Many of you first heard about in February at SolidWorks World 2009.  Some of you may have read about it in an article on my blog. Well, it is now official; Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. (DS SolidWorks) has activated the SolidWorks Engineering Stimulus Package™ program to give displaced employees a chance to learn valuable new career skills in 3D Modeling and creating documentation from those models.

Any US or Canadian resident is eligible for the SolidWorks Engineering Stimulus Package, which includes: 

• SolidWorks Student Design Kit software which provides you with a 90-day license of the software for non-commercial use.  This kit also includes tutorials and documentation for learning the software, plus the SolidWorks eDrawings®, an email-enabled file sharing tool;
• Hands-on test drives and other training from participating SolidWorks value-added resellers (VARs) throughout the United States and Canada.
• Access to the SolidWorks Customer Portal for support, networking, and discussion.
• Free certification testing where you have a chance to become a Certified SolidWorks Associate (CSWA), a credential that documents a level of competence in using the SolidWorks software, and distinguishes job candidates for selective employers.

DS SolidWorks will also expand this program to other geographical regions in coming months.
To participate in or learn more about the SolidWorks Engineering Stimulus Package, visit www.solidworks.com/ESP.

Good Luck!

SolidWorks World 2009 Conference Proceedings

The conference proceedings from SolidWorks World 2009 are now available on SolidWorks' website. 

Included in these proceedings are:

• Highlights Video
• General Session Videos
• Pre-Conference PodCasts
• Photos
• List of Exhibitors
• Technical Presentations (Some with videos)

It appears that all of the content (except for the technical presentation) are available to everyone.  The Access to the Technical Presentations does require a Customer Portal account.  This allows SoldiWorks users to access this content, even if they could not attend SolidWorks World 2009.

The General Session videos are not 100% complete, but they do contain a lof of great content.

SolidWorks community in action.

Periodically, we run into an interesting story that helps you realize how small the world can actually be.  I recently ran across this story at SolidWorks World 2009 in Orlando, Florida. I will start by setting up the “chance” meeting so you can understand how I heard about this story, first hand.

At SolidWorks World 2005 in Orlando, Florida, I met Mike Baljak from Automation Tooling Systems.  The both of us were joining some people from the EngTips forum for breakfast or lunch.

I met Matthew Cummins of Tacton Systems, a few years ago at a regional SolidWorks User Group Meeting in Racine Wisconsin. 

Each user group meeting, regional conference or SolidWorks World I go to, I usually run into, one or both of these people either in the vendor pavilion or in the halls between sessions, but never at the same time.  When we see each other, we always take the time to talk to each other to see how each of us are doing.  The recent SolidWorks World 2009 in Orlando, Florida was just a bit different and provided the basis for this interesting story.

Prior to Sunday’s Welcome Reception, I was in the hall talking to Mike Baljak and we were catching up on what had been happening in the past year.  During this discussion, I saw Matthew Cummins heading for the partner pavilion and asked him to join our discussion.  After some short introductions, Matthew’s first comments were “Yeah, he’s just the guy who, unwittingly, has had perhaps the single greatest impact on my present career path.”   This needs further explaination!

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Here’s the story:

The first SolidWorks World that was attended by Matthew Cummins was in 2006 in Las Vegas.  At that time Matthew was working for a retail design firm looking for ways to create assembly models and Bills of Materials (BOM’s) more efficiently.  His company had a 300 page catalog of stock components, but no two assemblies were ever the same. 

On the first day of the event, Matthew had the good fortune of meeting Gopal Shenoy, then Manager of Product Definition at SolidWorks.  As they discussed assembly automation, Gopal asked if Matthew knew Mike Baljak from ATS and recommended that Matthew attend a break-out session that Mike was giving later that week.  (Matthew still has the conference program with his talk circled)

Using SolidWorks Effectively in a Machine Design Environment, Mike Baljak, Automation Tooling Systems

Abstract:  By examining a particular automation machine, this presentation reviews the design challenges faced by Automation Tooling Systems and the SolidWorks functionality used to overcome them.  You will learn ways to design, manufacture, and integrate components faster, so you can save time and money while working under tight schedules.

Before attending Mike’s talk, Matthew thought he would learn about some pretty clever ways to speed up the design process with SolidWorks.  Mike’s demonstrations that day turned Matthew’s whole SolidWorks world upside down.  (Forgive the pun).  It was the first time that Matthew had seen truly high level design automation in SolidWorks.  Matthew remembered one example in particular.  For certain machine components, instead of relying on a library of pre-built parts, an engineer could enter his or her component requirements into a custom form.  Their automated system would then scan a database of vendor catalog information until it found a matching component.  Seamlessly, it would read in the corresponding dimensional data, generating a new SolidWorks component on the fly, complete with vendor item number, description, etc.  It all made perfect sense as Mike laid it out, but Matthew remembers being stunned nonetheless.

Matthew has spent the last few years studying and presenting on design automation techniques, now with TactonWorks. 

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Matthew had to leave the discussion early to meet up with some customers during the Welcome Reception.  I looked at mike and said “How cool is that?”  I think Mike was speachless.

