why catia pdm

Data Management with CATIA V5

Data Management with CATIA V5

Fort Worth, November 11, 2005Fort Worth, November 11, 2005

AuthorPatrick CoulehanSolution Architect

AuthorAuthorPatrick Patrick CoulehanCoulehanSolution ArchitectSolution Architect

PresenterAjay ChavaliConsulting Services Manager

PresenterPresenterAjay Ajay ChavaliChavaliConsulting Services ManagerConsulting Services Manager

November 11 2005 Fort Worth, TX

Agenda

§ What is PDM & Why should I care?§ CATIA V5 – Life without a PDM§ Do I really need PDM ?§ What do all the acronyms mean?§ What if my IT department says we already have a

“standard” solution for data management ?§ What are the commonalities and differences

between ENOVIA & SmarTeam

§ A Few Recommendations…§ Q&A


What Is PDM?

§ Product Data Management is a way of gaining control of the data that is generated throughout the product development cycle.§ Some of the basic functions of PDM are:§ Vaulting – Storing of files in a secure location§ Revisioning – Tracking changes§ Data Sharing – Giving others controlled access to data§ Attribute Management – Managing “MetaData” like why

a file exists and what it is used for.§ Link Management – Managing relationships between

files.§ Workflow – Managing processes and their related data§ BOM – Managing Bills of Materials


Why Should I Care?

§ Many resources “touch” data – both internal to your organization and external users - customers & suppliers.§ Non-traditional users (Managers, Purchasing, Document

Control etc.,) need to access engineering data.§ Without revision control and proper authority your files

could be changed without your knowledge.§ Costly errors occur when everybody in the organization

is not working to the most current data§ You don’t want to waste time recreating something

someone else already did.§ File management in V5 can be quite challenging without

a PDM

CATIA V5 FileManagement Complexities

CATIA V5 FileManagement Complexities

Filetypes and LinksFiletypes and Links


CATIA V5 Data and Filetypes

§ V5 data is stored in different types of files§ .CATPart – Geometry (solids, surfaces, wireframe)§ .CATProduct – Assembly structure, positioning, part

attributes, & application data (ex. Scenes, kinematics, DMU, 3D GD&T)§ .CATDrawing – Drawing views of parts and or

assemblies with related manufacturing information.§ .CATProcess – Manufacturing processes & resources,

toolpath definitions.§ .CATAnaylsis – Part Mesh definitions and Simulations


V5 for PLM Necessitates Links

§ Assembly links, document links & feature based links allow for associativity, data reuse, and maximum flexibility.§ Products are linked to Processes & Resources§ If you aren’t creating links you probably aren’t

fully taking advantage of CATIA V5.


Links, Links and More Links

§ Instance Links: A part or subassembly can be used in multiple assemblies.§ Design in Context: A part (or assembly) morphs

to fit the context where it will be used.§ External References: A feature in one model can

be used to drive another model.§ Cut/Copy/Paste: Multiple variations of the same

model can be created in an associative manner (e.g. – “as cast”, “as machined”, “as fabricated”, “as installed”).§ Document Links: Processes and templates

developed for one model can be reused on others by re-pointing links.


Links are Uni-Directional

§ A drawing knows what 3D files it is generated from, but the 3D files don’t know anything about the drawings.

§ An assembly knows what parts it is composed of, but the parts don’t know what assemblies they are used in.

Assy001Prt011

Prt012

Prt013

Dwg001-1

CATIA V5 – Life without a PDMCATIA V5 – Life without a PDM


No PDM - In a FLAT file world§ Without PDM you configure how CATIA

searches for linked files§ Directory paths are saved with the link§ When V5 can’t find a file it looks elsewhere

§ Broken links are very likely§ Repair Broken Links with “File -> Desk” or

“Edit -> Links”§ You might be having to do this quite a bit

§ When saving data be careful which function you use§ Save Management is one way to have

control over how and where every file in a V5 session is saved.

§ Be careful moving linked files in the OS –links will NOT be re-pointed. An Assembly may still point to components in the original location.


No PDM - In a FLAT file world§ ‘File -> Send To’ - Use for Data

Exchange§ Be Mindful of the UUID’s§ A UUID is a Universal Unique Identifier

assigned to each CATIA file based on creation date/time etc.,

§ Many links have UUID information embedded in them. (e.g drawing view links)

§ UUID’s keep V5 from losing context, butimproper use of UUID’s can create issues.

§ Use “New From” When Using Templates§ The “New From” function assigns new

UUID’s to your files.

§ Use the CATDUA Utility to Clean Invalid Links

CATIA V5 – Life with a PDM

CATIA V5 – Life with a PDM

Filetypes and LinksFiletypes and Links


Do I Really Need a PDM?§ Does every user work on his/her own projects ? § Are all design data users within easy reach of

each other ?§ Can all users be trusted to be diligent and follow

good file management practices ?§ Are you satisfied with workarounds and utilities

to help fix your data ?

If YES you may not need a PDM


Do I Really Need PDM?§ Do you have engineers from different disciplines

working on common products ?§ Do you reuse the same parts in multiple assemblies?§ Do you need to document part changes and manage

design pedigree ?§ Do you have data users that are not co-located ?§ Do you have downstream PLM processes that use

design data files (e.g Purchasing, Manufacturing)?

If YES you will need a PDM

PDM – Some BackgroundPDM – Some Background


What are all these TLAs* ?

