Which PDM system?

We are currently looking at some different PDM systems and would like
to know which people are using and how satisfied they are with them.
(Looking at SmartTeam, PDM Works Enterprise, PDM Works and Meridian
atm).

So feel free to comment on this just in short if you dont have a lot
of time..

PDM system
Seats / Licenses
Version of SW you are using
Adresses you are using it on
How satisfied are you with it on a scale form 1-10 where 10 is the
best
Your comments like if it took a lot of hours setting it up, if it
dosnt update with SW versions of whatever good or bad you would like
to add.

Thanks in advance, it will help me a lot in getting an overview of
pros and cons between the different PDM systems.

 

As soon as I find a link to copy and paste, I will post it here.

Jon Banquer
Oceanside, CA

 

Steer clear of Pdmworks, some major bugs and no cure still, from 2007.

Don't get me wrong, I actually like Pdmworks, lol

1,
But when trying to get a picture in document information, the assembly
is partially exploded, even though there no exploded configurations in
the assembly.

2,
Actual information that you can extract is minuscule.

3,

 

It sounds like the first thing you need to do is determine what you
needs are. If you are comparing SmarTeam, PDMWorks Enterprise and
PDMWorks Workgroup (I don’t know anything about Meridian) you are
taking the wrong approach. While these systems share some
similarities they way more different than they are alike.

If you want to do simple SolidWorks file management in a single
geographic location then Workgroup is probably best.

If in addition to SolidWorks file s you need to manage AutoCAD and/or
Inventor and/or Solid Edge, if you have PDM contributors distributed
geographically, if you need medium complexity document-centric process
management then Enterprise is probably a good choice.

If you want to do full PLM including CAD file management for many
different CAD packages, process-centric workflows, bill of material
management, MS-Project integration, bi-directional ERP integration,
heavy customization via an API or supplier/customer collaboration then
SmarTeam (or a similar mid-range PLM product) is probably your best
choice.

With SmarTeam you can expect the implementation services to be near
the cost of the product. With Workgroup there is very little
consulting services required.

I think you have the cart before the horse. When I get asked
questions like this I always use the analogy you don’t go out and test
drive a full size Chevy Truck and a 53 foot Kenworth tractor trailer
do you? Of course not. First you determine your needs (do I need to
go to Home Depot every once in a while or am I starting a moving
business), your budget (do I have a problem that’s worth a $30K fix or
a problem worth a $300K fix) and your tolerance for complexity (it a
lot easier to drive and find a parking space for a Chevy truck but if
I’m trying to move a whole house worth of stuff the multiple trips
will get old real soon or I can fit everything I ever wanted from Home
Depot in one load if I get a Kenworth but for the few occasions that a
Chevy truck won’t be big enough it will sure be a pain to drive that
thing and pay for the fuel when in most cases I am just commuting 10
miles in city traffic to my job).

Give us a little more information on what problem(s) you are trying to
solve and I'd be happy to offer, from my PLM consultant's prospective,
my opinion on what product would be best.

Derek Neiding
www.razorleaf.com

 

<> a écrit

Give us a little more information on what problem(s) you are trying to
solve and I'd be happy to offer, from my PLM consultant's prospective,
my opinion on what product would be best.

Derek Neiding
www.razorleaf.com

As I am still waiting for a VAR to answer my needs, I will take your offer:



I need (most important first):



1- A central point for storing files, with ownership/ rights management, and
"smart" way of managing the loading of files on client machines (not copying
files that are the same,)



2- A way of checking a minimum number of information (custom props) before
validating a file (entering the vault).



3- Creating an image of the file for third party consultation with a light
client (just Firefox and acrobat, no HD, Wi-Fi connection). Now its *.pdf
files (preferred, could be edrawings)



4- "Advanced" search (nice if it could be better than search on text string
we have now)



5- Could (/should?) have been first: VERY light to operate on an everyday
basis. The best would be that no one notices it's there if things are done
right.





No BOM management, no life cycle management, no workflow management
necessary



Thank you very much in advance

JM

 

I'm curious about this as well and my company's needs are very similar
to Jean Marc's.

My company adopted SolidWorks pretty early on (SW97, IIRC), so at the
time, the PDM options were quite limited. We went with SmarTeam and
have struggled with it ever since. SmarTeam has shown to be very user
unfriendly and quite expensive for our basic CAD vault needs.
Compounding the problems, until I recently took on the role of CAD
Administrator, we haven't had any dedicated administration on the
system, so we're currently quite far from running smoothly.

With the system in the state it is, I'm seriously considering
migrating to another PDM system as the cost to fix SmarTeam may very
well be higher than going to a "simpler" system.

The only thing I would add as our needs that Jean Marc didn't mention
is that we would need as much support for part and assembly
configurations as possible.

Thanks,
Jason

 

I'm glad I'm not alone in what I see as a non-nonsense basic need for
information distribution. And moreover, that someone understands my English
;=}}}

Anyway, I got an answer from my VAR, and he says PDMWorks Workroup will fit
the bill.

Any opinions?

TIA
JM

 

I worked on an implementation of Meridian at a previous employer. We
had 6 SW users in a division of about 80 people. It worked well.
It's a good system for handling other docs (estimates, test requests,
quotes). It also handled SW files well enough to suit our needs.

 

Thanks for the feedback keep it coming

I have tried PDM Works Enterprise for about a month on just one
machine and it was easy to use out of the box, but also clearly showed
that it will take some hours to make it work. And the second you get
your files into the vault they are pretty much hostages there in case
it goes bad you depent extremely much on the support you get (where
hot-fixes now aint happening anymore since Dassault took over Conisio/
PDMW Enterprise, now you need to wait for service packs).

At first we ruled out the smallest version the PDMWorks Workgroup, but
also I have talked with several users (and visited them to see it in
use) that uses PDM Works Enterprise, and they are all saying that it
has some flaws and they are looking at the smaller version (WorkGroup)
because of the lack of support. The biggest flaw I see with WorkGroup
is, that it aint keeping 100% control of the ownership, so you still
have to make some procedures to how to check in and out (which of
course can be done, the prize difference makes up for a lot of time/
playroom to make alternatives)

We have ~25 licences, and we are often working with 4-5 people on the
same project, same assemblies etc, so we need to be able to easy
switch ownership without having to make a full reload.

How is the interface from Meridian handled? Do you use it in a browser
or is there an add-in for SW to use it "inside" the program? (Right
click files to open, changing states, taking ownership etc.)

 

I am partial to dbWorks. It takes a bit of work to set up, but it is
very capable and well supported.

TOP

 

DBWorks has a workgroup version that runs on a database, (which is the same
product as their Enterprise version) which is very compitative price wise
with PDMworks.. You should get demo's of all of them and see which one fits
you best....

 

Sounds good, do you know an european english talking reseller where I
can try the demo from?

Thanks for responses keep them coming :-D

 

If you go to the Mechworks web page (www.mechworks.com) you can down load
it to try and also find a reseller..

 

Thx Harry

I am looking into it.

(bump)