The user interface in Enterprise 2011 PDM has changed and some of the RMB (right mouse button) options have been removed and placed into one of the drop-down lists on the toolbar. Below are some of the options and where they ended up in the menu bar.
1. Get Version was moved to the Actions drop-down.
2. Increment Revision was moved to the Modify drop-down.
3. Finally, History was moved to the Display drop-down.
Remember to visit the InFlow website at www.inflow-tech.com.
With Enterprise PDM 2010 converting drawings to PDF is easier than ever. In this entry we will show you where and how to add the Convert Task feature. In the next entry we will show how to use this tool to convert drawings to PDF once the drawings are approved.
Installing the Convert Task on your system
1. Open up EPDM administration tool and right click on your vault name and select "Import..."
2. Browse to your EPDM install directory and then "Default Data"
3. Select the "Convert_gb.cex" file and click Open
4. To double check expand "Tasks" under your vault in the administration tool and make sure "Convert" is there.
We recently ran into an issue while attempting to install Microsoft SQL on a customer's server machine. However, the SQL install will always crash during the "Setup Support Files" section. The crash itself was just a plain Windows crash with a "Send this error report to Microsoft" pop up window which did not tell us anything about the crash. Below is where the crash would occur.
Right away we believed this to be a SQL issue and started a Solidworks SR along with looking at the SQL install crash logs. Then Googling the crash number inside the crash logs. After a few days we all ran out of ideas on a possible solution.
This was when the simplest solution came to mind. We simply copied the entire contents of the SQL install DVD on to a local drive on the customer's server. We have had cases where the DVD media was scratched or damaged. This was also because we were doing the install via webex and could not hear or see the customer's physical server.
If you get any weird or unlikely crashes with SQL or ePDM installs, the first solution should be to try and run the install off of your local drive instead of the media.
I am a PLM sales person…and the title of this series may imply that I am whining about my job. While I am not immune to the occasional emotional episode / mild tantrum, the title of this blog entry has a purpose. I assure you that this purpose has nothing to do with my emotional state.
Companies that contact InFlow are generally not looking to buy a PLM solution. Rather, they are looking to solve complex issues in their organization. Often times, the connection between the issue and the definition of PLM is somewhat cloudy. Therefore, my goal in this series is to discuss some of these challenges that InFlow has addressed with PLM and some of the measurable success that our customers have achieved.
"The World's Most Complicated Part-Numbering System"
During product demos, I am always amazed when a customer remarks "...yeah, that same-as-except would have helped us a ton on the ZX-A-9550." Moreover, I am completely floored at the way the rest of the attendees always nod their heads in agreement.
I speak and understand quite a bit of Spanish, and I still remember how to say "Mother Smokes Grass" in Hebrew (put yourself in to the bored shoes of a 12 year-old Hebrew school student...it was funny). However, the ability to recall every part in a company's catalog based on some strange sequence has always been much more amazing to me than the ability to distinguish between the familiar and formal commands in Espanol. To me, it has always been a secret handshake, a cool code that is only shared between company members and their most trusted suppliers.
InFlow recently completed an implementation of Enterprise PDM for a company in the Saint Louis area. During the investigation phase, our customer told us that they were confident that we could handle the data vaulting and workflow, but that they would reserve judgement on our ability to handle their part numbering scheme. Like any good sales person, I decided to over-promise: "Look, I'm sure that you're part numbering system took a lot of effort to establish, but we have done hundreds of these implemetations, and there is literally nothing we haven't seen. We'll take care of it...I'll add it to the statement of work." To my credit, my Product Manager, in attendance, nodded in agreement.
On the day of the project kick-off, our implementation specialist was handed a 6-page document that described the development of each new part number.
Single spaced.
Arial 10 font.
Oops.
After a phone call in which my Product Manager screamed at me for over-promising, they got to work. It took a custom script, but after several meetings, phone calls, testing sessions, protesting sessions, and final agreement, they created a system that gave the customer exactly what they needed. Just before the system went live, my team added a workflow component that made the functionality even cooler: The customer could not create parts without assigning a formal part number, but the system forced the script to run before release. That way, the customer did not waste part numbers on work in progress files that never made it out of engineering.
