Windchill 12 is the latest release of PTC’s industry-leading PLM platform. The newest updates focus on four key areas:
- Digital deployment
- Closed-loop quality
- Concurrent manufacturing
- Collaboration and product data access
The upgrades to these core areas expand into hundreds of key enhancements to tools and features across the platform. Here’s a quick overview of what’s new in Windchill 12.
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Feature Enhancements in Windchill 12
Digital Deployment
Windchill has been available on-premise or in the cloud for many years. Now, PTC is taking its digital deployment initiatives to the next level. Windchill 12 specifically includes standards-based integrations and APIs based on the ODATA standard to ensure ongoing compatibility with both PTC and non-PTC applications. These capabilities support the multi-system orchestration of design processes and simplify communication and collaboration across global teams. In addition, administrators now have new tools to plan and execute Windchill upgrades to ensure rapid ROI.
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Closed-Loop Quality and Improved Quality Control
Ensuring quality is critical to manufacturing success. It results in better customer satisfaction outcomes, lower costs, and adherence to manufacturing schedules. Certain features in Windchill 12 have been specifically enhanced to help manufacturers improve quality control. These new tools help:
- Uncover design issues early in the process
- Reduce costs associated with quality issues
- Get products to market faster
Specifically, Windchill 12’s new proof of traceability feature gives manufacturing organizations the ability to respond to adverse events much more quickly by integrating with OSLC. The platform also helps users identify changes throughout the design process to improve quality management.
Windchill 12 helps close the loop on quality control to improve customer satisfaction, reduce costs, and keep up with schedules.
Concurrent Manufacturing Tools
Manufacturing customers require unique product configurations to meet their needs – but tracking and maintaining those combinations on the factory floor can be extremely difficult. Windchill 12 uses digital threat technology to provide connections between designs and information on the shop floor. This makes it easier for engineers to quickly view and reconcile any changes to manufacturing and plant-specific BOMs.
Windchill 12 also includes additional enhancements to BOM features include tools to support configuration. The platform lets the user identify and select rule-driven items within a configuration to better understand sources on a custom BOM. There are also improvements to BOM visualization and maintenance that allows users to include many raw materials and semi-finished items in a BOM. There are even tools to use pull BOMs out of direct modeling tools within Creo to make it easier to deal with supply chain interruptions, changing safety regulations, and time to market concerns.
Collaboration and Product Data Access
Windchill has always had incredible collaboration tools – but Windchill 12 enhances this by providing wider and deeper access to product data across the enterprise and the entire supply chain. By integrating with HIS, Silicon Expert, and more, new extensions simplify component sources, part selection, and risk assessment.
Existing integrations with SolidWorks and CATIA have also been augmented to streamline data and design sharing across teams and key stakeholders. New out-of-the-box extensions offer custom configuration options and new apps optimize information sharing even further.
What’s New in Windchill 12
Windchill 12 hasn’t just been improved – there’s also brand new tools to support your digital transformation initiatives like:
- Multi-Body Design: The introduction of Multi-body design in Creo 7.0 has been brought into the capabilities of Windchill 12. Multi-body design allows users to complete a variety of previously time-consuming tasks quickly and easily. Design maintenance and modifications are simplified. Users can use Stochastic and custom lattices for additive manufacturing designs. These multi-body tools can also be used in the improved augmented reality (AR) workflow publication process. Using these tools enables rapid deployment and reduces the need for user training and tedious document editing.
- Documentation Support: Windchill 12 now includes tools that streamline the creation of technical documents. This includes publishing thumbnails to Arbortext for use in documentation or service manuals. Streamlining this process simplifies maintenance, reduces costs, and improves documentation quality.
- Reporting: The new Windchill Business Reporting elevates existing capabilities in Windchill. It provides more layout and formatting options so users and stakeholders can understand information at a glance.
Improve Collaboration and Streamline Development with Windchill 12
Windchill 12 includes everything your organization needs to improve collaboration and streamline development – regardless of where your team is located. The latest tools ensure that users have access to critical information right when they need it to support decision-making which ultimately speeds up development, reduces costs, and increases customer satisfaction.
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