PTC is changing the way Creo Design software is being sold. As of January 1st, 2018 new 3D modeling software licenses for PTC’s core solutions are only available by subscription in North America.

This makes it easier for users to utilize new functionality and keep up with the latest release of PTC Creo Parametric CAD software. It also gives organizations the flexibility to choose a 3D CAD package according to specific needs at a given time, and ensures access to the latest capabilities and premium support.

Changes in PTC Creo CAD Packaging

PTC has retired and consolidated the following CAD packages into one of 4 new tiered PTC Creo Parametric Design packages: Essentials, Essentials Plus, Essentials Premium, Engineer 1, Essentials Team, Engineer 2, Engineer 3, and Engineer 4.

You can see from the table below that Creo Design Essentials (T1) replaces Essentials, Essentials Plus, Essentials Premium, and Engineer 1; Creo Design Advanced (T2) replaces Essentials Team and Engineer 2; Creo Design Advanced Plus (T3) replaces Engineer 3; Creo Design Premium (T4) replaces Engineer 4; and Creo Design Premium Plus (T5) is an entirely new package that becomes the fifth tier for the new Creo packaging.

New PTC Creo Design Packages

With Creo Parametric and its extensions you can create, analyze, view, and share designs using 2D CAD, 3D CAD, parametric design and direct modeling capabilities along with additive manufacturing, model-based definition (MBD), and smart connected design. Every package includes the industry’s most comprehensive set of 3D CAD tools to allows you to design with maximum potential.

Every package comes with the Core Capabilities and the power to publish, share, and create augmented reality experiences right inside of your 3D CAD models. This allows you to add value to your customer experience because they can now visualize your design with AR.

Here’s a breakdown of what is included in each package:

Creo Design Essentials

  • Creo Parametric
  • Design Exploration Extension
  • Flexible Modeling Extension
  • Human Factors
  • Human Factors Analysis
  • Advanced Framework Extension
  • Collaboration Extension for Autodesk Inventor and SolidWorks
  • Intelligent Fastener Extension
  • Legacy Data Migration Extension
  • Piping and Cabling Extension
  • Render Studio Extension
  • Mathcad Express
  • Simulation Elite (Linear Structural Analysis)

Creo Design Advanced

**includes everything in Design Essentials and also includes:

  • Prismatics and Multi-Surfaces Milling Extension
  • Advanced Assembly Extension

Creo Design Advanced Plus

**includes everything in Design Advanced and also includes:

  • Interactive Surface Design Extension II
  • Behavioral Modeling Extension
  • Mechanism Dynamics Extension
  • Additive Manufacturing Extension – Standard
  • Tolerance Analysis Extension
  • GD&T Advisor Extension
  • Tool Design Extension
  • Expert Moldbase Extension
  • Mold Machining Extension
  • Layout Extension

**includes everything from Advanced Plus and also includes:

  • Collaboration Extension for CATIA V4 and V5
  • Collaboration Extension for NX
  • Simulation Extension
  • Fatigue Advisor Extension
  • Flow Analysis
  • GD&T Advisor Plus
  • Production Machining Extension
  • NC Sheetmetal Extension
  • Mathcad

Creo Design Premium Plus

**includes everything from Design Premium and also includes:

  • Advanced Simulation Extension
  • Complete Machining Extension
  • Flow Analysis Plus
  • Options Modeler Extension
  • Topology Optimization
  • Additive Manufacturing Extension – Plus

For more details on the extensions in each of the new packages, watch our webinar replay, “New PTC Creo Design Packages Overview.”

FAQ on New Packaging

Q: What is the price for existing customers upgrading to the new packages?
A: If you already have a subscription license, then you may upgrade to the new packaging through a contract amendment. If you are still on a perpetual license, then you may convert and upgrade at the same time and pay the subscription conversion price.

Q: Do the new packages contain PTC Windchill?
A: Creo Design Advanced (Tier 2) contains Windchill PDM essentials. Design Advanced Plus, Design Premium, and Design Premium Plus is bundled with Navigate Author, MCAD Data Management I, BOM Management, and Project Management at no increased cost. These three packages will also be available without PDM.

  • Q: Do we offer node-locked licenses?
    A: We offer a locked license for Design Essentials and Design Advanced only.

Q: Can I still buy Creo extensions that are now bundled in the new packages?
A: Yes, all extensions will still be available to be purchased separately. If you are subscribing to a new package that does not contain an extension that you need, that extension will be available separately.

