CAE: Product Data Management

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CAE Product Data Management

• Challenge Manage product data for information
  retrieval. Manage both attribute and documentary
  product data, as well as relationships between
  them
• Classification is fundamental capability of PDM
  systems. Information of similar types to be
  grouped using named classes. Attributes used for
  detailed classification.

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CAE Product Data Management

• Product Data Management includes
• component classification
• document classification
• product structure
• Querying Data

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CAE Product Data Management

• Components are classified and stored in an easily
  traceable hierarchical network structure
• Some components allow for registering that
  certain components are available with specific
  optional attributes
• classification can extend to documents drawings,
  3D models, tech.white papers.

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CAE Product Data Management

• UML model

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CAE Product Data Management

• Each document can have a set of attributes part,
  number, author, date modified.
• Relationship between documents can be captured
  and retrieved for later use a casing for a
  bearing assembly could be extracted along with 2D
  drawings, solid models, FEA models etc.,

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CAE Product Data Management

• More recent PDM systems provide classification
  capability that can be defined, modified at will
  as demands of the organization change
• Product structure deals with relationships
  between parts and assemblies. In addition to
  physical relationships, manufacturing, financial,
  maintenance and document relations can be
  structured and recorded

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CAE Product Data Management

• Product specialists can see product structured
  from their point of view (financial vs.
  manufacturing)
• Query of data of all sorts is important. In
  addition to the entire enterprise-wide data
  searches, assembly and component level querries
  must be supported. PDM system must search through
  using name or number

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CAE Product Data Management

• Organizing data is classified as passive
  procedure. Controlling the way people create and
  modify data is classified as active procedure
• Impact of tasks on data is measured by process
  management (what is project management?)

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CAE Product Data Management

• Process management includes
• work management (data worked on)
• workflow management (data flow between people)
• work history management (events and movements of
  data during the history of a project)

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CAE Product Data Management

• Work management requires a support system to
  capture all new and changed data as it is
  generated, maintain a record with versioning,
  recall information on demand, capturing every
  move of the designer
• Many documents, folders will need to be referred
  to with possibly multiple number of team members
  involved.

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CAE Product Data Management

• Some PDM systems provide user packets emulating
  paper-based systems (using dossier or project
  folder)
• Packet allows for managing multiple different
  master documents simultaneously with various
  support documents. Supports concurrency by
  notifying everyone that there is an update to a
  master design

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CAE Product Data Management

• Only one person checks out the master for
  modification at a time, updated masters and
  references to masters are available for all to
  view, copy with necessary permissions.
• Workflow management extends work management to
  make it possible to move work around from one
  department to another in logically organized
  bundles

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CAE Product Data Management

• Development involves designing thousands of
  parts, modifying, viewing and approving several
  times. Many of master model changes may have far
  reaching impacts on other designs as well as
  designers time and effort.
• PDM systems bring order to highly complex
  workflow, leading to who does what decisions.

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CAE Product Data Management

• Most PDM systems allow project leader control
  using triggers and a routing list.
• Some flexibility is permitted within the
  framework. How much flexibility is critical
• Some systems represent individuals as part of a
  state. Some others provide identities to tasks,
  separate from people working on it

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CAE Product Data Management

• Engineer working on a design can route the packet
  to other designers without changing state. Formal
  workflow is NOT compromised by this. Authority to
  change state is with the originator of the packet
• Improved communication due to all data in a
  single packet with comments, notes using
  red-lining and or post-it features

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CAE Product Data Management

• A packet represents a single task with all
  supporting data to be tracked and viewed by
  authorized individuals at all times
• A packet may be only one of many thousands. Each
  packet route and the relationship between packets
  must be controlled. Defining interdependence of
  tasks is not easily done by all.

