Making and extending access to product data (also known as data accessibility) is exactly what can put you ahead, especially if your organization has anything to do with product development.
This article explains how to make product data accessible, as well as why product data access is a trend that many organizations are beginning to pursue.
Product data is vital to organizational success
In business and engineering, product development refers to bringing new and existing products to market. During this process, your product data is everything.
Your organization’s product data likely includes computer-aided design (CAD) data, 3D models, parts information, standardized work instructions, product requirements, notes, documents, and more.
This is why your organization’s product development success starts with… you know it… product data.
The reality is, the product data that may only be visible to engineering or management teams is exactly what your entire organization could leverage to make better-informed decisions.
Product data is vital to organizational success because it helps identify business opportunities, predict future trends, and most importantly it is exactly what allows you to generate more revenue.
Why is data accessibility important?
Data-driven business decisions make or break companies. This is exactly why your product data should be accessible to anyone within your organization who needs it.
People across multiple departments often need to input data into business systems, especially in larger organizations.
If different employees throughout your organization input slightly different information, use non-compatible formats or simply don’t have access to each other’s data – confusion and miscommunication can occur.
These situations lead to mistakes, unnecessary costs, and lost revenue. All of which (I’m going to assume) your business is trying to avoid.
There are many reasons why access to data is important, but let’s address data access methods and tools your organization can use to help extend and make your product data accessible.
The first step to making product data accessible: System integration. System integration is an ever-popular topic among the IT savvy.
Integrated systems streamline processes, increase efficiency and productivity, reduce costs, and reduce manual entry errors. This is why organizations take steps to integrate business and enterprise systems used throughout their operations.
Integrating your business systems helps keep everyone on the same page by ensuring all staff has access to the same data.
This is especially important when tracking product changes, and I’ll explain exactly why.
Let’s assume an engineer needs to make a last-minute one design adjustment to a product. This is a situation when it is crucial to inform affected departments and stakeholders of product changes as soon as possible.
When system integrations and PLM/ERP tools are in place, everyone throughout your organization (who would need access to specific product data) can access up-to-date information!
Not only does this keep people up-to-date and informed, but it also allows people throughout an organization to compare and contrast the evolution of your products.
Why is that so important?
A cross-functional team’s ability to evaluate the history of product changes through the lens of each individual’s respective discipline will provide a better idea of the impact of product and process changes over time.
By encouraging information-sharing and communication between departments, system integration can inspire collaboration between departments and lead to unexpected business improvements.
When one department gains access to information they didn’t have before, it can help them understand the role in the company better as well as the overall operation of the business.
This knowledge can help them improve performance and productivity, as well as, allow them to make better, more informed decisions.
Recognizing & responding to multiple data user’s product information needs
Although product data management tools (such as PTC Windchill) help organization’s collect and manage data, many enterprise solutions (such as product lifecycle management systems) fail to build user interfaces that non-technical staff can actually understand.
PLM systems can quickly become too complex for many roles across an organization. This can make it hard for users to navigate the system, find information, and ensure they’re getting the right information.
Oftentimes the sole users of PLM enterprise systems tend to be engineers and product designers who create the information. This means other roles are requesting information from the authors, whether they are designers or engineers.
When this happens, users lose time waiting for the person who created the information, and they take time from the designers and engineers that should be focused on designing and developing products.
The solution: System integration that is focused on data visibility and data accessibility
By integrating your enterprise systems with a focus on data visibility and data accessibility, your organization ultimately supports communication and collaboration across the entire enterprise and value chain.
For instance, product data management tools (such as PLM applications or plugins) can collect and transform your product data. These same product data access tools can also provide a data output with meaningful content, assisting any role (such as accounting, purchasing marketing, etc.) to make smarter and faster decisions which can directly impact your bottom line.
An easy solution to extend product data access
Our company, EAC Product Development Solutions, designed an easy solution to help organizations (like yours) easily extend access to accurate product data.
Our solution is our EAC Productivity Apps.
Our PLM EAC Productivity Applications deliver role-based data mash-ups, that provide just the type of product information that is needed by a particular role.
Our PLM plugin technology works in the back-end to bring together product information stored in multiple enterprise systems (such as ERP, ALM, PLM, QMS, etc) to deliver product data to users in a way that can be easily consumed.
