Windchill, Is it PDM or PLM

[DamianCastillo]

I am a little confused by the branding of Windchill.

Windchill seems on the surface to be PTC's PLM solution. When I look at our Windchill 10.1 information, what we are installing is actually Windchill PDMLink.

Why is it called PDMLink and not PLMLink?

When does Windchill make the transition from a PDM to a PLM system?

Do we need certain modules installed to make Windchill a PLM solution?

Is PDMLink 10.1 truly a full capable PLM solution?

I know Windchill is a platform just like Creo but when I install Creo Parametric, it's very clear what I have. Windchill as a platform seems to be PTC's PLM solution but then I install PDMLink which suggest it's a Product Data Management solution. So when does Windchill become PLM?

If I look at it from a Platform I can see the similarity to Windows. I don't go around telling people I am a Windows 7 user. I simply say we use Windows. Creo is no different. We use Creo which is understood as a Product Design Platform. If I specifically told you we use Creo Parametric, you would know exactly what that means and how it works. I don't get that same clarify when talking about the Windchill platform. If I tell you we specifically run PDMLink, it seems that we are not running a PLM product but a PDM product.

I am just confused by this.

Any clarification on this wold be appreciated.

"Too many people walk around like Clark Kent, because they don't realize they can Fly like Superman"

[AL_ANDERSON]

PLM = Product Lifecyce Management

PDM = Product Data Management

PDM was a hot topic a number of years ago, along with ERP (Enterprise
Resource Planning). Along the way, PDM was too small to describe the full
breadth of business processes that vendors like PTC and others were
covering with their various related applications. PLM evolved as a larger
concept.

While I can't speak for PTC, I will say that our company make the shift
from calling our "Windchill" group a "PDM" group to "PLM" about 2 years
ago. We include all engineering support activities across a wide spectrum
of processes using everything from CREO and CREO Viewer, to PDMLink,
PartsLink, MPMLink (Engineering), ProjectLink, as well as a number of
"home grown" applications that we directly interface with Windchill. We
view Windchill technologies as the basis for our entire "PLM" application
suite, but PLM is bigger than just Windchill data management (i.e. PDMLink
= parts, BOMs, CAD data management, change management, and document
management).

Al

[DamianCastillo]

Albert,

I understand the difference between PDM and PLM. Intalink was a PDM system.

So is it safe to say that Windchill PDMLink is actually a PLM suite?

I know there are many parts to a PLM solution. Some companies use a smaller set of technologies than others, but it's still PLM. So if I am only running Windchill PDMLink, is this considered PLM?

Seems to me that PTC should change the naming of PDMLink to PLMLink. I can be wrong, but I though the core of Windchill was PDMLink and everything else hooks to it. If that's true and Windchill is PTC's PLM offering, why would they call it PDMLink?

"Too many people walk around like Clark Kent, because they don't realize they can Fly like Superman"

[Lohbauer]

Damian,

Here’s my two cents: PDMLink is the database (Literally a Product Data manager) that houses your data and makes it sing and dance. The PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) is the overarching architecture of your business intent that is captured and controlled within PDMLink. In our case it will encompass product development at its earliest stages (In ProjectLink) through Production and then be integrated into our ERP by magic pixie dust.

This lovely notion is of course severely impaired the moment you begin to involve people in the mix. In the end it is an ever-evolving concept that is only as good as the management’s commitment to it.

Bob

[BenLoosli]

Windchill is the core. Think WTparts, W(indchill)T(echnology)Parts. They can hold all sorts of things that define your product.
PDMLink is the application built on top of Windchill.
Intralink, PartsLink, ProjectLink, MPMLink are all applications built on Windchill using the Windchill toolkit.


Thank you,

Ben H. Loosli
USEC, INC.

[DamianCastillo]

Robert,

The only problem I have with the idea that PDMLink is a "Product Data Manager" that houses all the information for your PLM system is that PDM is known in the industry as Product Data Management which is different than PLM. To me, PDMLink is Product Data Management Link. It's a play on words, but this is why I am confused by it.

Here is another way of looking at it. If you could purchase only the core part of Windchill, what would that be? I assume it would be PDMLink. So if Windchill is a PLM solution, why would the core app be called PDMLink and not PLMLink?

I know I am asking something that only PTC could problably answer, but I wanted to make sure I was not confused on what Windchill is. I figured Windchill is PLM. What we purchased and will install soon is PDMLink which makes no sense to me.

"Too many people walk around like Clark Kent, because they don't realize they can Fly like Superman"

[DamianCastillo]

Ben,

You obviously know a lot about Windchill and how it works internally. I am just a rookie and have not gone through my officail Business Admin. training or Systems Admin. training.

If I look at Windchill from the most basic understanding of what it is. I would say it's PTC's PLM solution. This is what PTC tells me at least when we talk about PLM. So from a basic non-techincal understanding. If Windchill is a PLM solution and I decided we want and need PLM. What would I be buying and installing?