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CAE Product Data Management

• Some systems use hierarchical relationship
  between files to allow customization. This helps
  to place triggers. Example Signoff on an
  assembly for release ONLY when ALL its parts have
  been individually released.
• Work history management records states that the
  project has been through with potentially
  valuable audit trail data

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CAE Product Data Management

• Ability to do regular process audits is a
  requirement for international quality standards
  such as ISO9000, EN29000 and BS5750
• Project history information also allows one to
  back-track to specific points where a problem
  arose, or from which one may with to now start a
  new line of development

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CAE Product Data Management

• For workflow history, some systems record only
  changes in ownership. Some record changes as a
  series of snap-shots taken only when a file
  changes state. Some provide for records like a
  moving picture and allow for recording changes to
  any system-defined level you choose example -
  every time a modified file is saved. Allows for
  Performance tracking.

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CAE Product Data Management

• PDM benefits include reduced time-to-market.
  First, time it takes to perform engineering
  tasks. Second, time wasted between tasks, waiting
  for its turn. Third, time lost in rework
• PDM system can make version data available
  instantly. Support concurrent task management.
  Can ensure latest version.

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CAE Product Data Management

• Improved design productivity Design process can
  be shortened. Designers spend 30 of time
  handling information. PDM removes dead time
• Eliminates reinvention. Provides a highly
  user-friendly method to look for re-useable
  components. This should be routine once installed.

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CAE Product Data Management

• Improved Design and Manufacturing Accuracy Same
  set of data which is up-to-date is readily
  available. Concurrent work does not interfere
  with design progress. Fewer ECOs at manufacturing
  and faster path to completion
• Better use of Creative Team Skills Encourages
  designers to explore alternates.

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CAE Product Data Management

• Creative process by a) keeps track of all
  documents and test results for a single change b)
  reduces risk of failure by sharing with right
  people early on c) team problem solving is made
  easy by use of packet-transfer facility
• Starts with existing organizational structure and
  loads application and documents automatically.

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CAE Product Data Management

• Data Integrity Safeguarded Single central vault
  concept ensures data integrity. Master copies
  remain absolutely accurate and secure
• Better control of projects Manages the data very
  closely to avoid data-explosion problems.
  Structure, Configration control, traceability are
  easily provided by PDM.

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CAE Product Data Management

• Scheduled tasks cannot be ignored and/or buried
  or forgotten.
• Multiple revisions and versions of any design are
  easily maintained and traced. Every
  version/revision is signed and dated.
• Provides a major step forward in establishing
  ISO9000 compliance and TQM (total quality
  management).

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CAE Product Data Management

• Basis of a PDM is a database engine -typically a
  commercial Relational Database Management System
  (RDBMS). In addition to file storage, revision
  control, notification, application integration is
  getting lot of attention
• Initial focus was downstream engineering process
  (design - manufacturing - obsolescence)

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CAE Product Data Management

• Manufacturing departments were initial targets
  initial design release to manufacturing and ECOs
• Later on time-to-market was added. This focussed
  on parallel processing (concurrency)
• This led to PDM systems allowing sharing of
  information up-to-date, pre-released and accurate
  without duplication or rework.

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CAE PDM glossary

• Access Control The Access Control function
  controls the read/write permissions for each file
  and record in the database. Most importantly,
  however, access control ensures that no two
  people are able to make changes to a master
  document simultaneously.
• ACL Access Control Lists are lists of individual
  users or groups, who have been granted the same
  permissions to perform PDM functions. Permissions
  may be of three types system-level, class-level
  and element-level. Different element-level
  permissions may apply to a record when it is at
  different states of the product development
  cycle.
• ACTIVITY A description of a piece of work that
  forms one logical step within a process. An
  activity may be a manual activity, which does not
  support computer automation, or a workflow
  (automated) activity.

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CAE PDM glossary

• ACTIVITY STATE A representation of the internal
  conditions defining the status of a process
  instance at a particular point in time. Most
  workflow management systems maintain such status
  information as part of their workflow control
  data.
• API Application Programming Interfaces
• Application integration Refers to the ability
  of a PDM system to automate the task of sharing
  files and other data between the system itself
  and other applications. With no application
  integration the user must interact to make data
  sharing possible. There are three types of data
  items that can be shared between applications and
  a PDM system files, meta-data and configurations.