This enables an entire enterprise to get valuable product data and information in just the way that they want it when they need it.
Our Productivity Applications also eliminate time wasted waiting for authors to collect and redistribute product information.
Our EAC Productivity Applications help deliver on the promise of Product Lifecycle Management.
Why is it important to manage your product Bill of Materials (BoM) in a PLM (Product Lifecycle Management)? This is a tough question to answer across the board for every company, but this article breaks down what you need to know.
The level of BoM management in PLM can be dependent on your companies’ products, downstream systems, and product development processes.
With that in mind, here are some general benefits and reasons to manage the creation of your product BoM in PLM.
The benefit of bill of materials management in PLM
PLM in nature is meant to be a tool to help engineering manage their production date while allowing dynamic collaboration and change control throughout the product development cycle.
The data managed in a product lifecycle management system includes CAD and BoM information, as well as additional supporting product information and documentation.
PLM functionality typically allows an organization to store any and all product information in a structured manner. The structured manner is what properly represents the product within all stages of the product’s development.
This includes everything from initial design requirements, to manufacturing requirements and process plans, to quality assurance documents- all linked to a single product structure.
This gives you the ability to graphically see a truly complete representation of any and all products managed within the PLM system.
In addition, many of the top PLM systems (such as PTC Windchill) give you the ability to manage different views of a single bill of material.
For instance, you could see the design or engineering view of the structure and all design information needed for that BoM product structure.
You would also have the ability to look at a manufacturing view that has the structure defined in a way to support the best possible manufacturing process, while it also links to any supporting information and work instructions.
Additionally, you could see a service BoM that represents exactly what is on-site or on the hands of a customer, with linked product information specifically related to service or support (such as a service repair or product manual).
These systems focus on tracking and managing all cost and profit throughout the process.
Because of this, changes are tightly controlled and require significant steps to ensure proper applications across the system.
There are also few systems that allow for full product representation inside of ERP or MES as outlined above. Nor do they fully support many different views of the same BoM.
ERP tends to only manage what is required to properly manufacture or sell a product, which does not always represent the full product design or its full breadth of supporting information and documentation.
There many impacts on these fundamental differences.
When to use PLM for BoM Management
Here are some general concepts as to when to use PLM for BoM management.
When your product development is in the dynamic phases that require many changes and updates at each phase gate, your bill of materials should be primarily managed in PLM.
If your product requires specific requirements management, detailed manufacturing, quality work instructions, or an intensive manufacturing process, it’s in your best interest to use product lifecycle management for your BoM.
At the very least, all of your product information should also be managed, or linked to your product lifecycle management system to ensure full accountability to all information updates required in the instance of change.
Integrating ERP and PLM
At a minimum, if you have an ERP system it’s important to integrate your system together with PLM.
It’s essential to establish key integration points between your enterprise systems that send needed information back and forth to your enterprise resource planning solution. This will help you properly execute new product releases and changes.
By integrating your systems, your ERP processes will ensure all proper tasks and functions are executed in your ERP or MES systems.
From there, your ERP to PLM system integration would send information back to your PLM system to close the loop.
These are our best practices to help you get ahead and to take product data further.
If you have Windchill, a PLM (product life cycle management system from PTC), odds are it’s where your organization stores a lot of really great product data and information. It also means there’s a high likelihood many employees in your organization need access to that valuable product information.
But what happens when people within your organization need to access valuable product information, but they aren’t necessarily veteran Windchill (or PLM system) users? What happens when your ‘casual Windchill users’ only want to quickly get to the information but simply don’t want to be “Windchill users”? 90% of the time this scenario involves your experienced Windchill users being disrupted by requests to pull product information.
Right at this point – exactly when people in your enterprise need access to information in systems they don’t use on a daily basis – is when you lose efficiency, productivity, and revenue. This cross-departmental disruption leads to wasted time, and wasted time leads to wasted money. PTC realized these challenges and created a solution to combat complicated enterprise system interfaces, varying user needs, and disparate enterprise data sources – It’s called Windchill Navigate.