§ PLM – Product Lifecycle Management – control of the product development process§ VPD – Virtual Product Development – design &

simulation of a product in a virtual fashion (using a computer)§ ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning –work orders

and inventories§ SCM – Supply Chain Management – managing the

extended enterprise

*Three Letter Acronyms


ConceptConceptDevelopmentDevelopment

PLMPLM ERPERP

PrototypePrototypeTestingTesting

SimulationSimulation

ProductProductDefinitionDefinition

Product DataProduct DataManagementManagement

ProductProductSupport &Support &

ServiceService

ManufacturingManufacturingPlanningPlanning

SourcingSourcing

(release to(release tomanufacturing)manufacturing)

ProductionProductionPlanningPlanning

InventoryInventoryManagementManagement

PlantPlantMaintenanceMaintenance

Sales &Sales &DistributionDistribution

OrderOrderProcessing &Processing &

ControlControl

KnowledgeKnowledgeSystemsSystems

TransactionalTransactionalSystemsSystems

SCMSCMExtendedExtendedSystemsSystems

xxx

Xxxxxxx

Xxxxx

VPDVPD

Data Management –Choices, Choices,

Choices….

Data Management –Choices, Choices,

Choices….


Some Common Quotes..

§ ‘Corporate IT says we have a document control system that can manage files. Why do we need SmarTeam or Enovia ?’§ ‘Our shop floor system can store hyperlinks to

documents. Can’t we just use that to view CATIA files ?’§ ‘The IT department won’t let us look at

SmarTeam because SAP is our ERP system. It has an integration to CATIA.’


Document Control Systems

§ Document management systems can perform some PDM-like functions.§ Document control systems can typically handle file

vaulting and revision tracking.§ They don’t typically have CAD integrations, so file

management is done outside of CATIA.§ These systems don’t understand the links in CATIA.

Sometimes they can see the link, but they don’t know its context.§ When you revise a file they may not understand the

downstream impact. “TheVault”


ERP Systems

§ ERP & Manufacturing systems can sometimes manage files as well§ ERP systems are very complex and handle many

tasks. They do a good job of production planning and order processing.§ They sometimes overlap between engineering and

the shop floor, but typically do not fully understand the design environment.§ They don’t have enough focus on CAD data

management to do a good job of it.


3rd Party PDM Solutions

§ Other PLM vendors offer their own PDM systems – some handle CATIA data.§ These solutions understand the data

generated by CAx applications.§ They put effort into building integrations with

the most common CAD applications.§ They know parts, assemblies, and drawings.§ They may not understand every aspect of

CATIA data (e.g all the types of application data)§ They may have problems keeping up with

CATIA release levels.

PDM – SmarTeam and Enovia LCA

PDM – SmarTeam and Enovia LCA

Commonalities and DifferencesCommonalities and Differences


IBM / DS PDM Solutions

§ IBM / DS offer two solutions for managing CATIA V5 data § ENOVIA LCA§ SMARTEAM

§ Both these product families understand CATIA data better than other applications§ Each product family has offerings that address the

needs of a certain class of PLM organization


What is Common Between ENOVIA and SMARTEAM?

§ Vaulting§ Search Capabilities§ Lifecycle Management§ CheckIn, CheckOut § Revisioning

§ Assembly Management§ Links Management§ Bills Of Materials§ Workflows§ Viewing§ Customizations§ Integrations with other systems


Some ENOVIA Terms Defined

§ DMU – Digital Mockup – viewing, interference checking, ergonomics, kinematics, etc.§ 3DCOM – Web based Enterprise Collaboration –

Web viewing tools and portals.§ VPM – Virtual Product Model – PDM that manages

complex product structures and relationships.§ LCA – Lifecycle Applications – Workflows such

as release procedures and ECR’s.


ENOVIA - Complex Product Structures

§ Very large assemblies can be defined. Users can work on portions of the total assembly.

§ Different configurations of the same product can be defined (e.g different trim levels of the same car).

§ DMU tools are integrated with the PDM.§ Queries can be defined by zones (e.g all

the parts occupying a certain space).§ Application data such as kinematics can be

exposed in the database.§ Users can perform an impact analysis to

see how a change affects other parts and assemblies.


SmarTeam – CAx Document Management

§ SmarTeam is designed to manage multiple CAD format documents.

§ It stores less V5 assembly level information than Enovia.

§ SmarTeam understands V5 links at the file level rather than at the feature level.

§ SmarTeam has integrations to many different CAD systems (e.g., Solidworks, Inventor, Pro/Engineer)

§ SmarTeam has integrations to Microsoft Office Applications.

§ SmarTeam is relatively simpler to implement.


Smarteam vs. Other Document Management Systems?

§ SmarTeam was designed from the ground up to support Multi-CAD.

§ SmarTeam understands CATIA data better than any other Document Manager except Enovia.

§ It is an expandable solution § Can start small with primarily data vaulting§ Subsequently add Workflow, BOM, Web, MultiSite, Project

Management & Community Workspace as needed.

Summary Summary

Recommendations and Q&ARecommendations and Q&A


What is the function of the PDM ?

§ The PDM system is used to store your CATIA, Other CAD and related documents.

§ Attributes are saved with documents to make search easy.§ Lifecycle operations like Check-in, Check-out, and release are

performed and tracked.§ Workflows are used to document and enforce standard processes

like ECR’s.§ Thick & thin client software with viewers is used to give non-core

users visibility to data and processes.§ BOM’s are built and managed in the database by the PDM.§ BOM’s and released files can be synced with other corporate

systems like ERP.§ Data is easily shared with customers and suppliers.


A Few Recommendations…

§ Define standards for file management early in your V5 implementation - even if you don’t have PDM yet.§ Implement PDM in a phased approach for the

least impact on production and the fastest RoI.§ Don’t let legacy data derail your PDM

implementation. You can import legacy data at a later phase as necessary.§ Make sure you have commitment from

management and resources available from both IT and Engineering.

Thank you…Thank you…Questions?Questions?

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