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CAE PDM glossary

• ARCHIVING Archiving is the intelligent back-up
  of selected files that no longer need to be
  accessed on a regular basis within the PDM
  system. These files are removed from the on-line
  disc storage areas to a lower-cost media such as
  optical disc or tape. Some PDM systems will
  retain database records of the archived files so
  that a user who subsequently tries to access the
  files will be informed that they should ask their
  administrator to 'restore' (the reverse of
  archive) them from a named optical disc or tape.
  Archiving is a critical capability of a PDM
  system, allowing you to release valuable on-line
  storage for current projects.
• ATTRIBUTE A description of the key
  characteristics of a document or part (e.g.
  'color' or 'release date').

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CAE PDM glossary

• AUDIT Audit capability allows product
  development teams to capture changes to database
  records over time. The audit trail takes the form
  of a series of signed and dated 'snapshots',
  sometimes known as 'checkpoints'. Systems vary in
  the way checkpoints are defined. Some are limited
  to changes of State and thus permit only an audit
  of 'who owned what, when?'. Others allow users to
  checkpoint at their own discretion, for example
  when a significant change has been made. This
  permits a more useful audit of 'what was changed
  by whom, when?'

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CAE PDM glossary

• BOM A Bill Of Material is a listing of all the
  subassemblies, parts, and raw materials that go
  into a parent assembly.
• BOM MANAGEMENT The Bill of Materials is a
  structured list of the materials, parts,
  assemblies and their respective quantities that
  define a product. An accurately represented BOM
  is key to the ability of the PDM system to
  organize and manage the engineering data. A PDM
  system manages the engineering data files by
  relating them to the respective part and assembly
  records. As the parts and assemblies are revised
  the PDM system keeps track of which files
  correspond to which revisions of the parts.

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CAE PDM glossary

• BROADBAND LAN Uses frequency division
  multiplexing to divide a single physical channel
  into a number of smaller independent frequency
  channels to be used to transfer different forms
  of information.
• CALS Computer-Aided Acquisition and Logistic
  Support is an initiative of the US Department of
  Defense, defining standard mechanisms for the
  exchange of computer-generated data. It covers
  standards for technical documentation, data
  interchange and guidelines for process
  improvement. CALS endorses the following
  standards CGM, CAM - Computer-Aided
  Manufacturing is the application of CAD systems
  and CAD geometry to automate the programming of
  numerically controlled (NC) machine tools. CCITT,
  Group IV, SGMLSMGL, IGES and PDES/STEP.
• CAPP Computer-Aided Process Planning is a data
  management framework designed to assist the
  functions of process planning in manufacturing

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CAE PDM glossary

• CASE Computer-Aided Software Engineering is the
  use of object-oriented programming and other
  techniques to streamline generation of
  programming code.
• CHANGE MANAGEMENT The ability of a PDM system to
  manage an engineering change
• CHECK-IN Storing or Replacing a given object
  (document or non-electronic item) into a
  controlled environment, after the system has
  performed the necessary access and security
  checks based on the user's/process' profile and
  the profile of the object. Once complete, other
  authorized users/processes will be able to access
  this object for Modify Access.
• CHECK-OUT Obtaining modify access to a given
  object (document or non-electronic item)from a
  controlled environment after the system has
  performed the necessary access and security
  checks based on the user's/process' profile and
  the profile of the object. This will result in no
  other user/process being able to obtain Modify
  Access to this object, but limit access to Read
  Only.

