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The functionality that a company needs from an EDM/PDM system depends on many things - the type of product the company makes, the way the company is organized, the way people in the company behave, the systems that are already in place, the skills of the people who have to support the system, and the progress that's been made towards having an effective engineering environment. One of the key factors in determining the functionality required is the quality, quantity, and coverage of the systems that are already in place. What do these systems do? What functionality do they have? How will they fit with EDM/PDM? Is EDM/PDM seen as a replacement for these systems, is it an add-on, to what extent should it be integrated with them? EDM/PDM systems offer a wide range of functions - information management, change management, process management, product structure management. Some or all of these functions may be in existing systems. Product structure may be managed in parts master, BOM and MRP systems. Process management may be addressed in project management systems and in Frameworks. Some information management functionality may be built into other systems such as CAD/CAM, or may be in an in-house development on a relational database management system. The functionality needed is influenced by the type of product the company makes, and by its position in the value chain. A company that makes complex high value-added, customer-specified products with lots of mechanical and electronic components will probably need product structure management functionality, whereas a company that repetitively manufactures simple, commodity, low value-added products, will probably have much less need for product structure management. For power plant and refinery operations the main functionality required may be that which makes data readily available to operators and maintenance staff, so that downtime can be minimized. The EDM/PDM functional needs of prime contractors and suppliers are often different. A supplier may only have responsibility for managing its design data, and not be responsible for the management of data relating to the purchase, manufacture, installation and use of the parts it supplies. This would also mean that it wouldn't be looking for company-wide process and project functionality in an EDM/PDM system. On the other hand, an engineering contractor would be much more interested in process and project management, and in the overall management of data throughout the product life. EDM/PDM systems can provide, along with other functionality, management and control of engineering data and engineering processes. Usually managers realize that such functions can be very helpful in the battle to reduce cycle times, reduce development costs, and improve product quality. However, some of the users may not be able to understand the need for these functions. They may see EDM/PDM as a way to impose a Big Brother culture, in which they lose their freedom, are under continual surveillance from the system, and will be fired by the system if it finds they don't meet work targets. Often, users who feel like this will be in companies where managers and users apparently live in different worlds, and there is no feeling of working towards a common goal. The functionality a company requires from an EDM/PDM system should take account of cultural issues like this. There would be no point in buying functionality that none of the users will use. It would be better to start with functionality in other areas, such as data management, where the users feel more comfortable, and only introduce other functionality once the basic system has been accepted. The functionality will also depend on the way the users are currently organized, and the way they will be organized in the future. If the users are all on one site, then multi-site functionality is not needed. On the other hand, if users are spread over several locations, multi-site functionality will probably be needed. If product development is carried out in teams, or the company has taken a Concurrent Engineering approach, then corresponding functionality would be looked for in the EDM/PDM system. In some companies, there is very little direct communication between departments. As an example, Engineering drawings may be 'thrown over the wall' to Manufacturing. In such an environment, the Engineering Department might decide to invest in an EDM/PDM system just to be able to manage and retrieve engineering data, but not to communicate it to other functions, or to handle cross-functional engineering change management. If this is the case, functionality that addresses inter-departmental requirements would not be needed (at least initially). Attempts to use EDM/PDM for cross-functional data management before walls between functions have been broken down generally fail. Similarly, attempts to use EDM/PDM functionality for process management will fail if the company hasn't really understood in detail the processes it uses to design, manufacture and support its products. EDM/PDM systems range from simple, off-the-shelf packages to complex tailorable systems that can be further developed to exactly fit a company's requirements. A company should not buy a system that needs a lot of tailoring if it doesn't have the resources to tailor it. The resources required are either money (to pay a vendor or system integrator to tailor the system) or system development staff (to do the tailoring in-house). Two other key factors that affect the functionality that is needed are the objectives that management has set for EDM/PDM, and the money that is available for EDM/PDM. These will obviously differ from one company to another, underlining the fact that it is impossible for an outsider without any knowledge of a particular company to say what EDM/PDM functionality is needed. Instead of asking for outside help before trying to understand how the company works, companies should first try as hard as possible to understand the way their engineering processes work, and the way engineering information is used, stored and communicated. If they can get this understanding, they will find they don't need much outside help. If they can't get it, they are probably suffering from major structural problems. More than likely these will prevent them implementing EDM/PDM successfully. |