1. PLM Basics

1.1 What is Product Lifecycle Management concerned with?

Integrated concept for the IT-supported organization of product data and information.

• All information about your products is always available at the relevant points in the company.
• The diverse information needs are integrated and satisfied.

Knowledge is stored and reused for successor products and product innovations.

• By creating transparency, master the complexity of your products; - accelerate “time to market”.

1.2 Product Lifecycle Management - Two core processes in the company

 

1.3 What is a PLM system?

A PLM system is a tool for administration:

• of the processes
• of the applications
• and the required information for the
  • Construct
  • Manufacture
  • Support
• The product during its life cycle

The advantage of such a tool is the creation of a single common interface.

• to the administration
• to access

all data within an organization.

1.4 Advantages of using a PLM system

The following advantages result from the use of a PLM system:

• Reduction of multiple data
• Easy retrieval and distribution of data
• Quick and easy display of models
• Particularly useful for checking changes
• Revision control ensures working with the most up-to-date data
• Management of assemblies and relationships between components
• Easy creation of modifications of parts lists
• Storage of the entire product history
• Establishes relationships between parts, including requirements and specification
• Provides access control and auditing to ensure data integrity

2. Basics Teamcenter

2.1 User Interface

Teamcenter Rich Client provides a product interface with a rich feature set that includes product management capabilities and application management configurability in one platform. The complexity and robustness of the features available make this interface more suitable for advanced users and application administrators.

The rich client interface has a standard menu bar and toolbar with options that can include different elements depending on the active application perspective. Position the cursor on a rich client toolbar button to display a tooltip description.

2.2 Cut, Copy, Paste and Delete

2.3 Organization

2.3.1 Access privileges & organization

• Persons
  Real existing persons in the company with first and last names. One person can have multiple users.
  ⇒Max Mustermann

• User
  Is the identification of a user in the system. Users can belong to several groups.
  ⇒Max Mustermann ⇒ Administrator & User

• Groups
  Corresponds to summaries of users.
  Group = Corresponds to a department or a project.
  Groups can also be structured hierarchically (according to the company organization).
  ⇒Administrator ⇒dba, project administrators,…

• Roles
  Activities of users in the organization (e.g. admin, employees, project managers, …). A user can be assigned different roles.
  A role corresponds to certain rights that the user has.

2.3.2 Access rights & organization

Groups and roles can be used for:

• To manage the access rights (read, write, delete) per group and role
• Definition of control/approval instances (for workflows) based on groups and roles
• Organization of data according to the group you created.

2.4 The most important Teamcenter applications

• My Teamcenter
  • Is the work area for the use and administration of product information
    (articles, documents, parts lists, specifications, requirements …)
  • Is the main point of use for many standard functions such as
    • Search and find PDM data
    • Create and modify PDM objects
    • Check-in / Check-out of objects
    • Administration of my tasks
    • Starting and monitoring of processes / workflows
    • Execute queries
• Structure Manager
  • For creating, displaying, and changing product structures (BOM)
• Visualization tools
  • Embedded Teamcenter Viewer
  • Lifecycle Visualization
• Workflow Viewer
  • To display an active or completed workflow process
• Project
  • Create and manage Teamcenter projects including security rules at project level
• Classification(currently not used)
  • Classification and categorization of Teamcenter objects according to a global or company-internal standard
• Change Manager
  • Creating, administering, displaying, approving and executing product change requests and product change orders

2.5 Items & Items Revision

2.5.1 Basic information about the item data model

An item in Teamcenter is a structure of a connected object. The basic structure of each item consists of the following two objects:

2.5.2 Item

• Items are basic objects used to manage information
• They represent physical or conceptual entities that enable audits and information changes.
• Imagine an item as the top level containing all information about a particular object or product.
• The element ID is composed as follows - here in the example for the European MAG locations - X.0000.0000
• No two items may have the same item ID. An item ID is always unique!
• An item provides access to all the information needed to design a part, including any changes, together.
• When creating an item, Teamcenter also automatically creates an Item Master Form.

 

2.5.3 Item Revision

• Item revisions manage the changes to an item and save the changes within the item.
• When you create an item, Teamcenter automatically creates the Item Revision.
• There must be at least one item revision for each item.
• Item revisions are the items that receive a release status.
• Contains the SAP master form - this is the link between the SAP material number and the item in Teamcenter.
• Contains the dataset.

2.6 Datasets

2.6.1 Datasets Objects

Files that are started from Teamcenter with non Teamcenter applications (e.g.: NX, Word, Excel,…) are managed by Teamcenter ⇒ Dataset Objects.

Here are a few examples:

2.6.2 Importing a dataset

• You can insert datasets in Teamcenter under your item revisions.
• If the datasets are not yet stored in Teamcenter, you can import the dataset.
• If you import the dataset under your item revision, keep in mind that the dataset is not located under the item revision, but only under the item revision.
• The revisions that are revised from this item revision also have the dataset reference in the item revisions.
• You can also create a completely new dataset directly in Teamcenter.

2.7 Relations

• Much information describes an article or is associated with the item that has revision
• Teamcenter uses relations to define the relationship between data objects and items/revisions.
  Automatically defined relation types:

2.7.1 User-defined relation types

(e.g. when copying / pasting objects into an item / revision)

• Specification Relation
  Documents of a revision. Are checked and locked accordingly when released (e.g. 3D master, drawings, NC programs,…).