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CAE PDM glossary

• CLASSIFICATION Classification is the ability of a
  PDM system to organize and manage records in the
  database according to similar attributes such as
  color, material or other description. This
  technique enables users to find similar parts
  rapidly. It supports the practice of Group
  Technology.
• CLASSIFICATION TREE A way of structuring data
  classes for fast information retrieval, by
  presenting relationships in branched form (e.g.
  by physical function or manufacturing
  technology).
• CONCURRENT ENGINEERING One of the several names
  given to the process of reducing total
  manufacturing time by running design and
  production engineering tasks in parallel. Also
  referred to as 'simultaneous engineering'.

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CAE PDM glossary

• CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT A 'configuration' in a
  PDM system is effectively a superset of a BOM. It
  is the relationship between parts, assemblies and
  their associated data files. The new term,
  'configuration' is used because the term 'BOM'
  has a strong manufacturing connotation and
  doesn't truly exist until a product is released
  to manufacturing. A configuration can be set up
  at the initial design stage and used as a
  framework for development of the design. It can
  then be directly input into a BOM for the MRP
  system. Configurations change throughout the
  product lifecycles and managing these changes is
  known as configuration management.

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CAE PDM glossary

• Configuration management capabilities of PDM
  systems vary. They can include the following
• CONFIGURATION TEMPLATES MULTI-LEVEL EDITING.
  The template is a skeleton structure for the
  proposed product and represents a starting point
  from which the project team will develop the
  design. The template organizes the product
  structure according to what is already known.
  Individual team members may then be given the
  responsibility to design specific parts and
  assemblies. The configuration is often shared
  between members of the team and it is important
  for the PDM system to provide a multi-level
  editing capability so that each team member can
  change the configuration at the level they own -
  subject to having the appropriate permissions.
  Without multi-level editing, configuration
  changes can only be made at Project Manager
  level, causing unnecessary delays in the
  development process.
• COMPLETE CONFIGURATION REPRESENTATIONS - PDM
  systems vary in their ability to represent the
  various requirements of a configuration. Some
  systems provide the ability to manage attributes
  of the configuration in addition to the
  relationships between parts, assemblies and
  document records. A typical attribute that an
  organization will want to manage is cost. PDM
  systems can provide instantaneous cost
  information as the product configuration is
  updated - aiding the decision making process in
  terms of which parts to use.

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CAE PDM glossary

• PDM systems can also provide support for managing
  product options within a single configuration.
• MULTIPLE STRUCTURES - Configurations should also
  support the handling of multiple structures. This
  capability refers to managing different assembly
  structures and associated documentation according
  to the various disciplines involved in the
  product development process. For example, it may
  be necessary to manage two different
  representations in one configuration - the
  engineering picture, representing the design, and
  the manufacturing picture. The latter may be
  slightly different if, for instance, part of the
  manufacturing process was to assemble the product
  in two stages - on two separate production lines.
  A new manufacturing assembly identifier is needed
  to track the assembly as it is moved from one
  production line to the next. Additionally there
  may be drawings for this new assembly which need
  to be tracked by the PDM system. Without support
  for multiple views, several configurations would
  have to be managed simultaneously.

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CAE PDM glossary

• SUPPORT FOR EFFECTIVITY DATES - An effectivity
  date is the one on which a revision of a part or
  assembly becomes effective in a configuration. It
  may be necessary to determine effectivity dates
  both historically, for example by product serial
  number, and in the future. The latter capability
  is often needed when the change to the
  configuration is planned as opposed to
  corrective. By defining a future effectivity date
  for the change to the configuration (BOM) the
  organization can use existing inventory or
  complete an existing inventory or complete an
  existing order to the same specification. Without
  PDM system support for effectivity dates, changes
  to the configuration will have to be managed
  manually.
• MANIPULATION OF CONFIGURATIONS - The
  Configuration Management capability of a PDM
  system should provide broad capabilities for
  manipulating a configuration. It should provide
  the ability to manage different revisions and
  versions of parts and assemblies and the
  associated data files. It should support the
  specification of individual parts and assemblies
  in many product configurations.
• The PDM System should be able to simulate all
  design decisions regarding configurations. This
  includes the ability to add, delete and
  substitute parts and assemblies within a
  configuration. Without such comprehensive
  functionality there will be a greater reliance on
  manual intervention and a reduction in the
  accuracy and effectiveness of the PDM system.