Every engineer wants to make a positive difference in someone else’s life, whether it be in the products we develop, or the information we exchange at meetings or conferences, or in the presentations we give at such conferences.  We don’t always hear of these positive effects we have on other people, but we do believe they are happening.  It always feels good to hear of such positive influences we have on other people.

Simply another example of the SolidWorks community in action.

The best $500 I ever spent!

I have mentioned this story to many people who said I should put it in my blog.  With recent and continuing downturn in the economy, and after a recent announcement from SolidWorks Corporation, I believe this is a great time to share my story with others.

The story!

In 1990, I was laid off from work due to cut backs after the company was recently purchased by another company.  During this time of unemployment (about 5 months) and searching for a new job, I noticed a trend in decreasing drawing board based drafting/design jobs, and an increase in 2D CAD drafting/design jobs.  Up until this time, all of my drafting and design experience has been with pushing the pencil on a drafting board.  With this trend, I was seeing fewer opportunities for returning to work.  I knew I needed to get training and experience on a CAD system to change my situation and improve my.  But how can I get the training when I am not working, and where?

For a few weeks, I had noticed an advertisement in the newspaper “Learn 2D CAD in a week”.  I wondered, “How someone can learn a CAD system in just one week?”  I took the time to check it out.  The course was offered by a local Engineering Consulting firm, and the training program was based on a self paced training manual with an instructor that was available to answer any questions you may have, and help you get past stumbling blocks in learning 2D CAD.  No lectures, it was all hands-on training.  I felt this was a good place to start.

My wife objected to my spending the money to take this class.  Her objection was based on the statement “We cannot afford to spend any money on something that does not provide an immediate benefit for us.”  My response was simply “I cannot afford to pass up an opportunity that could get me back to work and advance my career”.

To back up my stand on the issue, I had “3 Aces” in my back pocket.

1. Back in 1981, while I was in college, I did take a 2D CAD course on a DataGrid III CAD system that the college received only 6 months earlier.  Some years later, I also took a course at a local technical college that was based on a CAD system for the Apple IIe computer.  With these earlier courses I had a good understanding in the concepts of CAD.  Now I needed training on the CAD system that employers were using.
2. As a hobby, I had been using computers for about 7 years prior to this period of unemployment.  This experience has primarily been in getting comfortable with using the computer and in programming the computer to do tasks for me.  At this point, learning how to use a computer was not an issue.
3. The majority of the money I needed for this course came from winning a lottery pool just a few weeks after I was laid off.  This drastically reduced the amount of money I needed to take out of the limited family budget.

It was off to training I go!  I sat down in front of the computer and started going thru the training manual.  I actually completed everything in the training manual in only 3 days.  Because I completed everything so quickly, the instructor took the manual away and gave me a few test drawings to complete, to see how much I learned from the course.  The drawings only took me a few hours to complete.  After taking the training, I hung around to see what else I could learn and experience, and help the instructor out a bit.

Shortly after I took the training class, the instructor decided to leave the engineering firm for “bigger and better” things.  The instructor then recommended me to be the new instructor for the CAD training classes.  Here I was, I just learned how to use 2D CAD, and now I am helping others learn how to use 2D CAD.  I definitely had to add this one to my resume and redistribute it to potential employers.  For a few months, I carried on with providing a training environment so other individuals can learn how to use 2D CAD.

My resume was sent from an engineering contracting form and sent to a local manufacturing firm, who was looking for someone who was experienced in 2D CAD.  The Engineering Manager was impressed to see that I was teaching other people how to use 2D CAD, shortly after I myself just learned how to use 2D CAD.  I was called in for an interview and I was offered a job the contracting agency.  This came at a good time because the consulting firm was phasing out the 2D CAD training.  The 6 month contract job lasted for 9 months before the budget ran out. At this point, the Engineering Manager at the manufacturing firm already contacted the contracting agency, who lined up another contracting job for me.  This was done so I would not have to experience any period of unemployment.

In 1992, after working 5 months on the second contracting job, I received a call from the first manufacturing firm.  I was asked to come in for an interview with the Senior Engineer so he could get re-acquainted with who I was.  I was then offered a full-time direct-hire job with the manufacturing firm.  I notified the contracting agency and the Engineering Manager at the second contracting job, that I intended on leaving for the direct-hire job.  The next day, I received a second offer for a full-time direct-hire position with the second contracting job.  Here I was, about 1.5 years after learning 2D CAD, I had 2 direct-hire job offers.

Of course, I accepted one of the offers and have been employed with that company since.   In 1998, the company implemented SolidWorks and 3D modeling as it’s primary design and engineering tool.  While at this new position, I kept learning more about 2D CAD, other engineering applications, and I soon became the “go to” guy for questions that came up dealing with 2D CAD or 3D Modeling.  This eventually led to me becoming the CAD Administrator and the PDM Administrator for the engineering department.

Because of the training I went for in 1990, and the continuous period of employment (17+ years) since then, I say that the money I spent for the 2D CAD training is “The best $500 I ever spent!”

