard]

By "trying to be funny" I sarcastically meant the probability of getting an actual live PTC employed human to visit a client in person in their office and go through the setup on the computer. Sometimes that's the only way to do it... and I seem to remember a time when such a thing was actually possible

[MikeMinsterkett]

I think you nailed it I too have the same issues. I think we are married to PTC so dont see us switching. I like "windburn" never heard that one before.

[Patriot_1776]

It took over 2 hours to check in the files I needed (dwg and referenced models). Needless to say I'm infuriated. I had to trick the system by first doing a back up of the dwg (and by default all the files) to a local directory. Then I deleted the files form the workspace. Then I checked out all the files again (thank God it was an assembly of less than 10 parts!), but didn't open the dwg. Then I opened the dwg FROM THE LOCAL DRIVE where I did the back up. Made a couple small changes to make sure Windburn saw it was changed, and it actually checked in ok. Amazing that you have to use a LOCAL DRIVE in place of Windburn. I'm wondering if we shouldn't always do this and just avoiding using Windburn altogether........

[ptc-2513036]

Frank - What release are you on? I saw the F000 (Always a bad idea) but is it 9.1, 10.0, 10.1?

We run Windchill 10.1 M020 with CREO 2.0 M030 and do not have any issues with general performance of Windchill. Either related to CAD or otherwise. (Except for the occasional Method server getting over taxed)

Don't get me wrong, I have my issues with PTC but in this case, I would say poor decision on your companies part to us F000 in production. You may also have network issues. Maybe a method server is hung. Lots of possibilities.

If method server and your company runs more than one, log out of everything and log back in. Usually, you will pick up a different method server that isn't hung.

Around here, folks call it "The Chill".

I think the name Windchill leads to negative thoughts. They should change it to SummerBreeze.

[Patriot_1776]

10.0, F000. I had no part in the decision, that was ok'd by corporate, after our migrator talked us into it I guess. I wish i COULD have had input, I'd have delayed it unti they got all the bugs worked out.

I think a reference to a "Summer's Eve" product might be more appropriate....LOLZ...

[BurtLand]

Our VAR always advised which versions to run - they were maintaining a bunch of WC sites and knew which ones were good and which were bad. That may vary with the version of CREO/ProE youre using.

[huggre]

Frank, just some friendly advice 🙂

Not sure that your constant "bashing" on Windchill in this forum is doing much good, and perhaps you should consider moving your attention to your internal company processes with relation to implementing, administrating and training on the Windchill system.

In my company we have 100+ Windchill users and all in all i find the system performing quite well in terms of speed and stability.

I have no problem seeing that Windchill is a complex system to install and administer, on the other hand, this is an enterprise PDM system that requires competence and full attention from your organization and IT dep.

The fact that your organization does not have these resources and know-how, does not necessarily make Windchill a bad product, it just might not be right product for your company.

[Patriot_1776]

Well, 3 different companies now who I worked for switched to it, and it's been miserable at each one. Who did your install/admin? I'm looking for new people. Thanks!

[TomD.inPDX]

You might just have PTC come in and fix it, Frank. Someone in management should be savvy enough to write a contract that says it "has to work" before they call it done. It could even say "...and Frank has to be happy with it before we call it done!"

[Patriot_1776]

Hah! dunno if it'd ever be done then......

We had a bunch of problems the other day with a bunch of OTHER users.......while I was out on personal leave for the last 2 days. So, there's somethig buggy.....

[huggre]

Frank

Actually, we don’t use any services from PTC or any other third party VAR when it comes to managing the Windchill system.

We have two internal employees who are dedicated 100% to supporting the system.

They do all the day-to-day maintenance, monitoring, support, training, development, system integrations etc.

Our Windchill users are pretty much spread all over the world (Norway, Germany, UK, US, India), while our Windchill support team is located in India.

I do realize that smaller companies do not have the resources to have dedicated employees just for administrating the Windchill system and therefor need to depend on VAR’s.

However, I think that it is important that you have at least one person within your organization who has the basic system/business training and can monitor and support the system on a daily basis.

[Patriot_1776]

I agreee Hugo, in a perfect world that would be the case. We have a guy who does the best he can, and does a great job of trying to do what he can, but he is not able to devote all his time to it. With Intralink, everything just worked, easily, intuitively, without the need to have one or more employees dedicated to keeping the system from crashing. I'd be like saying that when you buy a car that you must hire 2 full-time mechanics to ride with you to make sure you can get where you're going. why is this acceptable in the software world but would not be tolerated in the real world? I know the admins from all 3 companies, and they have all said that keeping it running is a nightmare compared to Intralink. Sortware should be set-and-forget, like things generally are in the mechanical world.

I've got some leads as far as VAR's, so I think we'll be pursuing those. Hopefully we can get things to where it's only twice as slow as intralink was.....

[GregOlson]

Frank....also some friendly advice.

If you or your company would log a case with PTC every time there is an issue, eventually the TSE's would get your system stable. If you are working with a VAR, they can escalate cases to the point you will get to work with someone directly at PTC (product manager or an engineer). Commenting on this forum everyday will get you nowhere closer to resolution.

We have been running 10.0 for about a year now with none of the issues you speak of...anytime there is an issue it can be quickly traced back to a specific user that needs additional training.

[Patriot_1776]

Exactly why I'm looking for a new VAR.

Perhaps.....but it makes ME feel better.

From what I've seen, even when it's running it's still not as efficient as Intralink was. Way more picks, and menus, settings.........

[Patriot_1776]

You know, maybe that's it: Everyone at the last 3 companies I worked for that had problems are stupid and untrained. LOLZ