Can I buy and install just ProjectLink? What core app would I expect to purchase to get "PLM" functionality from Windchill? If it's PDMLink, I personally think the naming is confusing. I can sit through a 1 hour presentation on the benefits of PLM and how PTC can help us realize the power of PLM, but at the end of the day, they install something called Product Data Management Link. What? I though we were getting PLM. I hope you see what I am saying.

So purchasing PDMLink is purchasing a PLM solution or not? Does PDMLink qualify as a PLM solution for my company? This is what I though I was paying for. So I am just trying to understand the confusing naming of the actual product I got vs. what I though I was getting.

Not trying to be difficult here, but just trying to clarify why I am confused by it. I appreciate all the great feedback so far. I guess what I am looking for is a staight answer. YES. PDMLink is a PLM solution you purchased by PTC. or NO. PDMLink does not mean you purchased a PLM solution. You must buy several other apps that hook into it in order to have a PLM solution implemented.

"Too many people walk around like Clark Kent, because they don't realize they can Fly like Superman"

[Lohbauer]

Damian,

Your confusion is matched by my own. My point was only that PDMLink is a part of the overall solution. It houses, routes, changes data under controlled circumstances. But it is only a mechanism or a tool that is part of a toolkit that is Windchill, which has many other shiny objects that makes geeks like me excited. I agree its Windchill that is the PLM instrument. I'm looking at PLM as a generic concept not a specific product in this case.

I see what you mean though; maybe it's Windchill that should be called PLMLink?
My head hurts now...

[AL_ANDERSON]

Q: So is it safe to say the Windchill PDMLink is actually a PLM suite?

[BenLoosli]

Windchill is a toolkit.
PDMLink is an application built with the toolkit to perform certain functions, PDM (Product Data Management).
Intralink is also built with the Windchill toolkit, as is PartsLink.
Originally PDMLink, back in its 6.2.6 days, only did an equivalent of then Intralink 3.x.
With Windchill/PDMLink 7.0, the application added the full capability of PLM, from IR to ECN, but PTC kept the PDMLink name.

Companies have implemented Windchill, no *link application, and designed their own PLM software with the toolkit. One of the divisions of a company I worked for did that. They used Windchill 5 at the time and did all of their PLM things in custom code. They did no CAD vaulting because WC5 was ineffective at vaulting at that time. Windchill 6.2.6su11, was the first release that PTC started pushing PDMLink as a replacement for Intralink.


Thank you,

Ben H. Loosli
USEC, INC.

[DamianCastillo]

I got several great responses but I want to share two in particular that really helped me get a grip on what is going on here.

First, I want to thank everyone for sharing their knowledge. It's always great to tap into the minds of others who know what is going on and are willing to help clear the mud for people like me. Windchill is a new world for me. My 17+ years of experience in Pro/E and now Creo don't help me much in the Windchill side of the business, but I am ready to dive in and learn.

Here are the responses.

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By Ben Loosli

Windchill is a toolkit.

PDMLink is an application built with the toolkit to perform certain functions, PDM (Product Data Management).

Intralink is also built with the Windchill toolkit, as is PartsLink.

Originally PDMLink, back in its 6.2.6 days, only did an equivalent of then Intralink 3.x.

With Windchill/PDMLink 7.0, the application added the full capability of PLM, from IR to ECN, but PTC kept the PDMLink name.

Companies have implemented Windchill, no *link application, and designed their own PLM software with the toolkit. One of the divisions of a company I worked for did that. They used Windchill 5 at the time and did all of their PLM things in custom code. They did no CAD vaulting because WC5 was ineffective at vaulting at that time. Windchill 6.2.6su11, was the first release that PTC started pushing PDMLink as a replacement for Intralink.

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By Al Anderson

A: I would say that "Windchill" is a PLM suite, but "PDMLink" is only

A: Windchill is a foundational technology for multiple stand alone products. Windchill is a broad "PLM Application," but you can't buy everything PLM-related all at once without buying each of the modules individually. Since PTC sells link solutions that can stand alone, it makes sense to me that they fragment their offering by what each potentially stand alone solution can do: PDMLink does basic Product Data Management; PartsLink does advanced part classification and searching for reuse; MPMLink does Manufacturing Process Management; etc.

[SimonHeath]

One reason is that PTC wanted to “own” the concept and more or less invented the term PDM when everyone else was using PLM. I think that now they have accepted PLM is the industry term and use that. When I talk to lay people about what I do, they might have heard about ERP so I say

PLM=Creating the product
ERP=Making the product

A huge simplification but is a good starting point

Simon

[MikeLockwood]

Just another 2 cents (maybe 3)…

One can look at this also a bit like “crawl before you walk,” “walk before you run” and so on.

At its core, “Engineering Data Management” for CAD-based design requires that any electronic representation of product data be retrievable at any future time. This remains one of PDMLink’s core “responsibilities.”

