PDM

Today’s new products and services must be marketed in cycles which are rapidly becoming shorter and shorter. The pricing pressure and the progressing trend toward individualisation of products pose a tremendous challenge for major sectors of the industry. In the future, therefore, the implementation of digital methods will be necessary to a much greater extent than in the past, not only in product development, but also in process, production, and factory planning. For ensuring their own survival in a globalised world, small and medium-sized enterprises will also be faced with the inescapable necessity of introducing the digital factory. In this context, 3D-CAD factory planning can be regarded as a basic prerequisite for successful implementation of the digital factory. However, this prerequisite has not yet been satisfied in many companies. In the present publication, an overall method for implementing computer-aided 3D-CAD factory planning in conformance with the requirements is ...

Firms use product classifications as a mean for structuring diversified ranges of products and harmonizing their description. In many industries, products are subject of differentiation and increasing customer requirements which both require a stronger customization of products. This trend affects also product classifications which undergo changes quicker and more often as well as get more detailed. Therefore, classifying and describing products can no longer be regarded as a one-time task; it has to be done multiple times or even on a regular basis. In this paper, we take a cost perspective and propose a method for estimating product classification costs in firms.

EDM systems manage the lifecycle of technical projects. They administer different kind of documents and data and demand often a high integration in existing CAD- and ERP systems. The demands on the EDM systems vary from company to company. In most cases the adaptability of the solution instead of technical features are demanded. The timeframe of the introduction depends on the complexity of the solution and the integration into the existing IT-architecture. The introduction of an average complex solution takes two to three month.