Usually we see customers using native ECAD tools to properly manage footprint and symbol data. These tools will generally have a very tight integration to the native authoring tools allowing engineers to easily find and place the symbol they need. Cadence ADW, Mentor DMS (xDM Library is new name) are a few examples.
We would recommend leaving the management of library footprints and symbols for the native CAD vendors tools but use a Gateway product to synch meta data to Windchill. We have a Gateway for Cadence today that allows the Allegro Design Workbench library to synchronize meta data with the wt.part data in Windchill.
