Over the last 20 years software engineering has advanced in amazing ways. The result has been an explosion of innovation that has transformed how we live - retailing (with e-commerce sites like Amazon.com), software (with cloud computing); purchasing expensive products (where have all the travel agents gone?) and countless others. But what’s happening in the “real” world, the world of physical products?
Not until recently has the $20 billion CAD vertical begun its journey to the cloud. PDM is also transitioning to meet the changing needs of engineering community... or is it? In this two part series on PDM, we’ll explain the past, present and future of PDM software, as well as common PDM alternatives.
Brief history of PDM
PDM, or Product Data Management, has been available to CAD users since the mid-1980s. When engineering drawings were created by draftsmen on drawing boards they were usually stored in shared and secure physical folders and cabinets, such as those in the image above.
When engineering design and documentation moved to the digital world the companies that produced CAD software started to develop software for storing, managing, sharing and securing the digital data. These products were called PDM systems.
From the mid-80s through the late-90s we saw the development of many capable PDM systems:
- iMAN from UG Solutions
- Metaphase from SDRC
- Optegra and Windchill from PTC
- MatrixOne from the company of the same name
- Pro/PDM and Pro/Intralink from PTC
- Enovia from Dassault Systemes
- Workgroup PDM and Enterprise PDM from SolidWorks
Since that time we have seen both company and product consolidation.
UG Solutions acquired SDRC, which was in turn acquired by Siemens. Their respective products were combined to create TeamCenter. Computervision was acquired by PTC and their collective products were integrated to produce Windchill. Dassault Systemes acquired both MatrixOne and Solidworks. MatrixOne lives on as Enovia.
And the major CAD vendors have all reinvented themselves as “Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) companies”. This is meant to indicate that they provide not just design and manufacturing software products, but services and solutions that integrate digital manufacturing into an enterprise.
Current state of PDM
Despite decades of investment in the development of PDM systems by CAD vendors, the majority of today’s CAD users, 60% - 80% do not have access to a PDM system. Instead they manage their design and manufacturing data using homegrown solutions.
Why is this?
- PDM systems are difficult to setup and manage. Even the simplest PDM systems require the support of a full time IT administrator.
- PDM systems are complex. They are designed to meet the most challenging requirements of the largest manufacturing companies, and often overlook the needs of small to mid - sized companies. The complexity often outweighs the advantages of using a commercial system to manage data.
- PDM systems are expensive. The initial license cost and the maintenance or renewal fees can be a significant expense.
Of course, these are all problems that Software as a Service (SaaS) or “software in the cloud”, like our product GrabCAD Workbench, solves. Cloud solutions also solve other problems, like securely sharing data with supply chain partners.
Part II of our PDM series is now live! Click here "How to manage CAD files without Product Data Management software".
We’d love to hear about your challenges and successes with managing CAD data. How are you doing it? Do you have a commercial PDM system installed?