• Requirement Relation
  Contains criteria that must be met by the design, but do not define how the design is performed. (e.g. specifications)

• Altreps
  (alternative representation) - Alternative description of the component (e.g. spring tensioned / not tensioned). As this is only a description of the condition, these will not appear in parallel in parts lists.

• Manifestation Relations
  Relationship of documents with only explanatory character. These have no meaning in the sense of a relevant or legal product description (e.g. internal presentations, films, photos…).

• Reference Relation
  General, undefined relationships between data objects and items / revisions.
  (e.g.: field reports, technical articles, laboratory reports, notes…)

3. working in Teamcenter

3.1 Search queries

3.1.1 Search tools in Teamcenter

Query type

• Standard query
• Customer-specific query

Execution of query via

• Quick Search functions
• Advanced search

3.1.2 Quick Search Function

3.1.3 Advanced search

 

3.2 Check-Out & Check-In

3.2.1 Basics for check-in and check-out

You can check items into and check them out of Teamcenter while retaining exclusive access permissions so that other users cannot make changes to the data.

• The Check out option locks an item in Teamcenter so that only you can change it. However, other users can still view the item.
• The Check In option unlocks the item, allowing other users to access it.

 

3.2.2 Checking out a construction

Before you make any changes to your design, you must first check it out. This locks the element and prevents other users from making changes at the same time.

1. Select the element you want to update.
2. Click Check out .
   The Information window displays the object whose Checked out property is set to Y.

Now you can open the item and make changes.

3.2.3 Checking in a construction

If you have made a change to your design, you must then check it in. This unlocks the item so that it can be checked out and changed by other users.

1. Select the item you want to check in.
2. Click Check In on the toolbar .

The Checked out property is updated.

3.3 Structure Manager

3.3.1 Introduction

Structure Manager allows you to create common product structures that can be configured to display the product structure at a specific time or for a specific unit, such as:

• The current manufacturing design of the product
• The product structure that was valid on a particular date.
• A specific customer variant

By creating a single generic structure that can then be configured according to individual user requirements, assembly structures do not need to be duplicated. This avoids associated problems such as maintenance, redundant information and search complexity.

Structure Manager displays your product structure in a multi-level list format with indentations that you can easily browse. This list is similar to the bill of materials used by design departments to list manufacturing information.

Structure Manager works with other applications that define or use the product structure, such as Platform Designer, Design Context, Multistructure Management, Manufacturing Process Planner and Part Planner.

3.3.2 Opening the Structure Manager

The Structure Manager can be started via the navigation window.

This opens the application with a new and empty window.

3.3.3 Opening the Structure Manager

To open an existing BOM View Revision (BVR) in the Structure Manager, use one of the following options:

• Double-click on the BOM view (View)

• Select the view (View) & (Ctrl+O) or from the File Open menu.
• Right mouse button on selected view Send to structure management

3.3.4 Overview structure manager

• Display of the assembly structure in the form of expandable tree diagrams in list form
• Corresponds to the design structure coming from CAD, but components without geometry (additive, auxiliary materials…) can also be stored.

3.4 Workflows

3.4.1 Introduction

All objects in progress go through several processes until they are completed.

• Workflow
  • Sequence of processes
    • Performed on 1:n Object(s)
• Process
  • 1:n Activities / Tasks
    • Performed by different resources (e.g. users) in different roles.
• Result
  • e.g. status change of objects

3.4.2 Starting a workflow process

• Select the object(s) [of an item revision]
• Start process dialog <STRG>+<P>
• Process definition in the dialog window “New process “
• Process template: “FFG 01 Engineering Release”
• Process start → “OK”

3.4.3 Process indicators

• Objects which are currently in a workflow are marked as follows:

• Objects that are in a workflow and you need to share are displayed in }.

• After starting the workflow you can select the desired neutral formats of all objects (part or structure) in the workflow in . As shown in the screenshot below, you must double-click on and perform a check-out. Then you can edit the “ProcessControlForm”, save it and check it in again.

• Then select “Perform task” through. Here you can now send further task instructions to the employee in the next step when you perform a “Peer Review”. When performing a “Self Review”, you are the final releaser of the engineering release - then the desired neutral formats are created.

4. Teamcenter Integration for NX

4.1 Teamcenter Navigator

• The Teamcenter Navigator shows the current folder structure of the user.

• The columns can be adjusted as required.

• The following file operations are possible with RMT:

4.2 Teamcenter Navigator Search

4.3 Teamcenter Navigator Advanced Search

4.4 Teamcenter functions in the assembly Navigator

• Keep all Teamcenter information up to date

4.5 Create and save parts

• The creation of a new item in Teamcenter is performed in NX as follows:
  
  Step 1:

• The creation of a new item as master part is visible as relationship “master” and contains the model.
• The creation of a new non-master part is visible as relationship “specification” and contains the DrawingPart.

4.6 Revise and save parts

• The revision of Master parts takes place with:
  Menu File → Save → Save as…
• Create as new change state (revision)
• Save as new element creates a new part under a new part number
• Save as Alt-Rep creates a new dataset with altern. Geometry presentation under the current part / revision master.

• If an item revision contains dependent files in addition to the master part, the documents to be adopted can be selected if this is defined in the preferences.

4.7 Assemblies in Teamcenter Import or Export