Mechanical CAD & PLM Integration

Home > Enabling Technologies > Mechanical CAD & PLM Integration

A mechanical CAD and PLM integration enables the PLM system to manage (i.e., control access to) the CAD design objects (assemblies, parts, drawings, etc.), track changes, and maintain the appropriate relationships between the CAD design objects and the PLM's product structure.

Benefits:

Secure access to the CAD design objects
Distributed global access to a single source of CAD design objects
Improved change management (explicit tracking of new versions and revisions)
Improved reusability of common parts and assemblies

Features:

Document Management
The most basic aspect of a CAD integration is the ability to vault (check-in and check-out) the CAD design objects. A CAD design object may be checked-out for modification (the user intends to modify the object), in which case the master object is "locked" from change by other users. A CAD design object may also be checked-out for reference (the user only needs to reference the object, perhaps in support of modifying another object), in which case the master object is available for modification by other users. When a user is finished modifying a design object, he/she checks-in the object as a new version.

Access Control
Once a CAD design object is checked-in to the PLM system, access can be controlled by a sophisticated set of access rules. Access can typically be controlled by the user's role, project/program, organization, or design object state.

Product Structure
CAD design objects can be associated with the PLM product structure (business objects as part of the check-in process. The Cad integration can be configured to map the required data semantics of the CAD system to the PLM product structure/business objects. Revisions, renames, save as, etc is typical features that the CAD integration supports so that the CAD data files are fully controlled, managed, and product structure integrity is maintained.

Design States
PLM systems support the concept of design states. The CAD integration enables the user to promote/demote a CAD design objects, based on the business rules within the engineering organization.

Attribute Management
Attributes are represented as part of the PLM system's metadata. A CAD design object attribute can be captured and represented as a PLM metadata attribute, thereby enabling PLM searches and queries to be done against the CAD attributes. In addition, the metadata attributes can be edited at either the CAD system level or the PLM system level.

Change Management
PLM systems typically support the concept of versions (or sequences) and revisions. A new version is typically created each time a CAD design object is modified and checked-in to the PLM system. A higher-level assembly can reference specific versions of a part or assembly. A new revision is created as part of an engineering change order that introduces a change in form, fit or function for the part or assembly.