PDM Moves to the Mainstream

Product data management (PDM) has proven its value as a critical tool in handling the enormous amounts of technical information companies generate. Now the PDM industry is applying this experience to more affordable systems targeted at smaller organizations. Several suppliers have entered the market with economical approaches aimed specifically at midsized companies. Many companies use PDM to eliminate inefficiencies in the engineering change process. Diebold, Inc. reduced engineering change cycle time by 30 percent through process automation with PDM. IBM is using PDM technology in product development for sharing data among groups, designing tools tightly coupled with release and change processes, interfacing with procurement and other services, and establishing real-time communication of data across the enterprise. Engineers increasingly are using PDM viewing features to track subsystems. Virtual-mockup capabilities enable engineers to import all the parts files for a product designed in Solid Edge, regardless of computer-aided design (CAD) vendor or file format.