The interaction of PDMLink (Products and Libraries) and ProjectLink (Project) needs to be improved. We start all of our engineering projects in ProjectLink and eventually at one phase or another of the project we "Send to PDM" the necessary CAD Documents and WTDocuments into either a Library or a Product.
We also are sharing a large amount of PDMLink CAD Objects into projects, and some are checked out to the Project as well. We do this for development of the new project. None of our projects are started from scratch, we are always building on what has been done before.
Because of the poor interaction of ProjectLink and PDMLink, these tasks prove to be much more difficult than they should be, impacting our efficiency in engineering and our ability to complete seemingly simple tasks in an efficient manner.
Just as there are only minor differences between a Product and a Library, the differences between a Project, a Product, and a Library must be minimized as well. In fact I would like to see a workflow where I start a project as a ProjectLink project, and when completed have the option to turn it into a Product or Library.
Improvements that must be made:
- ProjectLink routing capabilities added to PDMLink. I want to be able to notify a team of something, not have to "Promote" the document.
- Send to PDM vastly improved or the need for the command done away with. See C12200545 for an example of the issues we have run into.
- Sharing to a Project improved or the need to do so eliminated. Why do I have to share at all? The need for this should be eliminated.
- Add the ability to change a Project into a Product or a Library. Or vice versa Might eliminate the other improvements if done correctly.
- Probably more, but you get the idea.
Bottom line is that users see Windchill as a singular entity. PDMLink and ProjectLink must look and act as such to avoid Non-Value Added efforts.
-marc
CAD / PLM Systems Manager
TriMark Corporation
