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www.johnstark.com |
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For those who are reading this because they already want to implement EDM/PDM, its benefits are obvious. In their companies, they realize that engineering data is out of control, engineering workflow is out of control, and corrective action is needed. For those who are not so sure, a little bit more explanation may be necessary. The term 'Engineering Data' includes all the data related to a product and to the processes that are used to design, produce and support it. In the past, systems have not been available to manage all of this data, and so it has either gone unmanaged, or only parts of it have been managed. This is not to say that companies have not used systems to manage any data. Typically the EDP Department and the MIS Department, or their successor, the IT or IS Department, has implemented systems to manage 'business data' such as sales data, financial results, corporate plans, manufacturing resource plans, and personnel information. However, the IT Department will rarely have addressed the management of 'technical data'. Technical data will have been managed either on paper, or within the computer systems, such as CAD, that have produced it. Engineering data is difficult to manage because:
There is a close link between engineering data and engineering workflow. Each step of the workflow makes use of data. Individual items or sets of data are often used in many steps of the workflow. The link between data and workflow implies that it is neither feasible nor efficient to address them separately, hence the need to address them together with an EDM/PDM system. Typically, a company will become interested in EDM/PDM systems when it finds that it can no longer manage engineering data by traditional manual methods, e.g. when it can't control all its CAD data, when it can't control configurations, or when it senses that it has to reduce the time taken to get a product to market. In traditional organizations, the workflow is sequential, and the product development time is the sum of the times of individual workflow steps. Carrying out steps in parallel, i.e. concurrently can reduce development time. EDM/PDM systems help improve the flow, quality and use of engineering information throughout the company. They provide improved management of the engineering process through better control of engineering data, engineering activities, engineering changes and product configurations. They provide support for the activities of product teams and for advanced techniques such as Concurrent Engineering. From the experience of pioneers in the field of EDM/PDM, it appears that EDM/PDM systems can help:
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