To make Windchill PLM, or any PLM information more accessible and solve disruption challenges, PTC designed Windchill Navigate role-based applications (apps) that allow users to easily access and consolidate information from secure systems like ERP, MRP, CRP, and PLM systems like Windchill. For instance, by using these applications, a tool designer could call up drawings without having to go through the whole interface of Windchill. The applications pull up windows to look directly into systems, without forcing a user login in and navigate complex product design or enterprise planning systems.
For example, by using PTC’s Windchill solution, a tool designer could simply type in a drawing number he or she was looking for on the PTC Windchill Navigate application, and the drawing files would pop-up instantly on the screen. These simple product data navigation features also work with product information that purchasing, quality, or any other departments might need access.
PTC’s Windchill Navigate applications make it easy for anyone…ANYONE in an organization to obtain product information without having to be a Windchill system expert. One of the great things about these role-based applications is – depending on who you log in as – the apps can be set up to determine what type of information access someone has, as well as what types of product info an employee can access.
For instance, someone on a shop floor could access Windchill Navigate applications, and with a simple click in a window would display all the information they need about a drawing. Or perhaps someone only needs to see bills of materials, they could do that in one location by accessing a Windchill Navigate application. Just like PTC Windchill, PTC Navigate is a web-based application. This means all an organization really needs is a web browser and a login and instantly anyone can start working.
Windchill Navigate applications are also completely customizable. This allows your organization to control exactly what displays on the search screens, as well as, how that information would be delivered to your users. In fact, PTC even created a Windchill Navigate Productivity calculator to demonstrate how much money enterprise collaboration can save a business. It even lets you estimate your exact company’s potential annual productivity savings!
Bottom line, there really are a lot of great benefits that come along with being able to easily deploy Windchill access throughout an enterprise in a unique and stress-free way. And remember, Windchill Navigate also integrates with other enterprise systems, not just Windchill.
But wait…there’s more!
You can make the user experience even better by implementing Windchill Navigate and extending functionality and configurability with EAC Productivity Apps. In case you are not familiar with us, our company (EAC Product Development Solutions) specializes in transforming the way companies design, manufacture, connect to and service their products.
One of the ways we do this is through implementing, maintaining, and helping customers with PTC Windchill product lifecycle management systems. Being the Windchill experts that we are, with extensive years of experience (over 23 years to be exact), we work with hundreds of organizations and their PLM systems. This is precisely how we know the need many manufacturing organizations have to extend enterprise system data and capabilities even further!
Working with our Windchill customers over the years, we recognized patterns of system requests and capabilities that just didn’t seem to be specifically addressed by existing solutions. We recognized and researched system challenges that many organizations tended to face with their PLM systems and realized the need to help organizations quickly deploy Windchill, increase user adoption, and capitalize on system functionality. After all, we live in a world obsessed with speed and efficiency. So, to quote the wisdom of Daft Punk, we needed to make complex PLM systems Better, Faster, and Stronger.
Furthermore, we realized valuable data our customers acquired from their other disparate enterprise systems never seemed to be tied together with product data from PLM systems. This was increasing our client’s risk of transferring obsolete inaccurate data. With that knowledge, we knew our solution needed to be able to connect multiple streams of data from different locations and enterprise systems, and even different databases.
All these reasons drove us to develop what we refer to as EAC Productivity Apps. They help organizations quickly advance and capitalize on Windchill PLM capabilities. Although EAC apps are different from Navigate applications in many ways, what I believe really sets them apart is how they use and leverage the concept of data mash-ups. Multiple sources of information brought together to simplify a role-specific workflow.
EAC productivity applications take product data and information from a variety of different systems and transform that data into an easily consumable visual dashboard for any user. Essentially, our apps create a way for organizations to easily connect data from multiple enterprise databases, bring it into one accessible location, and tailor it to the needs of a specific user. This allows any user to easily have all the information he or she could desire with a few simple clicks.
EAC apps also help users access product information, search for information, get bill of material reports, create and manage other related documents, and look at associated parts.
Data Visualization and system integration tools are shaping the future of business and I am going to explain exactly why.
First, it is essential that you understand the impacts of technology and data today.
The impacts of big data
Humans collectively produce approximately 2.5 quintillion bytes of data each day and this number is only increasing with the acceleration of the Internet of Things (IoT). These already astonishing statistics are growing at an ever-increasing rate as our world becomes even more digitized and data-centric.
