Common PLM Questions
What is the difference between PDM and PLM?
- PLM means “product lifecycle management,” and it manages every aspect of the product from the design phase, through its production and sales arcs, its service requirements and all the way to its ultimate retirement. It provides a tool and a common repository to unite business processes and other software systems, people, data and company policies, and is the information backbone for a company and its entire extended supply chain.
- PLM manages every aspect of the product from inception all the way to disposal.
- PDM stands for product data management, and a PDM tool typically does just that: manage data. It is primarily responsible for version control and technical specifications, ensuring that engineers and other stakeholders are using the right versions and specifications.
- PDM manages all of the data associated with a product.
- More details can be found on this 3HTi page – PLM vs PDM: What is the difference?
What is Windchill?
- The Windchill brand name is used by many technologies by PTC. Windchill PLM solutions mean all the PLM software and all its modules (PDMLink, MPMLink, PartsLink, Supplier Management, Project Link, Service Information Manager, Options and Variants, and Windchill Risk and Reliability), other software based on Windchill (Pro/Intralink and PDM Essentials) and FlexPLM.
- Windchill PLM is not part of an ERP system, Windchill is very specialized as a PLM software, but it does communicate reliably with ERP systems(SAP, Oracle Applications, etc.)
What is a WTPart?
- In the world of Windchill, a part is a database object that represents a physical component or assembly within the structure or a manufactured product. The part object is used as the container for all the information that describes or defines that component or assembly.
What is Windchill Workgroup Manager?
- Windchill Workgroup Manager is a common client application that allows you to manage CAD data generated by many different CAD applications in Windchill. Typical users of Windchill Workgroup Manager are CAD design engineers who use one or more CAD applications and want to manage the design process in a controlled, collaborative manner within the Windchill environment.
CAD Centric vs Part-Centric Design in Windchill PLM
- In Part-Centric Design or Part-Driven Approach, also called the Top-Down Design, the eBOM is created independently from the CAD design, the association is done later
- In CAD-Centric or CAD-Driven Approach, also called the Bottom-Up Design, Windchill builds the Enterprise Structure(Part Structure) upon the CAD model.
What is License Management in Windchill?
- Windchill requires a valid license file from PTC to operate otherwise it will shut down after 6 hours of start-up
- Windchill users are entitled to a license through license group membership
- Access to an entitled feature will be limited to the count of purchased licenses
How to retrieve Windchill Licenses?
- There are two modes in which licenses can be retrieved and managed
- Online retrieval / Retrieve License Online
- Enables automated license management and license renewal
- Using:
- PTC Solution Installer during installation
- or from the License Management utility in Windchill after installation
- Using:
- Enables automated license management and license renewal
- Manual retrieval / Import License from file
- Targeted for offline sites
- Requiring manual management of license file
- Corresponding license files will be available on PTC License portal for download
- Targeted for offline sites
- Online retrieval / Retrieve License Online
Which releases will follow this new Licensing model?
- Windchill 11.1 and above will follow this model.
What happens when subscription period ends? Will Windchill shutdown automatically after expiration?
- From an existing installation:
- By default, all customers are given a 30-day grace period beyond their contractual term
- If the license is invalid or the subscription term has expired beyond the grace period, then Windchill shuts down
- A period of six hours is provided by PTC before shutting down the Windchill instance after the 30-day grace period ends
- From a new installation:
- Windchill shuts down in 6 hours if no valid license is provided
What is a Critical Patch set (or CPS)?
- CPS is a cumulative set of customer-driven critical fixes and security updates for the core PTC Windchill application that will be released periodically at on a published schedule
- Fixes provided via a CPS will be limited to customer-driven, critical fixes and security updates that do not change use-cases or require re-training of end-users
- New product behaviors and features will not be introduced with a CPS
Why is PDM Essentials being retired by PTC?
- The latest Windchill releases provide new packaging and licensing capabilities, providing customers more flexibility and license management tools for tailoring and managing their windchill deployments than ever before. As a result, it has been determined that the current Windchill offering provides a level of licensing that delivers the same level of access and capabilities as traditionally provided by PDM Essentials, specifically for CAD data management. Due to this overlap in the product portfolio PTC has decided to retire the PDM Essentials product by replacing it with Windchill and its equivalent licenses for managing CAD data. The move to Windchill will also provide for more timely support of new CAD tool versions released by PTC and other vendors.
What does the retirement of PDM Essentials mean for a customer?
- PDM Essentials 11.1 M020 was the last and final release in January 2019. Once the support period has ended PTC support will no longer process calls related to PDM Essentials.
- PDM Essentials 11.1 M020 was the last and final release in January 2019. Standard support for the 11.1 M020 release ends in January 2022. For customers on Extended Support this support will extend 1 additional year until January 2023.
What is the process of moving from PDM Essentials to Windchill?
- Barring the presence of any customizations of the PDM Essentials environment the move to Windchill is handled by the PTC Suite Installer as part of the installation process. For specific steps for performing this update one should reference the Installation and Configuration guide for your release. It should be noted that the move from PDM Essentials to Windchill must be performed at the same software release level. The PTC Suite Installer supports updating from the same version of PDM Essentials (e.g. 11.1 M020 CPS XX) to the same version of Windchill (11.1 M020 CPS XX). It should be on same version including CPS.
Upgrading to a later release of Windchill would be a two-step process.- Update your current release from PDM Essentials to the same release of Windchill.
- Upgrade the Windchill current release to its latest release.
Why is Pro/Intralink being retired by PTC?
- The latest Windchill releases provide new packaging and licensing capabilities, providing customers more flexibility and license management tools for tailoring and managing their windchill deployments than ever before. As a result, it has been determined that the current Windchill offering provides a level of licensing that delivers the same level of access and capabilities as traditionally provided by Pro/Intralink, specifically for Creo data management. Due to this overlap in the product portfolio PTC has decided to retire the Pro/Intralink product by replacing it with Windchill and its equivalent licenses for managing CAD data.
What does the retirement of Pro/Intralink mean for a customer?
- Once Pro/INTRALINK 11.2.1.X has reached its end of support PTC will no longer provide patches or support for new releases of Creo. Once the support period has ended PTC support will no longer process calls related to Pro/INTRALINK.
What will support for Pro/Intralink officially end?
- Pro/INTRALINK 11.2.1.X will be the last supported release of Pro/INTRALINK. Standard support for 11.2.1.X releases for the Windchill product family, including Pro/INTRALINK, is Q2 2021. For customers on Extended Support, this support will extend 1 additional year until Q2 2022.
What is the process of upgrading from Pro/Intralink to Windchill?
- Barring the presence of any customizations of the Pro/INTRALINK environment the upgrade to Windchill is handled by the PTC Suite Installer as part of the installation process. For specific steps for performing this upgrade, one should reference the Installation and Configuration Guide for your release. It should be noted that the upgrade from Pro/INTRALINK to Windchill must be performed at the same software release level. The PTC Suite Installer supports upgrading from the same version of Pro/INTRALINK (ex. 11.1 M020) to the same version of Windchill (11.1 M020). Upgrading to a later release of Windchill would be a two-step process:
- Update your current release from Pro/INTRALINK to the same release of Windchill
- Upgrade the Windchill current release to its latest release