Functionalities of the PLM system • Understanding the basic functionalities of the PLM system

will allow users to adapt the application effectively.

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PLM Functionalities

Business Processes

Total solution

Functionalities of the PLM system…(2)

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1. Management of files’ status/states

2. Items Creation

3. Distribution management

4. Information search

5. Product structures management & maintenance

7. Files transfer & conversions

8. Communication and management of tasks

9. Archiving & distribution of documentation

6. Change Management

PLM

Sys

tem

1. Management of files’ status/states

• ... is able to automatically control the state of files or file attachments and their lifecycle status.

• Creation and updating files.

Check out/Check in:

~ a user requests for a file. ~ the system verifies user privileges for approval. ~ the user checks out a file. ~ changes are made . ~ the file is then returned (checked in)

2. Items Creation • Items are created based on a

certain workflow: When changes are made in documents, they becomes a new version or revision:

PLM system keeps a history log to serve the following functions:

.Viewing

■ Copying ■ Changes ■ Commenting ■ ECR ■ ECO ■ Printing

3. Distribution management • Approved documents are distributed in a process utilizing

the relevant workflows.

• This automatic distributions are done based on the processes/principles defined to the software.

• The product structure allows other related documentation to be enclosed with a document when a reference is needed.

4. Information search • Planning engineers spend 15–40% of their working hours doing

routine searches of the information and retrieving routine information.

• Facilitation of information search is through:

~classification of the information.

~ attributes.

exactness of the metadata. definition/configuration of the system.

~finding/analysis of information depends on:

4. Information search...(2) • Classification, lifecycle phase, and attribute information

allow the following searches for information to be carried out in standard PLM systems:

(a) What is the status of each drawing in a certain project?

(b) What has changed in a certain document? Who made the change and when?

(c) What changes have been made in documents related to a given project within the last two months?

(d) List all the resistors used in production, of which the resistance is greater than 5 Ω but less than 10 Ω.

(e) List all allowed suppliers for 20-Ω resistor RES123456.

5. Product structures management & maintenance

• ... one of the most important functions of the whole PLM system,

• it provides the basis of many other basic system functions.

Product structures management

version management

structural presentation

change management

configuration management

5. Product structures management & maintenance...(2)

• The product structure itself makes the presentation of

the relationships between the separate parts of

product and assemblies possible.

• The product structure can be based on:

• a generic product data model,

• a part list,

• a B.O.M. (Bill of Materials)..

5. Product structures management & maintenance...(3)

• The product structures can be viewed according to specific perspectives—e.g., engineering, manufacturing, etc.

~ derived from a single product

structure to give several discipline-dependent views.

~designers

~planners

5. Product structures management & maintenance...(4)

• Filtration/Filtering feature is used to facilitate the examination of large, complex product structures.

5. Product structures management & maintenance...(5)

• Maintaining information at too exact a level for complex products

(with tens of thousands of parts) is not practical, use a suitable level of precision.

• Using attribute information will help to clarify the information in the

normal data fields and product structure. They are:

(a) Individual product based information such as the serial

number of a sourced component in a certain product

(b) Generic – regarding generic products, product, assemblage,

parts.

(c) User-specific – remarks and notes.

5. Product structures management & maintenance...(6)

Attribute information for the product structure

6. Change Management

• ... It provides 3 important capabilities:

Controllability

Visibility

Traceability

~ the change process takes place in a controlled manner.

~ info. on completed/ forthcoming changes is emailed/notified.

~ specific stages of changed items & documents can be tracked.

Ver1.0 Ver1.1 Ver1.2

6. Change Management: ECR/ECO/ECN

~publication of items to production. ~updated documents are recorded in the file vault and assigned automatically with new version numbers (via versioning)

6. Change Management: ECR/ECO/ECN…(2)

Product structure and version history of the bicycle

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7. Files transfer & conversions

• When a user seeks an item or a document, the following is

executed:

a) for documents:

b) for CAD files:

Fetch Open

Fetch Convert Open

~the system gives access to a document after user verification.

~the system opens it in a suitable application.

~the system converts a CAD file into a format readable to the user’s system.

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8. Communication & management of tasks

• This feature of the PLM system provides the context

for collaboration in CE.

o system provides a communication forum for daily working.

• All relevant team members are constantly and

automatically notified of the events related to their

tasks (as dictated by the workflow).

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9. Archiving & Distribution of documentation

• Legacy of paper drawings and documents could be

electronically archived.

Scanning Archiving

~paper dwg’s/doc’s are scanned using large scanner into suitable formats.

~scanned and saved dwg’s and doc’s are stored in electronic form in the vault.

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Example of an Advanced Search

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Example of Multi-Level B.O.M.

Example of a Workflow.

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Example of a Classification scheme

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Example of a document change

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Example of Meta Data