How this may help you?

With recent and continuing downturn in the economy, I want my readers to realize that stories like mine do exist and they are real.  Here a few lessons from this story.

• You need to improve your skills to make yourself more employable.  A period of unemployment is a good time to go back to school and learn new skills that may make a difference in your employment status.  These new skills will help you make yourself a better candidate for a new job.
• Don’t just stop at learning the basics.  People who know the basics are a dime a dozen.  You need to separate yourself from the rest of the pack by digging a little deeper into learning more about those new skills.  Going beyond the basics helps make you a better candidate for a new job.
• Probably everyone has heard the phrase, "You have to spend money to make money."  Yes, I did spend money to enhance your career, and you may also have to do the same.  You need to evaluate your own skills and experience and be aware of the risks.  There is risk in any decision you make.  The risk I faced was not being able to learn the software and thus wasting the money on the training.  This risk was reduced by the prior training I had on other CAD systems, and my own experiences on using different computer systems.

Here is an “Ace” in your back pocket!

At the recent SolidWorks World 2009 in Orlando Florida, SolidWorks Corporation and it’s Value Added Resellers (VAR’s) announced a new program to help engineers learn 3D Modeling skills called “Engineering Stimulus Package”.  Quite simply, for displaced engineers, SolidWorks Corporation will provide a version of the SolidWorks software, and training that needed to enable engineers to achieve their Certified SolidWorks Associate (CSWA) certification.  This program will be publically announced by SolidWorks Corporation and it’s VAR’s in the very near future.

Get ready for (and survive) SolidWorks World 2009?

SolidWorks World 2009 User Conference and Exposition will be the largest 3D CAD event in the world.  There are a lot of things going on before and after the conference.  You can expect to learn a lot of great SolidWorks Tip & Tricks, learn new applications that work with SolidWorks, meet a lot of people, enjoy receptions and parties, and do a lot of walking.  That is a lot to do in a 4 day conference, and it’s easy to become overwhelmed. Here are a few tips to help you prepare for, and survive, SolidWorks World 2009.

TOP TIPS:

Wear comfortable shoes.  The Disney Swan and Dolphin Hotel is a huge facility, this means you will be doing a lot of walking during this conference.  Wear the most comfortable shoes you have. There will also be a lot of people there which means the walking will be slow going. There is no specific dress code for this event, but consider “Smart Casual” attire as appropriate.

Be ready for information overload from the content of the great technical presentations to the demonstrations in the vendor pavilion and the size and energy of what is SolidWorks World. You will be overloaded with information.  See my next tip.

Be smart when taking notes.  If you are registered for the full conference, and you should be, you will be able to download most of the technical presentations, a month or two after the conference.  Because of this, you don’t need to take notes on everything that appears in the presentation slides. I carry a small notebook, and hopefully extra pens, that are easily accessible so I don’t have to dig into my backpack.

Arrive early for the presentations because they tend to fill up fast.  If the room is already full, you may not be able to get in even if you signed up for it.  Pick alternate presentations ahead of time in case this happens.

Attend technical presentations that can benefit you now and in the future.  Pick technical sessions with the following in mind:

• Tips & Tricks will always benefit you because you can learn about techniques that will improve your productivity.
• Attend technical presentations on SolidWorks features you normally don’t use.  If you create a lot of “blocky” parts, go and see a presentation on surfacing or sheetmetal.  You never know when you may be able to use what you will see at these presentations.
• Look ahead at improving your work environment.  If you know many people are complaining about the PDM software you are using, learn about the concepts and technologies of PDM, and look at alternatives.
• If you are a CAD Administrator, check out the Cad Managers Boot Camp on Sunday afternoon.  This is a great session that covers what you need to know to effectively support SolidWorks at your place of work.  This includes everything from computer systems, software installation and setup, PDM integration, networking environments and customizations.  This boot camp pulls it all together in one place.
• Look ahead, at technologies you are not currently using, but may need in the future, such as Routing, CosmosWorks, FlowWorks, KBM, etc…

Talk with other users at the “Birds of a Feather” lunches. This is a great way to meet others from your region, technical expertise, or SolidWorks interests.  This networking may lead to learning better ways get things done in SolidWorks, or lead you to additional resources that can help you in your job.

SolidWorks World is also a great place to meet users you talk with online, whether it is in the newsgroups, forums, or other emails.  If you want to meet with someone specific, make arrangements for meetings before you go to the conference.  At the conference, they will be as busy as you are, and they may be harder to find.  If they are giving a presentation, catch them at their presentation after they are done.

Meet with, and talk to, SolidWorks personnel.  SolidWorks wants to know that issues you, the users, are facing.  SolidWorks uses this information for developing product features and improvements.   If someone from SolidWorks approaches you to do a ‘User Survey” or participate in a “Usability Study”, please consider spending some time to do so.  Please read my blog on “How do you use SolidWorks” for more information.