The customer now stores the 6-page part numbering document in Enterprise PDM, but the system takes care of the heavy lifting. This saves 20-30 minutes each time a new part is created and training time each time a new engineer is hired. And once again, I prove that I can help my customers overcome some of their most difficult challenges. Well, to be fair, my team did most of the work. This may make them smarter and more capable than I, but I'll bet that none of them know what "ema asha desche" means...still cracks me up.
I am a PLM sales person…and the title of this blog entry may imply that I am whining about my job. While I am not immune to the occasional emotional episode / mild tantrum, the title of this blog entry has a purpose. I assure you that this purpose has nothing to do with my emotional state.
Companies that contact InFlow are generally not looking to buy a PLM solution. Rather, they are looking to solve complex issues in their organization. Often times, the connection between the issue and the definition of PLM is somewhat cloudy. Therefore, my goal in this series is to discuss some of these challenges that InFlow has addressed with PLM and some of the measurable success that our customers have achieved.
"Now that we have cut your staff, please proceed to do more work..."
I hope that no one has ever said that to you directly, but the sentiment is very real. More to the point, it is more real now than ever before.
A number of CATI's customers are telling us that, while business levels have picked up significantly, they have no immediate or long term plans to add staff. In fact, more than a few have said that they will never get back to staff levels that they enjoyed 3 years ago. Excuse the cheap Charlie Wilson rip off, but "that ball...it keeps bouncing..."
Doing more with less has become the norm. Finding ways to actually do more with less is often easier said that done. One of our customers recently approached the CATI team with exactly this type of scenario.
Our customer has seen sharp increases in RFQ's and orders starting in November 2009. The management team decided that, rather than add engineering staff to cover the need to complete this additional work, they would partner with an overseas engineering provider to collaborate on design projects.
Seems simple enough, right? Lots of companies do this, right? Well...right on both accounts. However, our customer creates CAD files of engines that average 500,000 unique parts and are 3-4 GB. File transfer is certainly an issue that the company had to consider. On top of that, they were fearful of that changes made by the engineering team in the US would be difficult to communicate to their partner in India. Hey, what's another 4 hour FTP upload between friends?
With the help of CATI, our customer is in the midst of implementing SolidWorks Enterprise PDM. Beyond their initial requirements for multi-site file transfer, they saw a great deal of potential to reduce the time it takes to process engineering changes by utilizing EPDM's workflow capability.
All in all, CATI's customer has estimated that the solution will reduce design time by over 25% and will allow them to maintain current staff levels while revenues increase sharply.
I asked them if they would share some of those profits with me for recommending Enterprise PDM...not even a smirk...
I am a PLM sales person…and the title of this blog entry may imply that I am whining about my job. While I am not immune to the occasional emotional episode / mild tantrum, the title of this blog entry has a purpose. I assure you that this purpose has nothing to do with my emotional state.
Companies that contact InFlow are generally not looking to buy a PLM solution. Rather, they are looking to solve complex issues in their organization. Often times, the connection between the issue and the definition of PLM is somewhat cloudy. Therefore, my goal in this series is to discuss some of these challenges that InFlow has addressed with PLM and some of the measurable success that our customers have achieved.
"In Search of a Prius That Runs on Cooking Oil..."
If you root around the CAD websites these days, everyone seems to be looking to add a check to the "green" box. SolidWorks, for example, recently rolled out "Sustainability Express" in all licenses of SolidWorks. This video highlights some functionality of the SolidWorks Sustainability Suite.
As the child of a Beatnik (just a bit too old to be a hippy), I find it very satisfying to find companies that are trying to do the right thing for the environment. I am proud to say that we recently took part in just such a project.
My customer produces complex equipment used to power our world. They recently developed a product that was widely accepted by their customers as an essential component of the Smart Grid and, simply put, sold as soon as they could build them. And therein, as the Bard would tell us, lies the rub...
