How to choose a design data management system

Manufacturers - including machine builders - are now waking up to the value of strategically managing design data so that it can be reused across the entire enterprise, keeping efficiency high and costs low. Now that designs are held on computers rather than on pieces of paper, the scope for reuse is enormous. This is especially true with modern 3D digital design software that makes it so easy to mix and match component designs, safe in the knowledge that these will be effortlessly combined, with all of the knock-on effects on the new project calculated automatically.

But how can organisations best manage all of this valuable data to ensure it is used efficiently and accurately, to best effect?

For larger companies, product lifecycle management (PLM) systems offer a way of achieving a holistic view of all of the processes that bring a product to market. But watch out for complex, expensive systems, which may try to do too much, and may need board clearance before they can be implemented. If you are a smaller company, high-level systems will be priced out of your league anyway.

Here are some 'rules of thumb' for choosing a perfectly good system that will give you all of the efficiencies you seek, without slowing you down or monopolising your annual IT allowance:

Start small, focusing on design

To help contain costs and retain control, look for systems that can be implemented first in the design office and then extended outwards in time (as opposed to an enterprise-wide system that has to be customised to fit your particular design processes). Ideally, go for a modular system that is easy to implement, and can be purchased and rolled out in stages, giving you instant "wins' while helping to keep budgets under control.

But do not be short-sighted in your ambitions

For the best, long-term results consider the entire design-to-production process, not forgetting sales and marketing, purchasing and all other departments. There are bound to be ways they could exploit data reuse - for example, in showing new clients what you could do for them. Aim, eventually, for connected, integrated systems that could span the whole organisation.

Look for "work in progress' management

Document version control is always an issue, even when everybody is working in the same office, never mind when they are dispersed across different locations and even different countries. A practical data management system should minimise the chances of someone in the team working on an outdated version. It also needs to provide a way for multiple engineers to work on a design simultaneously without risking mistakes. Similarly, the system will need to help reduce the risk of releasing incomplete and inaccurate designs for production, as mistakes here can mean serious delays in operations, and incorrect bills of materials.

Managing engineering change orders (ECO)

Once changes are approved, they need to be tracked, audited, monitored and automatically routed in parallel throughout the company, avoiding delays caused when change orders get stuck on someone's desk. With proper workflow management, change requests will be processed much more promptly, reducing time to market and cutting design overheads.

Going further

Next, consider linking the design data management with other enterprise systems. For example, design information in the form of bill-of-material data can be injected straight into supply chain or MRP systems, avoiding the need for time-consuming manual entry (thereby reducing the risk of error, as well as saving time). The information can be used by the sales team to start generating demand, in order-taking applications and in CRM systems that store information about demand.

Choose your software provider carefully

Does the provider sell through a qualified systems integrator channel - specialist companies that can advise and help you with your entire business and make recommendations (rather than just selling you a product and walking away)? For software that will be so critical to your business, make sure you have full support in place.

Innovation, not automation

Finally, remember that however much time automation can save, it will not actually generate revenue. However, it will release your design team from routine and time-consuming processes, from fruitless searches for information, for righting wrongs when mistakes are made. This frees up their energy to design highly innovative and better quality products - ie what they were trained and employed to do.

A high-quality software system designed to meet all of these important criteria is Productstream from Autodesk, and the Vault system that comes as standard with Autodesk Inventor 3D digital prototyping software.

One keen user of these capabilities is Wireline Engineering, a successful provider of engineered systems to the well completion and intervention sectors of the oil and gas industry. In this fast-moving market, Wireline Engineering recognised that constant innovation and a rapid response to customer demand is essential to keeping ahead, so the company migrated from AutoCAD to Autodesk Inventor a few years ago.

Now, working closely with Imass, a specialist Autodesk partner, it is implementing Autodesk's incremental data management system. Once this is up and running, and linked to its new ERP system, the benefits are expected to be significant, eliminating the need to repeatedly recreate data, and thereby improving accuracy. It also streamlines processes so that products can be brought to market faster.

Its first step was to implement Autodesk Vault, which came with Autodesk Inventor. This promotes design reuse by consolidating product information in a single location, enabling users to track design data and manage work-in-progress without the need for manual paper-based processes. Next, Wireline will implement Autodesk Productstream, to automate the release management process, track the change order process, and manage bills of materials. This will help the engineering office keep better control of product data.

In these acutely competitive times, the ability to hone quality, remove redundancy from the engineering process, and eliminate unnecessary costs from the pipeline is paramount. In this context, smart, workflow-driven management of valuable, reusable data assets is the goal every forward-thinking firm should be striving towards.