Skip to main content
B
bfw11-Visitor
1-Visitor
November 3, 2011
Question

Motivating Team Members to use Windchill

  • November 3, 2011
  • 7 replies
  • 9377 views

Anyone having trouble motivating their team to use Windchill?

I'm putting documents up and asking mentors and students to look at them so we will already have familiarity with the system once build season starts. However, very few people are actually doing it. If we wait until build to learn this, it will be too late. Any advice?

    7 replies

    J
    JoshH1-Visitor
    1-Visitor
    November 3, 2011

    I can relate Brian.

    The main thing that I find is that despite the fact that they do it in training, those using the tools need to get in and use them on their own and see benefits.

    One thing I do a lot is route documents to members. When I'm actually working with them, I will see if they got the message. If not, we sit down and go through it together. Then I route more documents and ask them to route some theirselves.

    I also upload a lot of documentation to Windchill, including the game manuals, spec. sheets, and any other information that needs to be easily retrieved.

    Their primary usage we get out of Windchill right now is still CAD (Creo) data management.

    I'm hoping some of the changes in Windchill 10 will help adoption.

    Hope this helps,

    Josh

    E
    egiarta16711-Visitor
    1-Visitor
    November 23, 2011

    Hey Brian,

    I am leader on one of the FRC teams that Josh (comment above) mentors, and I will admit that I was not very fond of using Windchill very often. I think this is common with kids and high schoolers in general.

    For one thing, Windchill is not as fast as often data sharing software like Dropbox and GoogleDocs. And I think it's safe to say that kids don't have the best patience for most things. Secondly, Windchill is kinda protected and closed-off; accessing the system is a tidious process if you are not already on it or not familiar with the interface. Personally, it was very tough getting the CAD team on the Windchill project last year. We had to try numerous methods that ended being harder and more painstaking than necessary. Lastly, it is initially a very confusing program that takes time to use and understand. Most high schoolers I know either don't the patience, the need, or the time to make the commitment.

    Nevertheless, it is still a great product and should be used as much as possible! Maybe mention to the students that this is how the professional world operates. As a high schooler myself, I for one will admit that knowing that real businesses and industries used Windchill or other products like it motivated me to understand how it worked and when/why to use it. What might also help is mentioning that they have exclusive access to the project; they are one of just a handful of people chosen to use and work with the software. This feeling of importance might push them to use it.

    Finally, I wanto say that the new Windchill 10 looks amazing and that cool image alone should motivate the students to use it more. I just say it today and am trying to give myself and others excuses to log on and just navigate and explore all the things it has to offer.

    Hope that helped!

    Evan

      B
      BrianMartin13-Aquamarine
      13-Aquamarine
      November 30, 2011

      Hi Brian...

      Wow Evan really hit it right on the head. Windchill is a professional product and, therefore, has numerous features you'll probably never need for your FRC team. So much is going on behind the scenes of the software that it sometimes seems sluggish. To high schoolers, this means the product seems slow, overly complex, and difficult to learn.

      These same traits even frustrate the pros so it's no wonder high schoolers are resistant to using it. At the risk of being subversive, maybe start by just using Windchill to manage your Creo models. Sure document sharing and project management are very valuable features of the tool... but they also cloud the waters when you're trying to get new users on board. By performing the relatively few simple transactions required to manage the models, students will become familiar with the interface. As they gain confidence with the tool, you can expand it's use.

      One out-of-the-box suggestion I have... is to use Twitter or Facebook to help your team access Windchill. Try this... find any document you want your team to access. Click on it to bring up the information page for that document. In the upper right-hand corner of Windchill (version 9 is what I'm using) there's an Email Page button. By clicking this, a new pop-up window will open. Select the link to Use My Own Mail Application. A new email will pop up with a LINK to the current Windchill page already embedded in it. Try copy/pasting this link to Twitter or Facebook as a way to provide one-click access to your documents.

      When a team member clicks the link, they will be asked to login to the Windchill server. Once they log in, they'll immediately be taken to the page you selected. You could, of course, also simply email them the link. You can't do much more than that... you've done all the work for them!

      Let us know if you come up with a solution to your problem of motivation!

      Thanks!

      -Brian

        J
        JoshH1-Visitor
        1-Visitor
        November 30, 2011

        Hey Brian,

        nice tip about adding the link to Facebook or Twitter!

        1671 uses Facebook so much that they have a second group defined specifically for the CAD team!

        In regards to the document links, in 9.0 and 9.1, I used to just right click on the name of the document, copy it and then paste it in an e-mail.

        Windchill 10 seems to be a bit smarter and has actual Windchill functions in the Right mouse button functionality. I might have to spend a bit more time to figure out the easiest way to create a link

        thanks again!

        Josh

        S
        skarlsruher1-Visitor
        1-Visitor
        December 1, 2011

        Buzz is trying to make the foray into using Windchill. It will be a multi-year effort and am only starting with a small group. Will be easier to use to store non-CAD documents and make a "BUZZ Document Management System" for items that will/should be referenced during future years.

        As for using for CAD/Creo, things may be more problematic. I am used to ProE and Intralink at work but know that we will be challenged (with professional Designers & Draftspeople) when we (someday) migrate from Intralink to Windchill.

