PROCES
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ENGINEERING
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Product Data Management with SAP PLM
Product Lifecycle Management is crucial and begins early in the product development phase. In this process the direct
connection of MCAD and ECAD with SAP allows for convenient management of data generated in CAD systems and
makes all this information consistently available in the SAP ERP/PLM system to all stakeholders. Users and departments
such as procurement, production and manufacturing benefit extensively by having access to this information early on
in the process. SAP SE provides with SAP Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) the option to directly link from CAD
engineering to SAP PLM by using integrated management of all information created over the life cycle of a product.
SAP PLM Integration to Autodesk
As SAP’s long-term development partner, CIDEON exclusively develops the SAP PLM integration to Autodes
k
Inventor
.
The integration enables the efficient management of all data that is created during the engineering process with Inventor in
SAP. It makes design data available to the company even at the early stages in the life cycle while keeping the engineers
in their familiar design environment.
The link between Inventor and the SAP
system allows for administration of all
components which have been designed.
Users have access to CAD data which
is coordinated through versioning and
status administration with SAP PLM.
By that users can to work on one compo
-
nent at the same time without data loss
by avoiding inconsistencies (concurrent
engineering). This translates into efficient
engineering and speeds up the product
development process while ensuring time
-
ly completion of the design, engineering &
downstream tasks.
Simple Management of CAD structures
Inventor assemblies and drawings including all related documents are managed as structures in SAP PLM. This process
ensures that appropriate original files are directly linked from Inventor to SAP. All author-ized users have access to the
original documents stored in a central data base - one single source of truth - which allows for companywide collaboration.
Users can track the development process and apply their appropriate change which reduces the number of redundant
operations. With the integrated SAP change management, a change history is always available for the documents.
SAP P
LM Interfac
e
to Autodesk
®
Inv
entor
®
Fig.: Inventor with SAP PLM menus, panels and message window.
CIDEON America Inc.
Eight Tower Bridge · 161 Washington Street, Suite 420
Conshohocken, PA 19428
Phone +1-484-532-7800 · Fax +1-484-532-7802
E-mail:
[email protected] · www.cideon-america.com
As of April 2016
Functional Overview
Document Management System (DMS)
Automated routine activities, such as creating and
updating SAP Document Info Records
Comprehensive version control functionality in DMS,
including digital signature
Content server for all Inventor files and other formats
Storing of all related CAD & non-CAD files in SAP
Fig.: SAP CAD Desktop with Inventor assembly structure.
Document structure function
Generate and update SAP document
structures from Inventor assemblies
Check-In / Check-Out of all assembly
original-/additional files
Block editing of checked-out documents
Text field maintenance
Automatically via material master,
document info record, change history,
classification and other SAP information
Highlights
Ideal interface for Inventor users
Comfortably operating with SAP directly in Inventor –
the familiar work environment for design engineers
Easy UI and navigation with a comprehensive
overview of all required SAP information
Direct access to SAP objects, e.g., Documents,
Material Master, Bill of Material, Change Master, ...
Integrated Viewing
Simplified product development processes
Access to the design data is coordinated through
versioning so multiple users can easily work on
assemblies simultaneously at any time
Avoidance of doubled data collection
Continuous release and approval processes
Continuous availability of current drawings, models
and view files (other departments)
Direct operations from Inventor e.g., Create SAP
Documents, Material Masters, BOMs
SAP object authorizations protect data from
unauthorized access
Downstream company processes
Parts lists and BOMs
Automatic generation of SAP Material Masters using
information from Inventor, e.g., iProperties
Assignment of parts to associated documents
Automatic derivation of parts lists from Inventor
structures
Search capabilities
Search by match-code, object links, where-used
reports, classification, queries or in folder structures,
assemblies, BOMs, .