We have three seats of SW and three users. We are storing all of our files (>3000) on a server and accessing them with Windows File Explorer.
How much easier would our lives become if we transitioned to PDM? (Sorry, I'm an engineer...I can't help it. )
We need to justify the cost.
How much easier would our lives become if we transitioned to PDM? (Sorry, I'm an engineer...I can't help it. )
I think it's actually easier to justify it by how much time you've already lost.
How many times have two people been working on the same part and one over wrote the other?
How many times have files been moved and assemblies blew up?
How many times have changes been made and then you decided the old idea was the better one?
and on and on
Look at all the problems you think a PDM will save you and look at the time you've lost. If you don't see any time that would have been saved already, very possible a PDM won't save you much time.
Matt Juric wrote:
How much easier would our lives become if we transitioned to PDM? (Sorry, I'm an engineer...I can't help it. )
I think it's actually easier to justify it by how much time you've already lost.
How many times have two people been working on the same part and one over wrote the other? BTDT.
How many times have files been moved and assemblies blew up? Every week....
How many times have changes been made and then you decided the old idea was the better one? Every week, again.
and on and on
Look at all the problems you think a PDM will save you and look at the time you've lost. If you don't see any time that would have been saved already, very possible a PDM won't save you much time.
That stuff happens all the time (!!!) here. Along with having poorly named folders that can't be renamed, files scattered hither and yon, duplicates, etc.
I have a very limited understanding of PDM, though. Does it keep the folder structure, or is everything "tree shaped"..???
as Ben says, our input will be limited. but I see a few big potential advantages for you
Yes it keeps folder structure, but unlike win explorer you can move files around without losing references. You can also set up no duplicate names for SW files. You can make whole new assemblies with similar parts/reuse other parts using the copy tree function.
you can set and folder structure you want. it mostly looks like windows explorer (different colored icons) If you decide to browse through it. but you should generally just live in the search tool.
(and you CAN rename folders outside of PDM, but it is WAY easier inside )
Michael Miller wrote:
Matt Juric wrote:
How much easier would our lives become if we transitioned to PDM? (Sorry, I'm an engineer...I can't help it. )
I think it's actually easier to justify it by how much time you've already lost.
How many times have two people been working on the same part and one over wrote the other? BTDT.
How many times have files been moved and assemblies blew up? Every week....
How many times have changes been made and then you decided the old idea was the better one? Every week, again.
and on and on
Look at all the problems you think a PDM will save you and look at the time you've lost. If you don't see any time that would have been saved already, very possible a PDM won't save you much time.
That stuff happens all the time (!!!) here. Along with having poorly named folders that can't be renamed, files scattered hither and yon, duplicates, etc.
I have a very limited understanding of PDM, though. Does it keep the folder structure, or is everything "tree shaped"..???
It has what ever folder structure you set up. I have seen everything in one folder, in folders based on file types, in folders based on projects and in variations of these. And the nice thing, you can easily move files from one location to another and the links are maintained.
Are you concerned about having two files of the same name in two different folders and having one changed but not the other? PDM can control that if set to. On a big project that mistake alone can pay for the setup cost of having PDM standard implemented.
It was always so hard to break people of the click click click to this folder. Seriously, top level search is so easy.
Craig Schultz wrote:
It was always so hard to break people of the click click click to this folder. Seriously, top level search is so easy.
we are goiong on 10 years with PDM, and some people STILL browse... worse yet, they train new people in their depts to browse...
Michael Miller wrote:
Matt Juric wrote:
That stuff happens all the time (!!!) here. Along with having poorly named folders that can't be renamed, files scattered hither and yon, duplicates, etc.
I have a very limited understanding of PDM, though. Does it keep the folder structure, or is everything "tree shaped"..???
PDM will not prevent duplicate files...it will prevent you from checking in duplicate files which means other people will not have access to them.
PDM will not prevent files being everywhere and just like solid works doesn't care where the files are for the most part.
Not sure what you mean by "Keep the folder structure". PDM like Jeremiah mentioned, is basically a specialized windows explorer. You can create any folder structure you'd like.
There would be diff. approaches.
Few yrs ago, we, like you, all shared the files in the server and I was the one who kept track and manually updated the rev. It was time consuming for checking the files at release. So I ended up learning wPDM and set the it up for the company. it was a long learning curve but really helped out in term of controlling the rev
Then again, I did the same thing with PDM standard couple yrs ago when SW stopped supporting wPDM
I guess you already know that if you own a Pro. or Pre. license, then PDM standard or old wPDm includes in the package while you have to pay for PDM Pro.
