PDM software helps organizations connect and communicate product information
across globally distributed teams where multiple CAD tools may be used.
Windchill can be embedded into all major MCAD systems so users can manage
and edit CAD data and related documents (e.g., Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF)
without leaving their native MCAD environment. Access to data is optimized for
the remote worker by being web-based, accessible from a Windows desktop,
and available in the PTC Cloud. Lightweight viewables and self-service access
to role-based apps in secure project spaces enable automated sharing of more
consumable data to non-CAD users.

The various teams involved in a product’s lifecycle create a range of digital data.
Not only does this data span disparate functional systems, it often evolves over
time – and quickly.
With Windchill you deliver a real-time view of the most accurate data to all
enterprise stakeholders, expanding cross-discipline involvement. Standardizing
on PTC’s best practices for change and configuration management will drive
efficiencies. Better, more informed decisions can drive down the costs of poor
quality and enable your organization to implement changes and introduce new
products to market faster.

Effective requirements and validation practices are more than just an integral
part of developing and engineering complex products and systems. They are
vital to mitigating risk and ensuring customer satisfaction.
With Windchill you can centrally manage evolving requirements, test assets,
and software configurations. By automating the traceability and sharing
of data, you enable cross-functional collaboration across applications
and throughout the product lifecycle. With holistic visibility into evolving
requirements, stakeholders can easily manage test sessions, determine the
impact of proposed changes, and verify test results against requirements for
better product quality and compliance.

Most manufacturers are grappling with speed and agility in the face of
growing numbers of product options and variants.
With Windchill’s BOM management and BOM transformation capabilities,
product designers create and manage a part-centric digital product that
can be leveraged at every step of the product lifecycle. Now mechanical,
software, electronic parts and related artifacts can be integrated into the
engineering BOM. This provides your organization a single interface with
which both upstream and downstream teams will collaborate on such
domain systems as ECAD, MCAD, Software, PLM and ERP. Windchill ensures
that everyone – from the shop floor worker and service technician to a seller
configuring a customer order – is using the correct product information.

Traditional approaches to manufacturing make it complex to produce variants
and configurations. Product diversity breeds higher inventories, lower economies
of scale, service inefficiencies, manufacturing errors, and increased risk of noncompliance.
With the product variability management capabilities in Windchill, you can
strategically design, create, manage, and validate product variants. Platform
options, choices, logic, and configuration rules are directly linked to BOM, 3D
visualization, and CAD data to deliver a robust modular solution. You can fully
manage platform information across the lifecycle, making it easily available to
validate the product and share it with other enterprise tools such as ERP and CPQ

With manufacturing process management capabilities (MPM) you gain the
collaboration tools and methodologies needed to manufacture and build
products anywhere, 24×7. MPM brings design and the shop floor together with
suppliers, logistics, and quality for a more connected, agile enterprise.
With the MPM capabilities available in Windchill, you can feed shop floor data
into MPM for greater process efficiencies. End users can access technical
work instructions on demand (on a screen or with augmented reality) before
performing their own work or assisting in completing another task.

Globalization, outsourcing, and remote work have significantly increased the
complexity of product development. Internal teams – operations, engineering,
manufacturing, sales, marketing, purchasing, and customer service – can
be widely distributed across different offices and time zones. Suppliers and
customers are even further removed. PLM project management tools enable
extended product teams to securely collaborate regardless of their location.

As products grow more complex, multiple engineering disciplines need to
work together to design, build and maintain them. Designing a system using
models enables early visualization and simulation, improving stakeholder
buy-in and customer satisfaction

PLM enables companies to centrally manage all service information in
relationship to products, systems, and components. The key advantage of this
product-centric approach is that it helps maximize the reuse of engineering and
configuration-specific information.