Get involved by participating in SolidWorks surveys.  These surveys are typically on computers in the Vendor Pavilion.  SolidWorks Corporation uses the information from these surveys to improve the SolidWorks software, the SolidWorks Community, and SolidWorks Corporation. You may even get a free gift for participating. 

OTHER TIPS:

If you are a CSWP, attend the CSWP party on Monday night!  There are some great activities lined up for this party.

Have fun at the off-site party on Tuesday night! This is a great place to unwind, meet up with some friends and have a good time.

If you are planning a vacation in conjunction with SolidWorks World, do it the weekend before the conference so you can enjoy the vacation, and relax (somewhat) during the conference.  The SolidWorks World website has many links to attractions you can see while you are in the Orlando area.  FYI: The Space Shuttle Discovery is scheduled to be launched at 7:30 a.m. ET on Thursday February 10.

Good Luck, have fun, and I hope to see you there!  It's going to be a great time for everyone!

How do you use SolidWorks? SolidWorks wants to know.

SolidWorks Corporation is continually looking at ways that they can improve the SolidWorks software, accompanying software, and your experience with using their software.  There are a variety of methods that SolidWorks uses to get this information from you, the user.

User Survey
Periodically SolidWorks will ask users to participate in, and answer questions via surveys.  Many of these surveys are directed towards particular areas of the software that are under review for potential change.  These surveys generally ask about your experiences in using the software, and for opinions on what improvements you would like to see in the software.  The results of this type of survey will help identify the areas of SolidWorks that people are interested in seeing improvements.

Customer Visit
The customer visit consists of a SolidWorks Product Specialist coming to your office to sit down with representative(s) from your company.  These visits last for a few hours and are directed at SolidWorks learning about your product development process, engineering processes, testing processes, approval processes, and so on.  The results of this type of meeting will help identify areas where SolidWorks may need to develop solutions that will help other areas of your engineering department.

Usability Studies
The purpose of these studies is to see how the user interacts with SolidWorks and understand the user’s thoughts while they are completing a series of tasks.  These studies also reveal user’s responses to various feedback that the software presents to the user.  During these studies, users sit down in front of a computer, and are directed to complete some relatively simple tasks.  While completing these tasks, users are asked to verbalize what they are doing and thinking.  During this study, there is someone from SolidWorks overseeing what you are doing, and how you are using SolidWorks.  If you are having trouble, they can guide you thru completing the task.  These sessions are recorded and are evaluated back at SolidWorks.  You will typically see the results of these studies in the next major release of SolidWorks. 

Consulting Visits
These visits are more in depth, and can last 1 to 5 days.  During these visits, SolidWorks personnel come to your workplace, sit down with you and see how you use the software.  These visits are beneficial for both SolidWorks and the customer because SolidWorks gains insight on how you use the software and any issues you are having, and your employees have an opportunity identify problems they are experiencing, or improvements they would like to see.  These visits also offer the opportunity for your users to learn about some features that they have not had the opportunity to learn otherwise. 

SolidWorks is very serious about understanding the needs of their customers and providing functionality that makes their job easier. To that end, SolidWorks personnel complete dozens of customer visits each year.  The support for this program goes all the way to the top of the company.  Jeff Ray, CEO, has also participated in some of these customer visits.

A Recent Customer Visit
Right before posting this blog, the company I work for was visited by Sal Lama of the Product Definition Group at SolidWorks Corporation.  This was a 3 day customer visit where Sal spent a half day with each of our 3 engineering groups.  Our marketing director also took advantage of this visit by talking with Sal and learning about additional SolidWorks products they could obtain that allow them to use SolidWorks documents for Sales and Marketing purposes.  On the third day, after a couple more discussions with other people in our engineering department, we held an “Open Discussion” and lunch where Sal demonstrated some of the SolidWorks features that could help improve our productivity.

As a CAD Administrator and PDM Administrator, I took some time to show Sal some of the issues I have faced as an experienced SolidWorks user, how I provide tips and tricks to other users, macros I have created to simplify tasks, and experiences and suggestions I have after a recent integration of PDMWorks Enterprise (now Enterprise PDM).

Near the end of this visit, I noticed that Sal had quite a lot of data to bring back to SolidWorks.  I also know that I, and fellow employees, have learned some good tips on using SolidWorks.  This visit has already had immediate benefit for SolidWorks and our company.  Once SolidWorks has reviewed this data, along with data from many more companies, the benefits will continue in current and future development of SolidWorks and its accompanying software.

You Can Participate!
1. If you get an email about a SolidWorks Survey, or see a web link or a blog mentioning a SolidWorks survey, please take the time to fill out the survey and provide feedback to SolidWorks.
2. At SolidWorks World, when you have some spare time (about 1 hour) find the usability study booth (usually in the Vendor Pavilion) and ask how you can participate.  I recommend setting up an appointment early because the schedule can fill up quickly.
3. Again, at SolidWorks World, if someone asks you to participate in a customer survey, please take the time (about 1 hour) to talk with them.
4. At any SolidWorks sponsored event, if you hear a SolidWorks representative talking about customer visits, please give them one of your business cards with the words “Customer Visit” written on the back.  SolidWorks will then contact you to set up a visit.

