Project managers responsible for new products can create their own project templates in Windchill ProjectLink. Business rules that are critical to the success of the product can be easily incorporated into these project templates. These templates can then be used to create subsequent NPI projects and thus help enforce consistency across the board.

Here is how you can create your own custom templates:

As a project manager, you can create a project in Windchill ProjectLink and populate it with data that is pertinent to your organization. You can store standard document templates in the project folders section, create a team with standard roles that need to be staffed, publish a project plan with key deliverables and milestones, amongst many other things.

Standard approval workflows and other relevant automation can also be added. Then, simply select the “Save as Template” option from the “Actions” drop down on the “Details” sub-tab (Figure 1).

Figure 1

This will launch a window to save your project template. Here, you can give the template a name “New NPI template”, provide a description and select aspects of your project that you wish to *templatize*. So for example, if you wish to exclude the project plan from the template, simply uncheck it. Once you have made the appropriate selection, hit “Ok”. This will save the template within Windchill ProjectLink for future use (Figure 2).

Figure 2

Now, when anyone in your organization creates a new project, the template that you just created will be available in the template drop-down menu for them to use. By simply selecting this template, the project that’s being created will imbibe all the business rules embedded in the template. A project plan with deliverables and milestones will be automatically created, a team with the right roles will be populated and standard document templates will be placed in the right folders (Figure 3). Using this project template functionality, your NPI project teams will no longer need to guess at the right business processes to follow. New product introduction will become more predictable, more repeatable and hence more successful.

Figure 3

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