Due to this overwhelming growth, businesses have begun facing challenges with data capture, analysis, distribution, storage, and visualization. In fact, big data has started to become so large and so complex that businesses are even finding traditional data processing techniques to be inadequate. This is exactly why system integration and business intelligence software have become essential components for successful business data management strategies.
System integration and system integration tools
Enterprise application integration software combine components of sub-systems together into one centralized system. Essentially, system integration applications ensure all business systems function together as one.
For instance, integration applications (such as EAC Productivity Apps) connect existing systems and enable seamless data to flow from various systems into role-based dashboards or “mashups.”
By using applications that integrate all of your business systems, your organization opens up a clear, efficient path, for information to travel from one application or system to another. The process of linking together different computing systems and software applications opens up an organization’s ability to easily collect, aggregate, and share data.
Business intelligence
The trend towards business intelligence (BI) has driven many companies to evaluate technology-driven processes for analyzing data and presenting actionable information.
Common functions of business intelligence technologies include reporting, analytics, data mining, process mining, business performance management, benchmarking, predictive analytics and prescriptive analytics.
BI technologies can handle large amounts of structured and sometimes unstructured data to help
System integration, Bi, and data visualization
Tools and applications that integrate business systems incorporate oftentimes incorporate data visualizations, also known as data dashboards.
Data visualizations deliver graphical representations of data or information, often in the form of a chart, diagram, picture, or any other visual illustration. Visual representations of data and information help humans understand the significance of data by transforming it into information placing it in a visual context.
Human visual processing is efficient in detecting changes and making comparisons between quantities, sizes, shapes, and variations in lightness. When properties of symbolic data are mapped to visual properties, humans can browse through large amounts of data efficiently.
If considering the way the human brain processes information, using charts or graphs to visualize large amounts of complex data is much easier than attempting to analyze multiple different spreadsheets or reports. By using visual elements like charts, graphs, and maps, data visualization tools provide an accessible way to see and understand trends, outliers, and patterns in data.
The impacts of data visualization
Data visualization enables executives, managers, and other corporate end users, to easily digest huge amounts of data by displaying visuals.
These data visuals encourage decision makers to compare sizeable amounts of information while data is being revealed beneath several levels of detail. This encourages the natural eye to compare and contrast different pieces of data, that may have otherwise been lost within reports.
System integration tools that collect data from internal and external systems and aggregate it into data dashboards, enable organizations to reason quantitative information. This helps executives, managers, and other corporate end users to better understand trends, patterns, and possible correlations. Data visualizations can also allow decision makers to make better business decisions.
Visual data representations of information assist decision makers in the absorption of information in new and more constructive ways. They encourage a user to think about the substance of the data rather than the methodology.
With the ability to manipulate and interact directly with data, organizations visualize relationships and pattern between operational and business activities. This allows them to identify and act on emerging trends faster, as well as, identify areas that need attention or improvement.
By using system integration business intelligence tools and applications, organizations can collect data from internal and external systems, prepare it for analysis, develop and run queries against that data, and create reports, dashboards and data visualizations to make the analytical results available to corporate decision-makers, as well as operational workers.
Think data visualization and system integration could be what your organization needs?
We offer EAC Productivity Apps as
What are PLM Apps?
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Applications (Apps) take data from your product lifecycle management software and combine it with data from your other enterprise solutions to create a single, accessible dashboard view (of all your data), that can be customized for any role within your organization.
Essentially, PLM Apps offer a comprehensive, basic IoT scheme to connect to your equipment, collect data, begin data/alert/notification workflows, deliver role-based dashboards, and more.
Here are four ways that PLM system applications could benefit your business.
PLM Apps, Systems, and more
Odds are, if your business is currently involved with the creation or production of any sort of product, you have likely heard of (or you might already be incorporating) product lifecycle management practices within your business. For those of you who are newer to the concept, product lifecycle management (PLM) often involves implementing software solutions referred to as product lifecycle management software, or systems.
Product management software systems (such as PTC Windchill, SAP PLM, Oracle Agile PLM, Teamcenter PLM, Autodesk Vault, Centric Software, Aras, etc.) are designed to manage your product’s entire lifecycle from ideation through engineering, design, manufacturing, service, and even the disposal of your manufactured products. Oftentimes, PLM software systems are implemented with the intention to integrate product data with other business processes such as manufacturing execution systems (MES), enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and many other enterprise solutions. However, the reality turns out to be much more complex.