Each of these situations provides you the opportunity to provide feedback to SolidWorks that could have an impact in current and future product development at SolidWorks Corporation.

Implementing a new PDM Software

The previous articles I posted on this subject were intended to educate the reader on why you need a PDM package, and how to evaluate PDM packages so you can choose the right one to suit your needs, the needs of the company you work for, and the needs of others within your company that will be accessing your documents.

In this article I am going to review what you need to do to get that new PDM package up and running on your network so you can start controlling those documents.

Justification, Budget, Purchase.

Before you can make purchase, you need money.  To get the money, you need to justify why you want to spend $10,000’s of dollars for computer software to manage your CAD documents.  To start, we will take a look back at how we defined the need.  Here were the points I outlined.

1. How do you store multiple revisions of a single document?  If documents are stored with the same name in different directories, how can you ensure the correct revision of component is loaded with the parent document?  If documents are stored with different names, you have to reload the component, but that changes references in the parent document.
2. What revision of a component, belongs with a specific revision of a parent document?  There may be times when there is a need to access an older revision  of an assembly.  Without a data management software, how do you know you have the correct components loaded with the parent document?
3. A document was modified, but who changed it, and when?  You can look at the file properties to determine when the file was last saved, and who saved it, but this does not identify how many times the document was changed since it was created, and who did each of those changes.

Now it’s time to evaluate the effects these problems have on other areas of the company.

• Can you easily determine the correct revision of a component that was built for a specific machine that was assembled and sent to a customer?
• How difficult is it to find the correct revision of a component that was built 3 years ago, 6 years ago, etc…?
• If manufacturing were to receive the wrong revision of a drawing?  What is the cost associated with reworking or scrapping a production run (200 or more parts) made to the wrong print?
• If customer service (or the parts department) needed to send out a part to a customer.  What if they sent out a part made to an old revision of a print?  Now the customer has a part they cannot use, or the machinery does not work correctly because the wrong part is installed.  At this point, you may lose a customer.  How much does that cost?

At this point, you should be able to start adding dollar values to each of these issues, and others issues that may occur.  Then multiply this by how many times this happens in a year.  You will most likely end up with a dollar value that is larger than you expect.

If you already have a document management software, you also need to justify why you need to replace it.  In my case, our users lost confidence in the current/previous document management software that was in use, because of the problems we have been experiencing for years.

The use of a Document Management System can reduce these problems by providing a fast means of searching for the correct document you need, ensuring you get the document you need, and prohibit users from seeing any document they should not have access to.

At this point, you have an idea on how to justify your purchase of the PDM package you need.

Planning your implementation.

There never is, nor ever will be, a good time to implement a new piece of software.  Everyone in your department is working on developing new products, improving existing products, providing support for manufacturing, customer service, sales and marketing.  With all of this going on, when is the best time to implement a new PDM package?

Consider this, product documents is created or modified on a daily basis.  The longer you wait, the more documents (or document changes) will need to get moved into the new PDM vault when you get it installed  The longer you wait to get these documents onto, and managed by a PDM vault, you increase the risk of losing this documentation, or risk someone using the wrong version of a document.  These are risks you can do without, and you can avoid by implementing the new PDM package as soon as you can.

It looks like the best time to implement that new PDM package is now.

Planning the implementation of a new PDM package requires working closely with the vendor/reseller.  The people that will be directly involved in this implementation are:

• Vendor/Reseller technician or consultant.
• PDM Administrator(s).
• Corporate or department IS/IT support technician.

When you start planning the implementation, you need to consider the following:

• Schedules of persons listed above to determine availability for work to be completed.  You need to consider pre-planned vacations, consultant schedule with other customers, etc…
• Server purchase, setup and installation.  Plan about 3-6 weeks (depending on vendor) for the server.  This includes order placement, shipping time, setup, and on-site installation of the server.  The IS/IT department will most likely take care of this part of the implementation.
• Time needed to customize software to meet department/company needs.  This includes user/group rights, data cards, workflow, etc…  The PDM Administrator must have a complete understanding of all of the options here.  Especially with the workflow, because of all of the actions that can be controlled here such as changing variables, document transitions, email notifications, user/group rights to transitions, etc…
• Time needed to write document import tools/instructions to migrate existing data into the new PDM vault.  There is a lot of value in this step.  This step is the development of the tools need to move your existing documents into the new vault.  This stage alone will involve a lot of research and testing to ensure the tools can find the proper documents and place the documents into the correct location in the new vault.
• Training for PDM Administrators who need hands-on training on how to customize the software, including user/group setup and rights, Workflow creation and modification, folder and template setup, and customizing document data cards.
• Training for “Contributors” who need hands-on training for using the software, including searching for documents, changing document states, document check-in and check-out.
• “Viewer” training for anyone who needs to access the documents in the PDM vault.  This training needs to coincide with their work, and their participation in the document release process.