Q: Are trials for the Creo software available online?
A: Yes, you can download a free 30-day trial here

Q: How would upgrades work if I already have subscription license?  Do I pay the difference on the remaining contract?
A: Subscription upgrades are handled through a contract amendment. You would pay the difference between your current package and the upgraded package.

If you have more questions or would like to talk to us about the new Packages and Pricing, then contact us and we’ll give you more information.

Modernized service strategies combine enterprise IT, ‘smart’ technology, and information.

Manufactures are expected to be more demand oriented, data driven, and technologically focused. This means focusing on the customer, using the data collected from many different areas, and digitally executing strategies using platform technologies.

Many companies today are focusing on the current stage of achieving field service excellence. This tends to be an easier, stand-alone area to focus on as it incorporates vast amounts of technology available to help and support them.

The next stage deals with moving towards connected service platforms which oftentimes involve an integration of smart, connected products. This is when companies will start to deal with how to capture data, leverage the insights, and turn it into actionable results for various stakeholders throughout the organization.

The last stage deals with achieving servitization optimization. Servitization is an important concept because it holds the potential to transform how products are delivered and monetized. This is really the movement towards product service systems and products-in-use value.

Ultimately, providing access to product and parts information is a crucial step in on the path to successful profitable growth.

Technology is fueling service transformation for many organizations.

For instance, here’s how ‘service’ has begun to transform with the help of new technologies:

  • Cloud technologies have enabled greater access to service parts visibility and information.
  • Mobile technology has put information in the hands of service technicians, at the right time.
  • Big data analytics now capture asset and product information, enabling enhanced service quality with better first-time fix rates.
  • And social technology has allowed engineers, service, and customer support to collaborate.

These cloud, mobile, social, and big data analytics technologies have enabled manufacturers to transition from systems to service, from information to innovation.

Our team is prepared to help you achieve field service excellence. Our Product Development Information Services team is experienced in the architecture, implementation and support of a technology portfolio making service excellence a reality for many of our customers.

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard the buzz about IoT (the Internet of Things).

‘Start improving the way you do business’, ‘connect with technology’, ‘responsive solutions’, ‘amazing results’.

It’s safe to say that the internet of things along with smart connected enterprises have easily become technology’s theme of the year.

Businesses everywhere have started to look at how they can make more money by inserting this “IoT” thing into their business processes.

The truth behind your success and IoT:

No matter where your journey begins with IoT, it’s essential to recognize good business models rely on technological processes, but technology on its own is not enough.

When it comes to IoT and connected business model innovations, if you don’t have a solid business case, you’re not going to have success.

A connected strategy is about business and business transformation. It’s not just about the technology, it’s about using technology as an enabler.

It’s important to realize there is no value in your IoT platform alone. The real value for you, the success of your business case, lies within your application.

The future is smart and connected. 

Whether you choose to build connected solutions into existing products, enter new markets, change your business model, or connect your manufacturing floor; you need to be ready.

Transforming the way you connect with your products, organization, and customers all starts with smart connected design and the right Internet of Things (IoT) platform. The right platform allows you to connect and scale your business.

This is exactly what our company specializes in, in fact we have even created a dedicated connect services team to design and implement custom connected strategies for any organization.

Being able to monitor a product from design into manufacturing, throughout its complete lifecycle makes it possible to improve product quality, increase production, reduce costs, and even predict failures. 

Building a smart connected strategy that works for you:

Integrating company initiatives with the Internet of Things needs a strategy, this is what we are here for.

Our connect services team works with your organization to deliver workshops, prescribe technology solutions, and create an IoT strategy that coincides with your company initiatives.

We want to help you define a strategy that makes a connection between your products and operations that already exist within your company and the smart, connected world that we live in today.

We tend to operate our businesses like we’re playing a game of telephone…and it’s costing us all money.
You don’t have to be a genius to know that within many companies’ sales, marketing, and R&D teams serve separate functions. With different goals, targets and initiatives these teams tend to collaborate among themselves using the same system of record.

For example, within the same company, a department may rely on Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems while others may depend on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Manufacturing Execution System data (MES), and Quality Management Systems (QMS).

Marketing, Management, Purchasing, Engineering, Technical Publications and manufacturing all need to operate off product designs and Bill of Materials (BOM), but while doing so people are likely to interrupt engineering to get information.

With this information they ask different questions, have different intentions, and speak different departmental languages.

The reality is; this inaccessible data is about the same product that happens to be housed in a system you can’t normally access.

By resorting to these misaligned processes, we end up operating on data without its entire context, therefore we lose productivity to requests for data and the switching costs of changing tasks.