Now it's up to you: pay VAR to setup and train you guys to run PDM or learn and do it yourself.
One thing for sure you'll be sorry not to do this earlier soon you get PDM up and running
SOLIDWORKS has posted their PDM ROI calculator. You can find it here: SOLIDWORKS ROI Calculator .
Hopefully this helps you evaluate!
Nadia Shea wrote:
SOLIDWORKS has posted their PDM ROI calculator. You can find it here: SOLIDWORKS ROI Calculator .
Hopefully this helps you evaluate!
While that's a nifty sales gadget I'm getting a feeling it's not very realistic. It just told me that implementing a PDM system would save me 767K a year on 5million in sales with 10 engineers. That would be super awesome and all....but no :-)
Does all three work on same project at the same time? If yes, PDM.
Or they just need to check other's work when needed? If yes, you can just sync local to a network "backup".
Do you use toolbox?
Share library?
Matt Juric wrote:
Nadia Shea wrote:
SOLIDWORKS has posted their PDM ROI calculator. You can find it here: SOLIDWORKS ROI Calculator .
Hopefully this helps you evaluate!
While that's a nifty sales gadget I'm getting a feeling it's not very realistic. It just told me that implementing a PDM system would save me 767K a year on 5million in sales with 10 engineers. That would be super awesome and all....but no :-)
Wow.... just pay me half of it and I'll be happy to fly over to your place to do the custom setup and training ...
Nadia Shea wrote:
SOLIDWORKS has posted their PDM ROI calculator. You can find it here: SOLIDWORKS ROI Calculator .
Hopefully this helps you evaluate!
Interesting ... I never thought this kind of estimating ever exists
The only time two people need to work on the same part would be if one has a large assembly open and the other wants to work on a component. But that's pretty rare for us (relatively speaking).
The biggest push right now is tracking revisions and being able to roll back if something heads south.
Oh yeah:
Do you need ot see where a part is used so when you decide to make a change, you see how many assemblies are going to explode? Then yes, it'll be easier.
I believe regular check in is required to "roll back".
I make daily and monthly backup.
Only once I needed something passed the monthly.
Daily saved a few blow up assemblies.
"Roll back" term in PDM is kind of a tactical nuke option to permanently remove versions of a file, something usually only Admin has access to and hopefully not part of normal work flow. However, have versions of files is nice. Once a user learns that they can check in and keep checked out for "exploratory modeling" and then go back and grab the best version (so long as they commented well on check in) then check that in as the new latest version can be handy.
Flip side of versions is there can be a lot of information there when you start looking at Where Used to understand which version(s) are using which version of files and which version was used when it was checked in by someone and which version you're looking at. If you can simply always work with the latest version that simplifies things. Some users pick it up fairly quick, some others... well, I haven't lost hope yet. But since you only have a few users you should be able to get them up to speed.
Michael Miller wrote:
The only time two people need to work on the same part would be if one has a large assembly open and the other wants to work on a component. But that's pretty rare for us (relatively speaking).
The biggest push right now is tracking revisions and being able to roll back if something heads south.
Sounds like all you need is PDM Standard. What version/s of SW do you have, Standard, Pro or Premium?
Matt Peneguy wrote:
Michael Miller wrote:
The only time two people need to work on the same part would be if one has a large assembly open and the other wants to work on a component. But that's pretty rare for us (relatively speaking).
The biggest push right now is tracking revisions and being able to roll back if something heads south.
Sounds like all you need is PDM Standard. What version/s of SW do you have, Standard, Pro or Premium?
We have 1 seat of Premium, 1 seat of Pro, and 1 seat of Standard (soon to be upgraded to Pro).
I thought PDM Std allows only limited revisions of a part?
A team of three CAN work quite effectively without PDM. But it takes discipline.
PDM takes resources, human and otherwise. Someone has to get good at administrating the PDM. Someone has to set up, troubleshoot, maintain, upgrade, and take the 2AM calls.
Another plus in light of current events: PDM is better for remote work, especially if multiple users are on the same project..
Most small companies have either new SW users, or current users without training. Each user runs rampant using their own file structures. Over time, there are duplicate files and it becomes more difficult to maintain and track. I suggest at least PDM Std, get training on it.
It is impossible for anyone to provide a useful answer to that question without an in-depth look at your specific use case and that person needs to have enough experience with Solidworks PDM to know how to apply it to your situation. Anything else will be someone's experience based on their use case which may or may not apply to yours.
...or marketing, could also be a response based in marketing.
Ironically, my response is based in my own experience for one unique use case.