Test and Trial Period

Incorporate about 2-3 weeks for a “Test and Trial” period into your implementation timeline.  Use this trial period for the following:

• Develop, test and verify the results of the document migration tool.
• Encourage users to get hands on experience with the vault to test out various scenarios on a test vault that will eventually be removed.
• Fine-tune those workflows. You will need 2-3 meetings with engineering management and project managers to determine all of the procedures that need to be implemented into the workflows.  Also look at providing limited access transitions that bypass steps in the workflows for those ECNS that have been approved, but not checked-in to the old PDM package.  Make sure you test those workflows to verify they work as expected. 
• Write and test procedures on how people should be using the new PDM package.

Going LIVE!

When you first put together the implementation timeline, you made a commitment to have the new PDM package on-line by a predetermined date.  Before this can happen, you need to make sure all of the following has been completed and is ready to go.

• All customizations have been copied from the test vault into the new vault.  Pay special attention to data cards, templates, workflows, and any scripts that were written for the test vault.  Also look at and verify all file locations.
• All documentation is migrated from the old PDM software, or other places, into the new PDM vault.  Make sure this documentation is being moved into the proper states in the workflows.  You should have an idea from the test vault, how long this will take.  Based on the number of documents involved, and in an effort to minimize the impact on productivity within the department, you may need to do this over the weekend.  Before you start this migration, make sure you disable the check-in/check-out capabilities of the old vault before you start creating the migration tools/instructions.
• The PDM Administrator needs to have a high comfort level with customizing the software, understand how the PDM package is setup, how the workflows are setup, creating and modifying workflows, and resolving issues that may occur.  If you have multiple PDM Administrators, make sure all administrators know how everything is setup, but limit all changes to be completed by one PDM Administrator.  This helps reduce troubleshooting efforts down the road.
• The PDM Administrator also needs to make sure they have support resources that are ready to help them resolve issues that may occur.  These resources include corporate IS/IT technician, vendor/reseller consultant and customer support, and engineering management that has confidence in the PDM Administrators knowledge and skills to resolve issues as they occur.

When you have officially moved over to the new PDM vault, keep in mind that not everyone will be jumping in and using it right away.  Because of this, not all features will be used right away, and an unforeseen issue may not occur for several weeks.

As of my writing this article, the company I work for had “Gone Live” with the implementation of PDMWorks Enterprise about a week ago (early October 2008).  Everyone in the Engineering department understands that the implementation of this new PDM package is a learning experience for the users and the PDM Administrator(s).  Even though everyone has been trained, and has a working knowledge of checking documents in and out of the vault, there will always be some situations that require special handling.  An example of this is an ECN that was started before the new PDM vault was setup, and the revised documents do not exist in either vault.  In this case, the old revisions of documents need to be checked out of the new PDM vault, and the revised documents need to be checked in. Keep in mind that these steps may be different than what the user initially learned during training.  In these situations, the users need to know that the PDM Administrator(s) are available to guide them thru these special circumstances, and if necessary, they can create, or already have access to, special tools (Workflow transitions) that can handle these situations.

You could spend weeks trying to come up with all of the possible scenarios that users may run into, but no one can think of everything. Because of this, the PDM Administrator(s) needs to be comfortable with their own troubleshooting and problem solving capabilities to overcome any problems that may occur.

Good luck on your implementation!

Evaluating PDM Software

You finally decided to purchase a Product Data Management (PDM) software to manage your engineering documents.  Great!  With so many offerings out there, which one do you choose?  This article will identify some of the steps you should take, and what to look for, when selecting a PDM software package to suit your needs.

Core team.

• Put together a “core” team of people from the following areas.  For each group, I have identified at lease one reason you need them involved.
• Engineering Management – This group oversees the operations of the complete department.  They also need to be aware of what software is needed and used.  This person may not have to be at each meeting, but they do need to be aware of the reasons for each decision made by the core team.  It will be the Engineering Management that will need to justify the expenditure when you do purchase the PDM package.
• Group Managers – If you have multiple teams in your engineering department, you need a manager from each group.  Two of these managers should team up and take charge of the project.  This part of the team will be paying attention more to functionality and how the software meets the needs of their group.  They can also identify the department and release processes and learn how each PDM package can help them in their daily activities.
• Drafters or Designers – These are the people who will be using the PDM software the most.  They will be the ones who can identify the “ease of use” characteristics of each package.
• Information Services/Technology (IS/IT) – Once the implementation starts, these people will be setting up and supporting the server and software for whatever PDM package the core tam chooses.  In most cases, they are not concerned with how the software functions.  They need to know what infrastructure is needed to integrate the software.  They can also answer questions on the current network capabilities and loads, and ask questions to help them be better prepared when implementation time comes around.
• PDM Administrator – Hopefully you have one now.  If not, you need to find one (or two).  This person will work the closest with the PDM vendor’s consultant/technician to set up the software to meet the departmental and group needs.  If software customization is needed, this person needs to be aware of the customizations that can be completed, and where to go to do the customizations.   This person will eventually be the person to do all of the changes that will be needed the software.  This will reduce the need to bring in a consultant to make even the simplest of changes.  This person will also help IS/IT set up the software for each user.
• CAD Administrator – This individual is the one who best knows how each CAD station is (or needs to be) set up.  This individual may be the one person that can best evaluate how the PDM software will integrate with the CAD system and how it may affect current CAD Standards and Procedures.  This person will also closely work with the PDM Administrator to help with the integration.

