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Windchill replacement

Mat
13-Aquamarine
13-Aquamarine

Windchill replacement

Hi there,

 

since PTC called Windchill Essentials obsolete and refuses to extend license - subscriptions beyond mid 2022, I have to choose between switching to the "big" Windchill or to a completely different solution.

 

Switching to "full" Windchill would cause costs which would be comparable to a engineers salary.

So, if we would stay with ptc, I am afraid we would have to loose one of our colleagues (finances are stretched after almost two years of covid).
I really would like to keep all of our engineers. So can anyone recommend a PLM / PDM solution besides PTC?

(I hope this Post does not get cut by the moderators, because it is "bad for business").

Or tell me about an other PLM-solution from PTC for small companies, that I do not know yet.

 

Thanks

 

/me

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
rhart
14-Alexandrite
(To:Mat)

Perhaps you could inquire about switching over to a Windchill Base license? Maybe you don't need MultiCAD or Visualisation so you could maybe drop those.

 

What Windchill licenses do I need to provide the same level of capabilities provided by PDM Essentials?
Under the current pricing and packaging a Windchill Base plus a Multi MCAD Data Management & Visualization Essentials license is the minimum requirement needed to provide the same level of MCAD data management support as Pro/INTRALINK.

View solution in original post

10 REPLIES 10
rhart
14-Alexandrite
(To:Mat)

Perhaps you could inquire about switching over to a Windchill Base license? Maybe you don't need MultiCAD or Visualisation so you could maybe drop those.

 

What Windchill licenses do I need to provide the same level of capabilities provided by PDM Essentials?
Under the current pricing and packaging a Windchill Base plus a Multi MCAD Data Management & Visualization Essentials license is the minimum requirement needed to provide the same level of MCAD data management support as Pro/INTRALINK.

Mat
13-Aquamarine
13-Aquamarine
(To:rhart)

Thanks, I keep an eye on that.

What we really use Windchill for is just managing our CAD - data (dependencies, lifecycles, promotion requests, etc.). No ERP or manufacturing involved.

 

To me, "visualization" means convert cad - data to a format, that can be shown on e.g. the "server properties page".
Do I need a license for the user to see this visualization or to tell the windchill installation to "republish" this model (sending it to the Publish Job)? I mean, we have a (luckily permanent ) "visualization" - license for the worker ("PROE_FoundationVis").

Mat
13-Aquamarine
13-Aquamarine
(To:Mat)

Another Issue is the additional needed license for the SQL - database.

Is there a way to use an open source software for that (like PostgreSQL or MySQL)?

Would be really hard to pay $4000+ just for the oracle database.

Henrik_F
6-Contributor
(To:Mat)

Windchill nowadays also works on MS SQL if that helps. It's not cheap but still much cheaper than Oracle.

BenLoosli
23-Emerald II
(To:Mat)

You can only use Windchill on MS SQLplus or Oracle.

Windchill by itself is nothing more than a giant application toolbox. The Windchill modules, PDMLink, ProjectLink, etc., are what thw WIndchill applications work.

I worked for one company where they had used Windchill 5.0 as their PLM system. Man-years of customization to get it to function they way they wanted it to work. When They came to see what we had implemented with Windchill/PDMLink 7.0, they shook their heads at the hours they would need to spend figuring out where PDMLink replaced their custom code and what additional coding they had to do to maintain their current V5 functionality. They did eventually update to PDMLink at V8.

Mat
13-Aquamarine
13-Aquamarine
(To:BenLoosli)

Would it be possible to "reuse" the MS SQL - License, that came with our PDM Essentials?

As I looked so far MS SQL has a price tag of approx 3.500 EUR.

Henrik_F
6-Contributor
(To:Mat)

Yes and, if i understood it correctly, MS will not sell you one license. You have to buy at least two. We are migrating from Oracle to MSSQL and had to buy two. Isn't enterprise IT wonderful? Sill cheaper then oracle tho.

SteveShaw
15-Moonstone
(To:Mat)

The SQL Server license that is bundled with PDM Essentials is not transferrable for use with Windchill.

ehowanice
11-Garnet
(To:Mat)

May want to take a look at DDM (Design Data Manager) from Concurrent Systems Inc.

Mat
13-Aquamarine
13-Aquamarine
(To:ehowanice)

Thanks for this hint.

I just watched their product - video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNXzMFNbiHg&list=PLuDSZkYuTH6k30eDfE6ifEGssXEFz2LUs ).

It seems, that there is not really a "promotion request"-workflow in DDM. Just flag a dataset as "released". No additional control by another person (e.g. supervisor ).

 

And also the revision - process seems quite odd (save as new file and enter "this replaces" manually).

 

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