Product Data Management and Complexity Challenges

Data is the lifeblood of product development, and effective product data management is critical to the success of your product development processes. So why is finding the right data management solution so difficult?

The reason is, when choosing a product data management solution, product development complexity matters. Expert guidance often portrays the selection of a data management solution as a simple choice. If your company is large, then you need a full-blown PLM system. If your company is small, then you need the simplified scaled down version of PDM. But in reality, the right system depends on the complexity of your product development process, not the size of your company.

In this eBook, from industry analyst Lifecycle Insights, you’ll learn how to properly evaluate your own product complexity, including the impact of:

• Multi-CAD data in the supply chain
• Electronics and software development
• Volume and complexity of analyses

Once you understand the true complexity of your product development processes, you can better match a product data management solution to your needs.

This eBook also covers the range of different options available for managing product data, including:

• Laptops, Desktops and Shared Drives all lack the ability to understand CAD data. Manually organizing and managing these files undermines the productivity of engineers.
• PDM, PLM and ALM systems provide powerful capabilities, but demand IT professionals for deployment and maintenance.
• CAD-Enhanced Cloud Sharing Services provides the fundamental capabilities engineers need without the overhead of software systems.

Which one is right for you? Don’t let yourself become resigned to choosing between a few product data management options that aren’t right for you; there are now more options, especially for companies that run simple product development processes. With this eBook, you can right-size a solution to fit your needs.

About the Author

Chad Jackson is an analyst, researcher and blogger with Lifecycle Insights, providing insights on technologies that enable engineering, including CAD, CAE, PDM & PLM.