PLM systems are complicated. These systems are complex due to their sophistication and immense capabilities.
In fact, due to the intricacy built within PLM, many companies commonly face challenges with PLM solution interfaces, features, integrations, data sharing, reporting, navigation, and user adoption. Soon enough the PLM technology lives in a ‘vacuum’. Sales and quality managers who don’t use it daily may find it difficult to use.
Other employees might avoid using the PLM systems entirely, and even those who do access the product lifecycle systems daily may find it challenging to coach others who have minimal exposure to these tools. This is exactly why we hear many companies who are not fully entrenched within their PLM systems claiming, “PLM systems don’t deliver on business requirements” or “PLM functionality you expect doesn’t work”.
The reality is – people and departments cannot perform their tasks in isolation. This is exactly where PLM apps add value to your business and streamline workflows.
1. PLM Apps promote cross functional alignment
Traditionally, functional areas within our businesses such as sales, marketing, finance, and operations specialize in different portions of organizational planning activities, which result in conflicts over expectations, preferences, and priorities.
Think about it for a second.
Organizations tend to have isolated departments focused on different business objectives. They often use different data collection systems to accomplish unique tasks. While organizations may consider their teams to be functional, they may fail to recognize the efficiencies they could drive with full cross-functional alignment between and across teams. That or the cross-functional alignment that organizations initially targeted with product lifecycle management didn’t work out as well intended.
This is just one of the reasons PLM Applications are a game-changer. PLM Applications break departmental silos by providing semantic interoperability, ultimately enabling cross-functional alignment.
I know what you’re thinking. “That’s great.. but how exactly does that work?”
Or perhaps, “That’s exactly what I was told my PLM software was supposed to do” just came to mind. The reality is – PLM systems are completely capable of doing everything you had purchased them for, but training everyone in these complex systems is more than a chore. PLM Apps take the foundational features and functionality of your PLM systems and make them easy.
The biggest advantage of these applications is that they actually motivate your siloed departments to utilize the technology investments you’ve already made. PLM Applications extract data from your existing enterprise software systems (such as ERP, MRP, PLM and more), combine that integrated data into easy-to-use interfaces, and enable role-based data access to any user who needs it.
Check out a real-life example of how a fast-moving apparel industry made the product development process exponentially faster and more efficient with the use of mobile apps.
For example, purchasing departments spend most of their time within Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems creating purchase orders, checking stock levels, scrap/rework, etc. They commonly face challenges retrieving engineering data (such as PDF’s, DXF’sand IGES) that are contained in systems controlled by engineering or IT. PLM system applications create self-serve user-based environments that integrate combined enterprise data into consumable interfaces for any end-user or role.
Essentially, PLM applications build user interfaces that non-technical staff can actually understand. PLM Apps can also act as an extension to your existing engineering system, allowing your departments to retrieve drawings without having to ask or burden an engineer. In fact, PLM application interfaces can even be adjusted to display key purchasing information. They have the ability to retrieve all documents (such as PDF’s, DXF’s, IGES, and more) that are associated with a specific order or drawing file.
Creating a self-service business environment for your departments allows purchasing to retrieve the correct drawings (PDF, DXF, IGES) without having to rely on engineering or configuration management.
This is just a few of the ways that PLM engineering applications can enable cross-functional alignment throughout your organization.
2. PLM Applications simplify communication among distributed teams
Forget the need to run around and collect information from multiple departments in order to collect the data a business division needs to do its job. The infrastructure within PLM Apps allows for access/permission controls and change management.
This means you no longer will need to disrupt other departments or coordinate schedules just to exchange information. Plus, by providing everyone with instant access to relevant and up-to-date product information all teams will be on the same page.
3. PLM Apps optimize all aspects of the manufacturing process
Once your siloed teams start to align, the communication between distributed departments becomes more efficient. Your business will be well on its way to optimizing your overall performance. By centralizing all aspects of your product data, your organization will notice relevant common grounds and establish open communications about areas for continuous improvement.