By having these members involved in the evaluation upfront, they can provide valuable insight into their everyday work, and provide valuable opinions onto each PDM package you will be evaluating.  They will also feel they have had an opinion in the decision and the new PDM package will be more acceptable to others in the department when it is finally implemented.

Define your current and future needs.

Other than vaulting your documents, and improving your ability to search for an existing document, what else to you want the PDM software to do?

• Automated document release process?  Look for Workflow capabilities.
• Multiple engineering locations?  Multiple manufacturing locations?  Look for vault replication capabilities to speed up access to documents.
• Outside vendor access to your documentation?  Look for a web portal.
• Support after installation – Do you need subscription support or do you intend on maintaining it yourself?
• Expandable/Modular/Scalable – Can the software be purchased or implemented in various stages or modules?  This capability will allow you to implement what you need now, and expand in the future.
• Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE) applications you use now or plan on using in the future.
• Connectivity with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications you use now or plan on using in the future.
• If you have an existing PDM package, you will need to provide a justification for replacing it.

Whatever your current or future needs are, define them up front.  Create a gap chart (Sample) and add each capability you need to that chart.   You will be filling in that chart during the PDM evaluations.  This will later help you decide which PDM package best suits your needs.

Software integration.

What software is in use in your department or company?

• How many different CAD systems do you use?  Are the documents 3D Solid Models with references, or just 2D drawings? 
• What about office applications, like Microsoft Office, Lotus Smart Suite, Corel WordPerfect Office? 
• Do you have any other specialized applications that you need vault control of the documents they produced.
• Does the PDM software provide vault/document access from within the applications, or is everything done outside of the application?
• Do you want or require some level of “Partner” status with your application vendors?

Add each of these applications to that gap chart.  This will help ensure they are considered when you are evaluating each PDM package.

Comparing each package.

Before seeing live demos, do some research and obtain product literature.  Many software vendors have product literature on their website that you can download.  Use this information to start filling in that gap chart.  If necessary, send one or two people to a trade show to talk to vendors and see live demos.  At these trade shows, or in local user groups, ask other people what PDM software they use, why they chose it, how easy it was to integrate, and how they like it.  This will help knock a few candidates off of that gap chart.

When you get that gap chart down to 3-4 candidates, you can start getting the vendors in for live demonstrations and questions and answers.  Work with each vendor to provide enough time for them to do a good demo and allow for a Questions and Answers session after the demo.  After each demo, the core team should discuss the pros and cons of the PDM software they have just seen.

Making your choice.

At this point, you should have some valuable data on that gap chart.  It is now time to get the core team back together for another review of all of the PDM packages you have reviewed.  Get opinions from each team member on likes and dislikes of each package, and slowly start paring that list down to 1 or 2 packages.

If you still feel it is necessary, have another session of demonstrations of the PDM packages from the final candidates.

At this point, make sure everyone is in agreement with the final choice.  Don’t base your decision on “Lowest cost” or “Easy to back out of later”.  These decisions may cost you more in the long run because you will probably outgrow the new PDM package in a few years, then you will have to do this evaluation all over again.

My own experiences.

The first PDM package I had to maintain/administer was too “simple”.  It’s integration with SolidWorks consisted of macros to launch an external program, which then retrieved data from the SolidWorks document, created data in an external database, and moved files into the vault.  I had no say in the decision to purchase this PDM package.  One of the engineering managers was the PDM administrator, but I was the one who had to do the software testing to ensure it worked.  A short time later, the PDM administration duties were “dropped in my lap”.  That was over 9 years ago. 

We outgrew the old PDM software about 6 years ago. And started our evaluations for new software about 4 years ago.  After a year or so of justifications and evaluations, we picked SmarTeam.  Due to it’s overall cost, it took a while to get approved and into the budget.  The purchase and implementation was delayed until the 3rd or 4th quarter due to ERP implementation an expense.  Our budget was pulled out from under us in the 2nd quarter so it could be used for ERP implementation an expense.  This was devastating in my opinion, because that meant that we would have to do the evaluations all over again, and we were stuck working with the “simple” PDM package we outgrew years ago.

There are many great PDM packages out in the market place.  The SolidWorks website was a great place to see what PDM packages work with SolidWorks.  It is also a good place to find the SolidWorks Certification levels of each PDM packages.  During the evaluation period I had seen demonstrations at local SolidWorks User Groups, Regional Conferences, Technical Summits, and SolidWorks World.  I have also found Chris Fabri of SynergisSoftware, who has been helpful and answered any general PDM question I have, even after knowing we have chosen a PDM package they do not sell or support.

My choice.