We still do this simple exercise with many users:

- Create a simple block and check it in >> PRT A.1

- Create a drawing showing this block DRW A.1 (shows block)

- Check out the block, add a hole, check it in >> PRT A.2

- Clear workspace

- Search for the Drawing and Add to Workspace. Default: Drawing shows the block with the hole (DRW A.1 shows PRT A.2)

- Clear workspace

- Search for the Drawing and Add to Workspace, but select AS STORED. Drawing shows the block with no hole (DRW A.1 shows PRT A.1)

- In general, you need to do all development LATEST, but need to do business AS STORED

On top of this, PDMLink allows for controlled state changes to the last Iteration of each Revision, then repeating this for the next Revision.

Continue the simple block exercise.

- Cause both the Part and Drawing to change state essentially locking Rev A. PRT A.2 Released DRW A.1 Released

- Revise the model and conceptually work on it >> PRT B.1 In Work

- Still need to be able to do business on the Drawing at Rev A. Also may need to provide the PRT A.2 model to a vendor at any time.

- Note that the use of visualization with publishing AS STORED is an almost essentially part of this.

- And it goes on and on….

So, Product Data Management seems to be primarily:

- Manage the relationships between files as “Windchill Documents,” allowing users to retrieve sets of data according to the business purpose of using that data

- Controlled Processes for changing states

- Controlled processes for introducing new Revisions / alternate components to an assembly

Product Lifecycle Management then addresses all the 1,001 other elements of info and processes related to products.

[DamianCastillo]

Mike Lockwood,

Thank you for the great information on this post. Most of it is over my head because I am just learning but you example is something that is helping me understand how things work.

One area we will need to change in our Windchill Implementation is how Revisions work. The out of the box method will not work for us and we must come up with a different process that works inside Windchill while providing us the benefits we need as far as control goes.

"Too many people walk around like Clark Kent, because they don't realize they can Fly like Superman"

[BenLoosli]

Damian,

Explain to us what your revision requirements are so maybe we can offer some suggestions for you to consider.
Also some information on why the OOTB revision method will not work.

Thank you,

Ben H. Loosli
USEC, INC.

[DamianCastillo]

Our products live and die by revision letters. Our customers can see the revision on our product and they use it as a reference for what they have. We make Steel Castings for Construction and Mining GET (Ground Engaging Tools). We also manufacture the Buckets for Construction and Mining machines.

Our policy is that if you change the "Form, Fit or Function" of the product, it's considered a "major revision" and It get's a new revision letter. If we change something that does not affect "Form, Fit or Function", it will get a "minor revision". This means that I can add a missing note to a drawing or add a datum point to a model and it's NOT a revision.

In Windchill, if we have a model/product in Released state and needed to check it out to add a note to the drawing. It must be checked back in without a revision change. It get's a minor revision instead.

Dash ( - ) is for new parts

A, B, C, etc are major revisions

A1, A2, B1, B2, etc are minor revisions

Our castings only show Major Revisions. Minor Revisions are not known to our customer because it does not affect "Form, Fit or Function".

So we must configure Windchill to allow for the Major and Minor revision process.

It's very important that we control the Major revisions for only those situations were something has changed on the product that affects it's "Form, Fit or Function". If a customer has Rev. B of a product and they start to have some failures. We will look into it. If a Design Change is needed to improve the product, it becomes Rev. C and the customer must see the Revision letter on the Casting to know that it's the new version of our product. They will return all their inventory of Rev. B to us. This is why keeping major revisions separated from minor revisions is so important to us.

If we where to change a part from Rev. B to Rev. C without letting the customer know. They will receive the new Rev. C parts and will ask why it has changed because the Rev. B parts are working just fine. We must provide a Service News to notify them of the change and the reason for it.

Sometimes we have to improve a product because a particular site is having issues and we must update all our other customers on what we did and make sure they understand that it's an improvement and will not change how the part performs for them.

The bottom line is that changing the Major revision of our products is not something we can just do without getting the customer involved and creating a service news.

Since our revisions are cast to the parts, it requires tooling change to updated our molds every time we change a revision letter.

Windchill out of the box would force everything at "Release" state to be a revision change if we were to check it back in with any change at all, to include something as small as a datum point. This would not work for us.

Long explanation, but there you have it. 🙂

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

"Too many people walk around like Clark Kent, because they don't realize they can Fly like Superman"

[MikeLockwood]

Some relatively important things to consider but it's entirely possible to do this for example:

...
A.1 In Work
A.2 In Work (Iterated by general designer with Modify permission at In Work state)
A.2 Released (state change via some process)
A.3 Released (iterated by "superuser" designer with Modify permission at Released state)
B.1 In Work (Revised by general designer)
Cycle same for Rev B...
...

This depends only on permissions by state and may be the path of least resistance and may be practical.

If certain things are triggered by getting to Released, these will of course happen above only on A.2, not on A.3; need to accommodate. This also leaves both A.2 and A.3 at Released. For this reason, you may instead choose:

...
A.2 at Released as before
A.2 set back to In Work (via Set State command by superuser with this permission - requires Lifecycle Set State transition)
A.3 In Work (Iterated by general designer with Modify permission at In Work state)
A.3 Released (as before)
...