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Mechanical Technology — June 2016
⎪
Innovative engineering
⎪
M
odern product designs,
which leverage a com-
bination of mechanical,
electrical, software, and
connectivity technologies, require a
robust, multidisciplinary development
approach, yet these products must be
released to market faster, with better
quality, at a lower cost, and with more
desirable features.
In response to these ever complex
demands, PTC has developed smart con-
nected role-based PLM, which strives to
target stakeholders at their point of need,
aligning Windchill with the underpinning
role-based approach now adopted for the
Creo Suite of product design applications
(apps). “Our Windchill software is now
being supplemented by an online plat-
form, accessible via several different apps
that access different data sets, designed
to suite all of the different stakeholder
roles of a product’s lifecycle,” begins
Du Plessis.
“Infrequent users of traditional PLM
packages used to have to go through
several days training. But, because they
didn’t use the software often enough, it
was still difficult for them to be effective
users. Now they can access the role-
based app most suited to their needs.
These apps have been streamlined and
simplified to make them easier to use –
and different apps have been developed
for each users role within the product
lifecycle,” he explains.
Strydom continues: “The first set of
these apps on the Windchill 11 plat-
form are the viewing apps. These give
personnel peripheral to the mainstream
design processes the tools to view PLM
data in a minimal structure. And this is
all portable. Models, 2D drawings and
data can be viewed on any smartphone
– including Android- OSX- and Windows-
based phones or tablets – as well as any
laptop or computer,” he says. “The View
App is ideal for design reviews or for
communicating and collaborating with
stakeholders and partners,” he says.
Once a design moves into produc-
tion, a new set of stakeholders becomes
involved. “From the viewing perspective,
shop floor managers might be interested
in the 2D-orthographic drawings for the
workshop, for example, or the manufac-
turing instructions. These are now ac-
cessible from any device with an Internet
connection. The data is also guaranteed
to be 100% up to date, while the product
IP remains as well protected as ever,”
Strydom assures.
Smart connected PLM
launched in SA
Riaan du Plessis, business development manager for pro-
ductONE; PLM solutions architect, Johan Strydom; and
the company’s marketing manager Mpho Ntuane.
PTC Windchill 11: the first smart connected role-based PLM platform.
PTC’s Windchill 11 Smart Connected PLM solution was launched into
South Africa on May 11 and 12, 2016 in Johannesburg and Cape Town,
respectively.
MechTech
catches up with business development manager, Riaan
du Plessis and PLM solutions architect, Johan Strydom, of local channel
partner productONE.
The engineering bill of materials
(eBOM) as well as the manufacturing
(mBOM) and servicing (sBOM) are sepa-
rately accessible to relevant responsible
persons in the same way. “For manufac-
turing, IGIS, STEP or STL portable file for-
mats used by product manufacturers, are
directly downloadable onto CNC machines
or 3D printers on factory floors. Through
Windchill 11, these files are maintained
and automatically updated should any
modification be made to the design model.
“In addition, the latest versions of
documents in pdf, Word or any other
format, containing instructions or speci-
fications, for example, are accessible via
any net connected server. Drawings and
related assembly instructions and notes,
for example, are more accessible than
ever before,” Strydom points out.
Coming, in the second release of the
View App, will be the opportunity to feed
information and ideas back to the system.
Called the Contribute App, this tool will
enable users to report back about what
works, what does not or which pieces of
vital information are missing.
Du Plessis adds: “All of this Windchill
11 PLM capability is available for down-
load. That is what we mean by smart and
connected. There is no longer any specific
software installation required for people
to access the Windchill PLM repository.
Other than the role-based app that re-
sides on the phone, tablet or computer,