PLM Applications make it easier to view and understand product data within one simple interface gather information from many systems; ultimately enabling your teams and your organization to make better and faster decisions.
Your team’s alignment and enhanced communication will create opportunities for action and better execution. Being able to access accurate data helps everyone maximize output, reduce costs, increase product quality, and get products to market faster.With actions that lead to better execution, your organization will see more success.
4. PLM Apps drive accurate data
According to the Harvard Business Review, workers waste approximately 50% of their time locating data, finding and correcting errors, and searching for sources to confirm the accuracy of data.
Can you believe that?! 50 percent! In addition to wasted time; inaccurate data inevitably leads to redundancy and inefficiency.
Let’s put it in perspective.
Essentially, we are talking about approximately half of the time and salary we are paying managers, decision makers, data scientists, and knowledge workers – gone because people have a hard time accessing data. This scenario makes it easy to see how bad data and complicated interfaces can cost an organization big – time, money and possibly reputation. PLM Applications can help protect you from the negative impacts of bad data. PLM applications can help everyone access to one centralized data source – quickly, and easily.
That’s right. One.
By using only one source for data, your information will be easier to maintain and keep clean. You can be sure everyone is accessing data that is accurate, verified, and up-to-date. Besides, let’s not forget, data drives decisions. By using PLM applications to access and collect your data, your organization can be confident that the data you use for your day-to-day operations is data you can trust.
Overall, PLM applications greatly promote cross-functional alignment throughout organizations, eliminate communication complications between distributed teams, optimize performance aspects within manufacturing processes, and centralize data to ensure accuracy. Think PLM applications could improve the way your business operates? Check out how EAC’s custom PLM applications – EAC Productivity Apps – connect all aspects of your organization.
In today’s fast-paced manufacturing environment, agility, accuracy, and collaboration are more essential than ever. Windchill, PTC’s powerhouse Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution, delivers all three by providing secure, real-time access to product data across disciplines and locations. Companies stand to reduce costs, speed innovation, and enhance next generation products. PTC’s product lifecycle management (PLM) software, Windchill, lets you do just that. Designed to streamline product development from concept to service, Windchill empowers teams to work smarter, innovate faster, and maintain quality—no matter how complex the lifecycle. But let’s start by answering the basics first: what is windchill?
What is PTC Windchill?
PTC Windchill is a product lifecycle management (PLM) application suite that leverages a consolidated view of product information through multi-system data. It’s a systemic enterprise wide approach to maintaining product and process quality throughout the entire product lifecycle. Released by PTC in 1998, Windchill made its mark as one of the first internet-based PLM platforms. It has since become an industry staple across sectors (automotive, aerospace, electronics, medical devices, and more) supporting over a million users globally.
PTC Windchill PLM software provides a complete functionality dimension to help organizations capture product structures from computer-aided design tools, transform them into full engineering bill of materials (eBoMS), to manufacturing bill of materials (mBoMS), to service bill of materials (sBoMS) all while retaining the linkages between different perspectives on the product. Windchill solutions break down organizational barriers, allowing teams to work faster and more accurately all while reducing time-to-market and cutting costs.
Why Windchill Matters: Core Capabilities that Redefine PLM
When companies are juggling increasingly complex product designs, global supply chains, and regulatory demands, having the right PLM foundation is critical. Windchill provides the structure, visibility, and automation needed to handle this complexity without slowing innovation. Its core capabilities not only keep product data accurate and accessible but also empower teams to make faster, better decisions across the entire lifecycle.
Centralized, Secure Product Data Management
Windchill functions as a single source of truth (consolidating CAD files, BOMs, requirements, and supplier data) all housed in a scalable web architecture. Whether you’re working in engineering or collaborating with external partners, you’ll always have a current, secure view of product information.
Effortless BOM and Change Management
Windchill’s dynamic Bill of Materials (BOM) management enables inline editing, structural comparisons, and variant configuration for agile product planning. And with built-in Engineering Change Management (ECM) workflows, you can automate review processes, approvals, and compliance documentation to speed up time-to-market and reduce errors.
Workflow Automation and PLM Collaboration
With task and role-based apps, Windchill supports intuitive collaboration for both expert and casual users. From manufacturing to service teams, everyone can access relevant data through task-specific interfaces without over-customizing the system. This makes handoffs smoother and ensures alignment across functions.