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CAE PDM glossary

• CRITICAL PATH METHOD Use of computers to
  determine the particular sequence of operations
  that must be followed to complete a program in
  minimum time, as well as determine which events
  have some "float" or capacity to be reprogrammed
  without affecting the whole.
• DATABASE A collection of structured data,
  independent of any application.
• DATA DICTIONARY A PDM system capability to check
  that data is correctly entered into the database
  wherever possible. An 'active' data dictionary
  controls the user input throughout the entire
  data entry process. For example, it may guide
  with prompts, defaults and lists of appropriate
  options. Then, as the data is entered, the
  dictionary filters and checks to ensure that the
  data conforms to acceptable parameters. For
  critical data, user input can be closely
  controlled, for example if it only makes sense to
  design a bracket in steel, the dictionary can
  actively prevent the user entering 'aluminum' in
  a particular input field. An active dictionary
  not only simplifies data entry, but safeguards
  data integrity

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CAE PDM glossary

• DATA MODEL A definition of the different types of
  database records, and their relationships, which
  need to be managed by the PDM system.
• DISTRIBUTED DATA The ability of a PDM system to
  share data between several servers, each with a
  number of clients. There are two possible reasons
  for wishing to distribute data between servers.
  The first is that there are too many clients on
  the existing server to maintain acceptable
  response times. Whether or not this situation
  occurs depends very much on the PDM system
  design.
• The second reason is that users are
  geographically dispersed. Your organization may
  develop a single product across multiple sites,
  develop the product in one site and manufacture
  it in another or simply need to consolidate
  standard parts at a corporate-wide level. These
  and other organizational issues will dictate
  that, for any given product, its BOM and
  associated files and database records must be
  distributed across geographically distributed
  servers.

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CAE PDM glossary

• In reality, today there are few real
  implementations of PDM systems supporting
  distributed data. The complexities that have to
  be resolved include the following
• How to manage without having exactly the same
  data model for all servers. This is important as
  most companies implement a PDM system in one site
  initially, without a full understanding of the
  corporate-wide data model.
• How to control user access across the multiple
  servers. While this is fairly easy for one or two
  sites, the complexity is an order of magnitude
  greater when your organization has tens or even
  hundreds of sites.
• How to maintain a single master across all
  servers. For performance reasons you may need
  copies of the master file at each server.

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CAE PDM glossary

• When to update the other servers when the master
  record or file is changed on one server.
• How to optimize the update method for different
  LAN and WAN networks. for example, if two sites
  are connected via a 56K baud lease line, you
  could not manage server-to-server updates as if
  they were on the same LAN in the same building
  the cost would be prohibitive.
• If you need to distribute data you must first
  understand any limitations of your network
  environment. Then evaluate the time frame in
  which you can expect to implement the system and
  discuss your needs and the potential solutions
  with the PDM vendors.

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CAE PDM glossary

• DISTRIBUTED WORKFLOW The need for distributed
  workflow is closely linked to the need for
  distributed data. For example, suppose an
  automobile engine is being developed in one
  location and its transmission in another.
  Obviously the two assemblies have to fit together
  - and then fit into the body of the automobile.
  Paper processes exist to manage this kind of
  development environment. A PDM system can go much
  further by allowing the sharing of data between
  two engineers on two sites. One could have a
  packet containing the master of the transmission
  parts along with a reference to the mating parts
  in the engine. At the same time, the overall
  project manager could be monitoring work on both
  sites and generating on-line reports.
• Another need for distributed workflow may be that
  within a single project team, team members are
  geographically dispersed. There would be a need
  to send files or packets from one site to
  another. This would involve passing the master
  file from one server to another. If the state of
  the file then changes or is sent to another user,
  the other server needs to be updated so the
  project manager can keep track of the overall
  development process.