Creo with Agile or Windchill

[WayneBeck]

I have been asked to look into some overlapping solutions from PTC and Oracle. I would first like some input from users that have used Creo with Agile and Windchill. How well does Agile compair to Windchill.

[mlocascio]

Windchill is much more of a database for Pro/E and Creo than Age is. Agile looks and works in a similar way, but it lacks the "workspace mentality."

[jstone]

I haven't used Agile in 4 years so I might me out of date but Agile did not work as a database for ProE such as controlling revisions and lidecycle.  I believe you needed Windchill with WT Parts and ERP connector to create and maintain BOM items and track changes in order to export a compatible file to import into PLM systems like Agile or Omnify or business systems like Oracle or SAP.  Since Windchill is a PLM system I guess it would come down to what PLM system is already in place for change management and does the company want to pursue a different system.

Windchill (at least 9.1) out of the box does not have the nice red line updates and printable change notices that you get with Agile or Omnify.  It's more paperless and everything on line.  Makes you do a lot of BOM compares if you need to track changes between revs but this can be done with some customized reports.

Maybe things have been updated on the Oracle (Agile) end but ask a lot of questions.

Thanks,

jef

In Reply to Michael Locascio:

Windchill is much more of a database for Pro/E and Creo than Age is. Agile looks and works in a similar way, but it lacks the "workspace mentality."

[BarrySchaeffer]

If you are looking at Agile and Windchill, I think you owe it to yourself to look at Autodesk Vault for ProE data management.

Barry Schaeffer
Fluke

[jeffsampson]

body{font-family: Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:9pt;background-color: #ffffff;color: black;}Wayne,
I will second (third?) the notion of the others: Proceed with CAUTION when looking at outside database control of your CAD. You will have to do a LOT of customization to get the database to work similar to windchill and it probably won't ever work exactly right. Generic databases do not handle the relationships of drawings/assemblies/parts the way windchill does. They claim they can duplicate that, but will likely miss on the implementation.
We were sold a bill of goods in going from Windchill to SAP and now we spend more time manipulating the database than we spend on the drawings themselves. We've had to change our entire process to match SAP rather than the other way around. While I've found Agile to be much more user friendly as a database than SAP, it will still have similar limitations.
Be careful. Be VERY careful.
Jeff

[RonGrabau]

I too echo the caution. While we are a PDMLink house, I have the opportunity to deal with Agile in the recent past. As my company acquires smaller companies that use Agile I have some observations. While I really like the flexibility and the ease of customization with Agile none of these groups actually manage their CAD data there. They have integration applications that send the files and other items such as PDF or STEP but there is no real integration with Pro/E and Agile that they have used. This means that they have to deal with Pro/E data using the old manual methods. This works well for very small groups but if you have any divergence in size and/or locations this can be a difficult thing to manage.

Most of the groups do like the PDMLink capabilities when we implement them. Performance is always an issue but they are going from a small self contained local server to our mega installs on the LAN or WAN. What the usually miss is the integration that was built around their processes but again, these are more of a procedural process and not the CAD management.

All systems have some qualities. You just have to decide what are your requirements and be sure that the system you pick meets those requirements.

Ronald B. Grabau
HP PDE-IT
Roseville, CA
916-785-3298
-<">mailto:->

[BarrySchaeffer]

So far, we have been reasonably satisfied with Vault Pro 2012 for managing our ProE files in a very fast paced global design environment. We have two servers that support engineers at seven locations in the US, China, and the UK.

Vault does a good job of dealing with a wide range of ProE eccentricities, including family table objects, suppressed objects, sheemetal forming tools, and other issues.

My favorite thing is that I never worry about changes to web browsing environments, as Vault is a client/server application.

Barry Schaeffer
Fluke Electronics

[ejhlti]

Just curious, anyone out there using Vault Pro for Creo 2 files ? Would be interested in hearing about anyones experience with Vault Pro and Proe/Creo2 files.