Scalability and Deployment Flexibility
Whether deployed on-premises, in a private cloud, or via Windchill+ SaaS, the platform scales with your needs. Organizations benefit from streamlined upgrades, uptime, and strong compliance controls.
Elevating PLM: AI-Ready Product Development
Windchill isn’t just about data—it’s about intelligent data. By housing consistent, accessible product information, Windchill forms a foundation for AI-powered innovation. That means better decision-making, automated routine workflows, optimized resource use, and faster design improvements.
Key Benefits at a Glance
For many organizations, the true value of a PLM system comes down to the tangible benefits it delivers day-to-day. Windchill is designed to make collaboration easier, processes faster, and information more reliable, no matter how large or distributed your teams may be. By looking at its benefits side by side, it becomes clear how Windchill helps manufacturers overcome common product development roadblocks.
| Benefit | Why It Matters |
| Real-time Collaboration | Unified access enables cross-functional teams to deliver faster. |
| Data-Driven Quality | Reduced rework and improved product reliability. |
| Accelerated Delivery | Configurable workflows and automation streamline processes. |
| Agility & Resilience | Scalable deployments and open integrations help businesses adapt. |
| AI Readiness | Structured data enables machine learning for innovation. |
Core Windchill Capabilities
Beyond the big-picture advantages, Windchill delivers a deep set of tools that tackle the nuts and bolts of product lifecycle management. These capabilities are what allow engineering, manufacturing, and service teams to stay aligned—even when managing thousands of parts, configurations, or requirements. By exploring its core features, you can see how Windchill creates a connected, digital foundation for end-to-end product success.
Windchill’s robust feature stack supports even the most intricate development environments:
- BOM Management – Central views, variants, and CAD integrations
- Collaborative Product Development – Enterprise-wide visibility into planning, shop floor, service context
- Change & Configuration – Automated workflows, traceability, and compliance
- Manufacturing Process Management – Digital twin visualization, plant-specific BOMs, and digital quality tracking
- Parts Classification & Variability Management – Efficient search, sustainability handling, and product customization
- Product Data Management (PDM) – CAD data control, versioning, multi-CAD support
- Quality Management – CAPA, audit trails, regulatory oversight
- Supply Chain Collaboration – Real-time supplier workflows and transparency
Windchill also supports industry-specific packages—PDMLink, MPMLink, ProjectLink, Compliance, Cost, FRACAS, FMEA, and more—so your team can tailor the platform to its use case, from reliability analysis to technical documentation.
Example Use Case: Digital Thread with IoT Integration
PTC’s integration of Internet of Things (IoT) with Windchill closes the loop between product data and actual performance in the field. That enables real-time error reporting, role-based insights, and proactive maintenance or design improvements—putting reliability right in your development cycle.
What problems does Windchill solve for engineering and manufacturing teams?
Windchill addresses persistent issues like data silos, manual hand-offs, and version confusion by providing a single source of truth for product, CAD, BOM and change data. This unified platform helps engineering and manufacturing teams reduce errors, minimize rework, and accelerate time-to-market. By enabling concurrent workstreams and real-time visibility, Windchill supports efficient collaboration across disciplines.
Who uses Windchill and what industries benefit most from it?
Windchill is widely used by discrete manufacturing enterprises including automotive, aerospace & defense, industrial equipment, high-tech electronics and medical device companies. These industries benefit most because they deal with complex product structures, rigorous compliance requirements, and long lifecycles. In these areas Windchill excels. The solution supports both global, multi-site deployments and intricate configurations, making it a strong fit for manufacturers handling complexity and scale.
Is Windchill only for large enterprises, or can small-to-mid-size companies use it too?
While Windchill is known for enterprise-scale capabilities, its modular architecture and cloud delivery options make it accessible to small and mid-sized manufacturers as well. Smaller companies can leverage core functionality like product data management, version control and change workflows without the overhead of full enterprise deployment. As their needs grow, they can incrementally add modules and scale into broader PLM roles.
What are the main components or modules in Windchill?
