Making Your Case for PDM

If you’re like most people, you find yourself in this position because you’re the engineer who’s finally had enough of hacked together CAD file management solutions. “Solutions” that don’t know any- thing about engineering rules or don’t make it any easier to share files with non-CAD users. Maybe you’re also the engineer who’s come to terms with the idea that a well-organized (and well-meaning) file naming system is not, in fact, infallible.

Our hope is that you’ve arrived at this opinion before someone grabbed an old version and worked on it for half a day. We’re also hopeful that every part sent to manufacturing has been the right part. But we know that isn’t always the case. We’ve found that our customers are remarkably candid about why they buy PDM, especially if it’s to ensure that no one ever makes the mistake that just cost them their weekend ever again. The messages we receive about the failings of customer file management systems are usually delivered with a bit more verve and colorful language than we’re able to replicate here, but you get the idea.

Not everyone has the “luxury” of having a painful, completely avoidable mistake in their engineering group’s recent past to buoy arguments for a PDM solution. For the most part, CAD file management is like anything else—management is inclined to stick with what’s working, especially if it’s free. Smart managers understand there’s an element of risk in an unmanaged environment, but given what else is on their plate (deadlines, budgets, deadlines again), it can be a challenge to push CAD file management to the top of the list.

Fortunately, you’re in the right place. This eBook explains how you, the CAD-using engineer who’s had quite enough of naming conventions and Dropbox, can bring together the elements needed to support an investment decision in a modern, industrial-strength product data management solution.

In other words, the aim here is to give you what you need to convince your boss that your team needs PDM.