Besides, these interruptions are generally counterproductive, especially when you’re working on one task and you’re interrupted regarding a completely different topic.

Without a single means to bridge these systems, your company is missing out on valuable information, time savings, and productivity.

We live in a world where siloed departmental communication doesn’t need to be the norm, after all technology is just about everywhere!

By integrating your critical data into a centralized location, your organization will increase visibility, and achieve better, more informed business decisions.

With technology that exists today, your separate departments can pull data from multiple systems into easy role-based dashboards, providing greater visibility and enhanced analysis.

The result is a rapid way for your team to get data from the vast data pool within your organization, and access it in an easy to consume space.

One of the ways we transform the way companies design, manufacture, connect, and service their products is by value stream mapping ‘Product Development Systems’ and looking for ways to ensure people have access to the information they need when they need it.

Tools like Thingworx Navigate, for companies invested in PTC’s Windchill solution, or the standard Thingworx platform and PLM Apps for those that aren’t, are helping companies pull information from different departments, systems, vendors, etc. to make sure every role has a simplified view of the information they need, when they need it, without slowing down any other departments.

 

In today’s fast-paced digital environment, the demand for accurate, consistent, and timely product information is paramount. Traditional methods of technical documentation, often reliant on manual processes and disparate tools, fall short in meeting these demands. This is where PTC Arbortext emerges as a game-changer. It offers a dynamic publishing solution that streamlines the creation, management, and delivery of technical content.

 

The Pitfalls of Traditional Documentation Methods

Many businesses rely on one or two technical writers to collect all required technical and digital information needed to create technical and marketing publications. Most of this effort is manual, using the tried and true method of emailing, calling, and walking down the hall to bug technical resources for information or a screen grab; over and over. Then the information is created using a one-and-done single-instance authoring software like Adobe FrameMaker, Adobe InDesign, or Microsoft Word.

This is a problem for a number of reasons, including:

  • Inconsistencies and Errors: Manual data collection can lead to outdated or incorrect information permeating through various documents.​
  • Inefficiencies: Repetitive tasks and lack of automation slow down the documentation process, delaying product releases.​
  • Scalability Issues: As products become more complex, managing documentation manually becomes increasingly untenable.

Just think of everywhere incorrect information could live if an update is missed. Web sites, user manual libraries, manufacturing instructions, service instructions, printed manuals, marketing literature, and the list goes on. This can increase the risk of providing out-of-date or inaccurate information to customers, manufacturing personnel, and service technicians.

    Embracing Dynamic Publishing with Arbortext

    PTC Arbortext offers a comprehensive solution to these challenges by enabling dynamic publishing. This method automates and integrates the entire documentation lifecycle. Key benefits include:​

    • Single Source of Truth: Centralize content to ensure consistency across all documentation.​
    • Automated Updates: Link documentation directly to product data, allowing automatic updates when changes occur.​
    • Multi-Channel Delivery: Publish content across various formats and platforms without redundant efforts

    Core Components of the Arbortext Suite

    When arguing for Arbortext, there’s strength in overarching capabilities. However, there’s also the power and precision of its individual components. Like many other PTC product lines, Arbortext boasts a suite of several integrated tools. This robust ecosystem of tools work together to streamline structured content creation, styling, and publishing. This empowers technical teams to do more, faster, and with fewer errors. These extensions have been designed to enhance the documentation process. They include:​

    • Arbortext Editor: A powerful, XML-based authoring tool designed for creating structured content. It supports real-time validation, ensuring content conforms to required standards as it’s written. This not only improves accuracy but also reduces the need for post-creation corrections.
    • Arbortext Styler: A stylesheet design application that lets users visually create and manage styles for multiple output formats. Publishing to PDF, HTML, or EPUB? Styler allows organizations to control formatting rules without needing to write code, greatly simplifying the publishing process.
    • Arbortext Publishing Engine: The automation hub of the suite, this engine assembles, formats, and publishes content from Arbortext Editor using predefined styles and templates. It eliminates manual tasks and ensures consistent, repeatable publishing workflows across the enterprise.

    Together, these tools form a tightly integrated publishing solution. This solution enables organizations to maintain consistency, scale their documentation efforts, and reduce operational risk. Whether you’re a single author or managing a global documentation team, the Arbortext suite equips you with the foundation to build and deliver content that’s smart, structured, and future-ready.

