Product Data Management (PDM)

What is product data management (PDM)?

Product data management (PDM) is the central system and processes used to securely capture and manage engineering data and process information during product development. It is part of product lifecycle management (PLM), which covers the complete lifecycle of a product.

Data stored within a PDM system includes computer-aided design (CAD), models, parts information, manufacturing instructions, requirements, notes and documents. This is then used by all employees who work with products, including engineers, quality assurance, project managers, salespeople and component buyers, often on a global scale. It integrates with other systems to deliver a single version of the truth around products and product information.

What are the benefits of Product Data Management (PDM)?

By creating a centralized repository of all product information, a PDM solution delivers multiple benefits:

• Increased efficiency, as data is accessible to all in a single place and can be easily discovered and used
• Greater collaboration, with data enabling global teams to work together seamlessly
• Improved data quality, with all information centralized and quality-checked to avoid errors
• Better protection of intellectual property through full audit trails and access rights management
• Lower risks through access to consistent data across the product process
• Improved enforcement of corporate processes and version control, such as through document control, electronic signatures and configurable watermarks

How does a Product Data Management (PDM) solution work?

The product data management process involves three steps:

1. Collection of data from existing business systems
2. Cleansing and refining data by the PDM system to remove duplication or inconsistencies
3. Centralization of data in a single platform, accessible to all relevant users

Once data has been collected, cleansed and centralized, the system should also manage metadata around particular files, control check-in/check-out access to users, ensure version and release control, and update if and when product configurations change.

What features should a Product Data Management (PDM) solution provide?

A product data management solution should include the following key features:

Integration capabilities

The solution should automatically integrate with relevant systems across the product lifecycle, connecting to share and synchronize data out of the box with solutions such as ERP, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), and Product Information Management (PIM). This ensures that data can be both collected seamlessly and shared with relevant systems and users across the organization.

Built-in data tools

As the single, central record of product information, data quality and version control are both vital features for a PDM system. This requires powerful, built-in tools that can validate, cleanse, enrich and standardize product data, including removing duplicates and correcting common errors and inconsistent information before it is uploaded and shared.

Scalability

Product data is normally extremely detailed, meaning that files are large in size, containing data, plans, diagrams and other schematic information. Files need to be available to a wide range of users, often across the organization and its global offices. The PDM solution has to scale to deliver seamless high performance sharing to everyone. Consequently, most modern PDM solutions are cloud-based.

Collaboration capabilities

PDM enables collaboration across departments, global teams and supply chains. Solutions should support collaboration through additional tools that encourage sharing and the creation of relationships between users, such as via communication and feedback channels.

Security and rights management

Product data is normally highly confidential and intellectual property needs to be safeguarded, particularly if it is being shared with other members of your supply chain. The PDM solution should therefore feature robust rights management and access privileges, controlling access to data and providing an audit trail of which data users have viewed.