The final decision was PDMWorks Enterprise which is not being called SolidWorks Enterprise PDM  Here are the reasons:

• PDMWorks Enterprise is actually add-on to Windows Explorer.  If you are familiar with Windows Explorer, then learning how to use PDMWorks Enterprise will be easy.  This also helps with the integration of various Windows based applications.
• PDMWorks Enterprise is also an Add-In to SolidWorks and has earned Gold Partner status with SolidWorks Corporation.  This identifies a high level of integration with SolidWorks and it’s products.
• PDMWorks Enterprise is a SolidWorks product that is supported by our SolidWorks Reseller.  This gives us one source to go to when we have issues with SolidWorks or PDMWorks Enterprise.  This eliminates the finger pointing that may occur with different vendors.

Good luck on your research!

PDM in plain English

Defining a need.

3D modeling software embeds external models into assemblies and drawings.  Doing so ensures that all parent documents (drawings and assemblies) are updated when the child document (part or assembly) is modified.  To do this, the parent documents contain links to the child documents.  These links are referred to as external references.  Retaining multiple revisions of 3D models, drawings, or other documents, external references can be cumbersome to manage.  Here are just a few issues:

1. How do you store multiple revisions of a single document?  If documents are stored with the same name in different directories, how can you ensure the correct revision of component is loaded with the parent document?  If documents are stored with different names, you have to reload the component, but that changes references in the parent document.
2. What revision of a component, belongs with a specific revision of a parent document?  There may be times when there is a need to access an older revision  of an assembly.  Without a data management software, how do you know you have the correct components loaded with the parent document?
3. A document was modified, but who changed it, and when?  You can look at the file properties to determine when the file was last saved, and who saved it, but this does not identify how many times the document was changed since it was created, and who did each of those changes.

With just these three scenarios, you can start to get an understanding of how complex a task it can be to manage multiple revisions of your documents by hand.

Product Data Management (PDM) in plain English

In its simplest terms, Product Data Management is securing and controlling the data used to create the products your company designs, engineers and manufactures.  This data includes, but is not limited to drawings, 3D models, schematics, decals and signage, etc…  Additional data such as FEA Analysis, manufacturing specifications, quotes, test results, etc… is also considered product data that needs to be managed and secured.

Product Data Management (PDM) software handles these tasks for you.  Even the simplest PDM packages offer these features:

• Document Vaulting - Stores each revision of your document in a safe location where it cannot become lost or accidentally modified.
• Document Check-in and Check-out – Document check-in is the capability to place a document into the vault.  This includes placing revised documents back into the vault.  Document check-out allows users to retrieve a vaulted document so it can be modified. Document check-out is limited to the latest revision documents only.  Once a document is checked out, no one else can check-out the document.  This prevents anyone from beginning a new change to a document that is already being changed. 
• File Relationship Management – Keeps track of what version of a component was used on each version of the parent document.
• Contains and Where Used – PDM software also records the parent/child relationships between revisions of child components and the revisions of parent documents.  This tracking provides a quick way to see what a document contains without opening the document.  This tracking also provides where-used capability that provides a list of parent documents that a component is used on. 
• Search – Any PDM software you look at needs to provide a quick and easy means for you to find the document you are looking for.  The more fields the software can search on, the mode refined your search can be.  Boolean (and, or, not) based searches improve the power of the search capabilities.
• Audit Trail – Keeps track of who checked the document in or out of the vault.  This tracking helps identify when a document was modified, and who modified it.  It can also keep track of who initiated the release process and who approved the document(s).

The vaulting, check-in, check-out, contains and where-used capabilities are minimum features for PDM packages.  Many of the PDM packages out on the market offer additional features, some of which are listed below.

• Workflow - A means to use software to track your current document release processes.  Example; After documents are modified, they can be placed in a pre-release state within the workflow.  Once documents are placed in this state, notifications are sent for appropriate people to review the documents.  From this state, the documents can be pushed further thru the release process, or rejected and pushed back for additional changes.  Using a workflow to track the status of documents in the release process provides a way to quickly determine where an ECN is within the process, and who or what may be holding up the process.
• Email notifications – Send emails to various individuals or groups to identify when they need to review or approve document changes.
• Vault replication – An automated means of copying the vaulted files and databases to multiple off-site locations.  This not only reduces file access times for those off-site locations, but it also provides a back-up of your vault.
• Batch processes – The server will do redundant or time consuming tasks such as print documents or PDF publishing.
• Web Portal – This allows people outside of the department or company (such as sales people or fabrication vendors) to have access to the latest documents as soon as they are released.

From this article, you should have at least gained an understanding of why you need to implement a Product Data Management package and a brief overview of some of the basic and advanced functionality available in many of the PDM software packages that are in the market.  In a future article, I will identify how to evaluate your needs and compare those needs against the features available in each of the PDM package offerings.

SolidWorks World 2009 Website is online

The SolidWorks World 2009 Website is now online.  On this website you can find information on the upcomming SolidWorks World 2009 that is being held on February 8 - 11, 2009 at Disney's Swan & Dolphin Hotel in Orlando, FL.  Keep an eye out on this website for additional information when it is released.