Windchill consists of foundational modules such as product data vaulting, BOM & change management (PDMLink/PDMLink+), manufacturing process management (MPMLink), quality and compliance (QMS), service information management, and variant/configuration management. Additional modules include extensions for aerospace & defense data, risk & reliability analytics, and digital thread interoperability. These components allow organizations to tailor their PLM deployment to specific functional needs while leveraging a unified platform.
How does Windchill support digital transformation initiatives?
Windchill acts as the backbone of the “digital thread,” connecting engineering, manufacturing and service systems by enabling consistent, trusted product data across the lifecycle. It links to ERP, MES, CAD, IoT and analytics tools, enabling companies to move from isolated applications to integrated, data-driven workflows. By unlocking real-time visibility and enabling downstream usage of design data (such as in service or production), Windchill helps manufacturers transform operations and accelerate innovation.
What are the key features of PTC Windchill?
Key features of Windchill include a central data repository for CAD and business objects, automated workflows for change management, BOM management across engineering/manufacturing, variant/configuration support, role-based access and real-time collaboration. The platform also offers advanced visualization, reporting, document control and integration APIs for enterprise systems. These features combine to reduce errors, improve productivity and enable more agile product development.
How does Windchill improve collaboration across engineering and manufacturing teams?
Windchill enables cross-functional teams to access the same up-to-date product data, drawings, BOMs and workflows regardless of geographic or functional boundaries. With change notifications, task management and configurable role-based portals, manufacturing, sourcing, and service can work in parallel with engineering. This shared visibility and process alignment reduce delays, mis-communication and hand-off errors, enabling faster and more synchronized product delivery.
Does Windchill support document and version control?
Yes, Windchill provides comprehensive document management and version control capabilities, enabling controlled access, historical tracking, check-in/check-out workflows and secure archiving of product documents, CAD files, specifications and more. These capabilities ensure that all stakeholders are working from the correct version of data, audit trails are maintained and regulatory requirements around document governance are supported.
What security features does Windchill offer to protect product data?
Windchill includes role-based access controls, permissions model, encryption in transit and at rest, audit logging, and customizable security policies to protect sensitive product information and IP. Multi-site deployments are supported with secure federated architectures and authentication mechanisms (such as SSO and LDAP) to maintain governance across global teams. These features help ensure that only authorized users can view or modify data and all changes are tracked.
How does Windchill enable compliance and traceability in regulated industries?
Windchill provides traceable process management and audit-ready records of engineering changes, version histories, approvals, manufacturing effectivity and document revisions. Modules such as QMS and audit management support corrective and preventive actions (CAPA), non-conformance tracking and regulatory reporting. All of these outcomes are critical in industries like medical devices, aerospace or defense. By capturing who changed what, when and why, Windchill supports downstream compliance with standards such as ISO 9001, FDA 21 CFR Part 820 and AS 9100.
What APIs or data exchange capabilities are available in Windchill?
Windchill offers REST and SOAP web services, a comprehensive connector suite (ERP Connector, MES integration), configurable workflows, and open APIs to import/export data, integrate with enterprise systems and automate processes. These capabilities enable companies to connect Windchill with ERP, MES, IoT platforms and analytics tools. This ensures product data flows seamlessly across the enterprise ecosystem.
Getting Started with Windchill
Adopting a new PLM system can feel overwhelming, but Windchill is built with flexibility in mind. Whether your business is just beginning to formalize its processes or scaling globally, the platform can be tailored to fit your immediate needs while leaving room to grow. Getting started is about choosing the right deployment model, identifying quick wins, and building momentum for long-term digital transformation.
Here’s how you can begin:
- Define your deployment preference: on-prem, cloud, or hybrid.
- Identify key use cases: change management, BOM governance, quality processes.
- Engage implementation experts (like EAC) to configure, integrate, and train your team.
- Leverage SaaS tools like Windchill+ for faster time to value with built-in cloud benefits.
Next Steps with Windchill
So, what is Windchill? It’s much more than PLM. It’s the digital backbone that unifies product data, processes, and people across your organization. With modern deployment options, robust feature breadth, and readiness for AI, PTC Windchill equips manufacturers to innovate confidently, reduce cost, and accelerate delivery all while maintaining quality and control.
Looking to better understand how a PLM solution like Windchill can benefit your company? Check out The Manufacturer’s Guide to PLM Best Practices to learn more.