        I am working with a team mentor, new to Creo and PDM, and he keeps asking me how to run Creo native, i.e. save to his local laptop drive. The PDM concepts of check-in/out vs. just Save is foreign to him and where is this Workspace located is a concern. In Intralink, the CAD/ProE files are fetched to local drive whereas in Windchill, the Workspaces are on the firstrobotics.ptc.com server (correct me if I am wrong) with "some stuff??" cached locally. The performance over the schools speed-capped WIFI is bad and "OK" when connecting up via my corporate LAN.

        Did find last night that one can work WC/Creo Workspaces offline but first "play" with it caused the laptop to crash.

        Will update when I "play" some more.

        J
        JoshH1-Visitor
        1-Visitor
        December 1, 2011

        Hi Stuart,

        I feel for you. It's tough to get experienced people to adjust to a new mindset.

        On the other hand, I had an amazingly easy time getting students using Windchill for CAD data management. They just seem to adapt so well to the concept.

        In regards to the workspace concept, basically your local workspace is a working copy of the data on the server-side workspace. It checks the server for changes when you refresh the window.

        You can go into your Server Manager and select to "Work Offline", which keeps everything local. Once ready to update or check back in, set it to online. You can tell if it's offline if the workspace and commonspace icons are dimmed.

        The cool thing about workspaces is that it allows you to control the iterations. If you do two hours worth of work only to find out the assembly is hopelessly broken, just go back and open the iteration from two hours ago.

        The benefit of having that server-side workspace is that your files are backed-up in the event of a catastrophic failure. A key is to use the "As Stored" state or "Latest" state.

        I'm happy to help. Please let me know if you think another format may help more, such as a Powerpoint or a Live Webex.

        Good luck!

        Josh

        S
        skarlsruher1-Visitor
        1-Visitor
        December 1, 2011

        Thanks Josh.

        Do you have any Powerpoint stuff on how to work offine, etc.?

        S
        skarlsruher1-Visitor
        1-Visitor
        December 1, 2011

        Buzz is trying to make the foray into using Windchill. It will be a multi-year effort and am only starting with a small group. Will be easier to use to store non-CAD documents and make a "BUZZ Document Management System" for items that will/should be referenced during future years.

        As for using for CAD/Creo, things may be more problematic. I am used to ProE and Intralink at work but know that we will be challenged (with professional Designers & Draftspeople) when we (someday) migrate from Intralink to Windchill.

        I am working with a team mentor, new to Creo and PDM, and he keeps asking me how to run Creo native, i.e. save to his local laptop drive. The PDM concepts of check-in/out vs. just Save is foreign to him and where is this Workspace located is a concern. In Intralink, the CAD/ProE files are fetched to local drive whereas in Windchill, the Workspaces are on the firstrobotics.ptc.com server (correct me if I am wrong) with "some stuff??" cached locally. The performance over the schools speed-capped WIFI is bad and "OK" when connecting up via my corporate LAN.

        Did find last night that one can work WC/Creo Workspaces offline but first "play" with it caused the laptop to crash.

        Will update when I "play" some more.

        B
        BrianMartin13-Aquamarine
        13-Aquamarine
        December 1, 2011

        Hi Stuart...

        I have some documentation on working offline... send me a private message so I can get it to you.

        All of the work you do in Creo while logged into Windchill is still saved to your local directory. It's just saved in an encrypted folder. This is unlike previous versions of Intralink where you could actually navigate to a folder and see the files.

        I also have some files that, while not specific to your needs, might be helpful to get your mentor up to speed with Windchill PDM a little more.

        Thanks...

        -Brian

          P
          ptc-35502561-Visitor
          1-Visitor
          February 28, 2012

          Windchill 10.0 is definitely easier to use than the previous version. The system gives teams professional tools that help them to better manage the design and build process throughout the season. Instead of directly building something to test an idea, Windchill can help to plan and generate ideas. Our team originally started with trial and error. Everyone was involved with building and thinking of creative ideas, but no one really copied down the ideas. In this way, good ideas could not be looked back on and repeated ideas would be created. Windchill keeps copies of previous uploaded documents and saves them on the PTC server. A log of previous events and information will not only be available to all team memebers, but members can look back on previous information and learn from previous mistakes. Also, having a schedule on Windchill will keep the team focused and on track when building and reviewing the robot.

          The best way for a team to really understand Windchill may be to attend a PTC workshop. Some of our members attended one and learned the basics. Instead of feeling like learning a whole new system from scratch, memebers will already have a base knowledge of how things work. Also, if everyone on the team comes together and attempts to go over Windchill, people will be more willing to learn and understand Windchill.

          G
          GaryDillard1-Visitor
          1-Visitor
          March 5, 2012

          We are looking to go full speed with Windchill next year after a pretty successful experience with Creo this year. One problem we have, though, is that the internet access at our build facility is marginal and sometimes non-existent. I'll be working that separately since that would solve the problems with us fully implementing Windchill. I'm going to work with the students to do more from home and keep updating the model in our Windchill project, but is there any way to do modifications on a computer that is totally offline and check them in or out on another computer? I can upload and download on a jump drive from the computers at our build facility and bring them home, but based on my experience with Windchill trying to replace checked out models with files from other folders with that's not going to really help.

          A
          Anonymous
          July 21, 2021

          In this case, only a frank talk will made them do what you want, it also depends on your authority in the class, but still be frank, tell them why it is so important or try to ignite some leaders among students, so they can support you. By the way, I have the similar problem when I tried to implement employee monitoring system https://www.worktime.com/ in my company. Believe me or not, but it's worked! 

          Terms & ConditionsCookie settingsAccessibility statement