    Integration with PTC Windchill for Enhanced Content Management

    One of the most compelling reasons to argue for Arbortext is its seamless integration with PTC Windchill, a leading product lifecycle management (PLM) system. This connection allows organizations to manage both product data and technical content within a single, unified platform. By linking Arbortext with Windchill, companies gain tighter control over content versioning, reuse, and approval processes, which is critical in regulated industries or highly complex product environments.

    Windchill serves as a single source of truth, ensuring that content creators always work with the most up-to-date product data and documentation. This reduces the risk of inconsistencies between product updates and technical materials—whether it’s a service manual, part catalog, or training content. Integration also supports granular access control, workflow automation, and traceability, helping teams stay audit-ready and in compliance.

    Together, Arbortext and Windchill form a powerful digital thread that connects engineering, manufacturing, and documentation teams across the entire product lifecycle. This integration not only accelerates content creation and delivery but also reinforces data integrity and operational efficiency, making it a cornerstone argument in favor of adopting Arbortext for dynamic publishing.

    Real-World Impact: Efficiency and Accuracy

    When arguing for Arbortext, it’s essential to look beyond features and focus on real-world outcomes. Organizations that implement Arbortext experience measurable gains in both operational efficiency and content accuracy. By automating manual processes like formatting, layout, and publication, teams spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time on high-value content creation. This leads to faster documentation cycles and reduced time-to-market for products.

    Dynamic publishing ensures that information is consistent across all deliverables, minimizing the risk of errors or outdated content reaching end users. Technical writers can generate multilingual, multi-format documents in a fraction of the time it would take using traditional tools, and updates can be made globally with just a few clicks.

    Ultimately, Arbortext isn’t just about creating content—it’s about transforming how content is managed, updated, and delivered throughout the organization. These efficiency and accuracy gains drive real business value, making a strong, results-based case for integrating Arbortext into your enterprise content strategy.

    Making the Case for Arbortext

    In an era where information accuracy and speed are critical, arguing for Arbortext becomes a matter of strategic importance. Making the move from manual technical publications to what we just described allows tech writers to focus on optimization of publishing methods rather than data collection and integration. It helps insure overall accuracy of product data throughout the company and in the marketplace. By transitioning to dynamic publishing with PTC Arbortext, organizations can overcome the limitations of traditional documentation methods, ensuring that their technical content is accurate, consistent, and delivered efficiently across all platforms.

      Manufacturers always try to find a ways to streamline processes and ‘do more with less.’ It drives success in a world full of competition. One way organizations do this is by reducing process complexity with powerful product life cycle management (PLM) or change management software. Connecting your team directly to live operational data increases efficiency in all departments and allows your organization to save money and manufacture products faster.
      EAC Product Development Solutions has partnered with PTC, the world’s product development technology leader, to bring organizations the products and services that they need to succeed in their industry. As a PTC Solutions Provider, we provide the maintenance, support, configuration, and training you need to implement change management software as easily as possible.

      PTC Windchill Data Management

      If you’re looking to do things like keeping better track of files, create and store Bill of Materials (BoMs), put CAD models and drawings in one place, eliminate the risk of two individuals working on a file at the same time, or secure your data without burdening IT – you’re looking for PTC Windchill.

      PTC software – specifically Windchill – is a complete PLM solution that provides capabilities such as:

      • Bill of Materials (BoM) Management (EBoM, SBoM, MBoM)
      • Configuration and Change Management
      • Requirements Capture Management
      • Early insight into product quality, reliability, and risk
      • Efficiently making product variations with a structured platform
      • Product Data Management
      • Collaboration across all departments with accurate, up-to-date information
      • Seamless software integration and defining standards

      PTC Windchill is a PLM solution that provides a smooth transition from design to manufacturing with universal access to all critical product data information so that the process isn’t fatigued with delays.

      PTC Windchill, Change Management, eBoM Case Study

      ALM Positioners, a leading manufacturer of positioner lifts located in Rock Island Illinois, needed PTC Windchill. The company offers unique, customizable weldments and assemblies that require a lot of CAD models and other product information from engineering before manufacturing even begins. Due to extensive product customization and configuration depending on the needs of their customers, ALM needed a better solution to manage product data. They were drowning in paper files – a lot of which had outdated information.

      EAC’s implementation team helped ALM Positioners transition to a digital workflow using PTC’s Windchill software. Windchill helped ALM save up to 4 hours per project by integrating EBoMs and MBoMs into their ERP system.

      Watch the ALM Case Study on PTC Windchill to see how it has consistently proven to be a leader in the industry and outperformed competitors when it came to product lifecycle management.