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DamianCastillo1-Visitor
1-Visitor
July 5, 2012
Question

Windchill, Is it PDM or PLM

  • July 5, 2012
  • 16 replies
  • 10560 views

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"

16 replies

A
AL_ANDERSON12-Amethyst
12-Amethyst
July 5, 2012
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






D
DamianCastillo1-VisitorAuthor
1-Visitor
July 5, 2012

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"

L
Lohbauer1-Visitor
1-Visitor
July 5, 2012
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
B
23-Emerald III
BenLoosli23-Emerald III
23-Emerald III
July 5, 2012
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.
D
DamianCastillo1-VisitorAuthor
1-Visitor
July 5, 2012

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"

D
DamianCastillo1-VisitorAuthor
1-Visitor
July 5, 2012

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"

L
Lohbauer1-Visitor
1-Visitor
July 5, 2012
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...
A
AL_ANDERSON12-Amethyst
12-Amethyst
July 5, 2012
Q: So is it safe to say the Windchill PDMLink is actually a PLM suite?
B
23-Emerald III
BenLoosli23-Emerald III
23-Emerald III
July 5, 2012
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.
D
DamianCastillo1-VisitorAuthor
1-Visitor
July 5, 2012

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.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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.


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