This morning, Jack Gordon, a product designer at ABC Design in Massachusetts, USA, sat down at his desk to get a handle on his assignments. Just like yesterday, familiar questions arose; Which of my projects should I work on today? When I’ve completed a project, whom do I notify? What should I do if there’s an issue that needs to be addressed? How can I make sure others haven’t updated designs that conflict with my part?
Without a solid system for creating, tracking, maintaining, organizing, and completing product development projects, Jack and his colleagues were draining ABC Design of valuable development time and productivity.
This morning, Jill Sanders, a product designer at XYZ Design in Georgia, USA, sat down at her desk, turned on her computer, started Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire, and accessed Windchill ProjectLink. There, in front of her, was her day. She viewed her entire list of assignments across all projects she was working on, and prioritized them so she could work on the most important projects first.
A new assignment arrives. At ABC Design, Jack is notified of a new rush assignment: developing a 30-watt on/off switch for a food processor. He immediately begins trying to assemble his team, sending a flurry of e-mails and voicemails to his colleagues in California, USA and India. Even as he does so, he’s aware that due to time zone differences, he may not hear back from his colleagues for hours or even days. Even then, it could take an entire week to reach agreement over e-mail. The rush project has encountered its first slowdown.
At XYZ Design, Jill is notified through an automated e-mail from her project manager of a new rush assignment: designing a 30-watt on/off switch for a blender. Following a link in the e-mail to her Windchill ProjectLink portal, she finds detailed information about the task with related documentation. She uses an online Windchill ProjectLink project workspace to assemble and communicate with her team members in Oregon, USA and Beijing. Critical data is uploaded. Schedules are generated. Tasks are created. And the project is off and running.
After the team gets settled, Jack encounters a problem. Due to space requirements, the on/off switch can only be 15-watts, not 30-watts, as originally specified. He spends the next hour e-mailing and voice mailing his project manager and colleagues, trying to set up a conference call to address the issue.
Shortly after lunch, Jill encounters a problem. Due to space requirements, the on/off switch can only be 15-watts, not 30-watts, as originally specified. Using Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire, she creates an online peer-to-peer meeting with her geographically dispersed colleagues. She provides links to the 3D model of the product design stored in the Windchill ProjectLink project. The team members brainstorm alternative solutions, make the required changes, view the new design, and check the updated model back in as a new iteration — all in real time.
Tracking an erstwhile design. Back at ABC Design, Jack’s project manager wants to know the status of a project that’s been in approval limbo for two weeks. Jack spends his afternoon making multiple phone calls and sending e-mails pleading for updates from team members, other contributors, and his project manager. Maybe he’ll finally determine the status of the project. Or maybe he won’t.
Over at XYZ Design, Jill wants to know the status of a project. From her Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire browser, she pulls up the project status screen in Windchill ProjectLink, and has her answer in seconds. Her design is being reviewed by QA and should be ready for refinements early next week. She updates her schedule accordingly, and as she does, the changes are reflected on each of her team member’s systems.
At the end of the day, Jack receives a status check call from his project manager. He spends the next 30 minutes reciting his progress on a list of projects.
Throughout the day, Jill updates her project’s status in Windchill ProjectLink as she completes her assignments, indicating the degree of completion for each task, risk level, and overall health status. Her project manager pulls it up on screen and views her progress, as well as the progress of other team members, for a consolidated picture across the project.
When Jack meets Jill. One day, Jack meets Jill. He complains about his company’s uncoordinated design development process.
She tells him about Windchill ProjectLink from PTC.
She tells him it’s a total solution for collaborative project management designed for product development teams.
She tells him that Windchill ProjectLink creates a Web-based, shared workspace that invigorates development on projects — especially for projects with iterative designs, like those found in consumer products, high-tech electronics, automotive, industrial equipment, and aerospace industries.
She tells him it’s a centralized, online workspace that enables product design teams, across multiple time zones around the world, to create new and innovative products in less time.
Jack listens and learns that designers no longer need to work in isolation. He learns that team members can share ideas, schedules, and engineering models; that Windchill ProjectLink can serve as a central repository for all project information and central online discussion forum related to any project.
Jack returns to ABC Design on a mission: to have Windchill ProjectLink installed across his company.
We’ll keep you posted.
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