This company had sufficient floor space and enough business to triple their manufacturing capacity. However, this piece of machinery is extremely complex and can only be built by a small number of qualified individuals. Our customer needs to train its users without sacrificing the time of these valuable, qualified shop floor individuals.
Recently, this company chose to implement 3DVia as a solution to this issue. The solution will allow CAD data to be used as a starting point for interactive assembly instructions. These instructions will be delivered to shop floor with a Bill of Material (BOM) and data that describes each part. Moreover, these instructions will be automatically updated when the BOM/geometry/description changes to alleviate confusion.
The expected outcome of this project is to build more than three times as many units, and increase revenue by 3x on the chosen product line. If successful, the solution can be scaled up to include any product that they have designed in 3D CAD.
Ken Kesey once said "You're either on the bus or off the bus." Working together, we are simply building a bigger, more pimped out version of the bus that will house more workers, create lower emissions and decrease our carbon foot print. And what a long, strange trip it's going to be...
I am a PLM sales person…and the title of this blog entry may imply that I am whining about my job. While I am not immune to the occasional emotional episode / mild tantrum, the title of this blog entry has a purpose. I assure you that this purpose has nothing to do with my emotional state.
Companies that contact InFlow are generally not looking to buy a PLM solution. Rather, they are looking to solve complex issues in their organization. Often times, the connection between the issue and the definition of PLM is somewhat cloudy. Therefore, my goal in this series is to discuss some of these challenges that InFlow has addressed with PLM and some of the measurable success that our customers have achieved.
"Can we attribute this to Yogi Berra and call it a day?"
I read an article last year that discussed the application of lean principles to the product development process. In the article, the author called for rigorous standardization in order to create strategic flexibility.
If any of you have ever seen me present PLM solutions to your company, you may have heard me remark that I am not a smart man. Reading the author’s statement further confirmed this sentiment.
As I read the sentence, then wrote it on a scratch pad seven times like an engaged 20-something with a new married last name, reality became very clear: I needed to speak to an engineer. His first response, a tribute to the former Yankee catcher: “If you ask me anything I don't know, I'm not going to answer.”
On a serious note, my smarter cohort set me straight: The author was referring to the creation of strict design standards in order to predictably alter existing designs and the process by which these designs are priced, ordered, and manufactured.
If you are a CAD guy, you may believe that you can accomplish this with configurations, such as those created in SolidWorks. If you are on the operations side of the business, you may believe that a Knowledge-Based Engineering solution linked to your ERP and PLM systems may provide this capability. If you are in a position of power to buy one of these solutions, please contact me at eric.gold@cati.com.
One of our customers recently implemented an interesting combination of solutions: The customer chose a key aspect of their design which is a part of every project but varies in every instance. For the sake of anonymity, let’s say the customer manufacturers hydraulic cylinders and they are constantly re-designing brackets.
Up until recently, the customer found itself re-designing brackets for every new project. The engineer would then have to search their ERP system for brackets that they had previously built that were close to the newly designed bracket, then alter the design or create manufacturing instructions for the new design.
With the implementation of DriveWorks’ design automation solution, the engineering leader has created a series of master brackets and has written the rules for all feasible configurations for new brackets. By offering these designs through a simple-to-use interface, a non-CAD user can specify design standards and allow DriveWorks to access SolidWorks to create all associated models and drawings. The benefit: Out customer has cut bracket design time by 70% and reduced overall product development cycles by 5%.
The moral of this story is that that the answer isn’t always clear…more employees, more hours, more sales people, it doesn’t always translate in to more efficiency. Sometimes, it takes a creative, fresh approach to solve complex issues and improve on operational efficiencies. As Yogi so graciously one said: “If you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
I found a very interesting poll on CIMdata (http://www.cimdata.com/) regarding the key analytics that companies would like to see from their PLM system.
Interestingly enough, this poll focused on the project management side of PLM, an area that many companies have not yet deployed. Nonetheless, the masses have spoken, and users undeniably replied that they would like to be updated in real time on factors that may cause projects to miss delivery deadlines.
In any case, I simply thought that I would share.
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