CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
9 July 2007
Implementation Investments
PCMC Cuts Paper Machine Development Time, Enhances Global Collaboration With PDMWorks Enterprise
Paper Converting Machine Company (PCMC) is using SolidWorks® 3D CAD, COSMOS® design analysis, and PDMWorks® Enterprise product data management (PDM) software to help ensure customers such as Kimberly-Clark and Procter & Gamble continue to make the tissue paper and other paper products consumers around the world depend on.
With thousands of new and decades-old machines in operation globally, PCMC is one of the largest manufacturers of machines that make, finish, and package a variety of paper products. Its machines can produce nearly 1.4 million rolls of toilet paper per day and generate almost 2.4 million feet of paper towels per day. Having standardized on SolidWorks, COSMOSWorks®, and COSMOSMotionT software for all new product design and analysis since 1999, the Green Bay, Wis. company has purchased a 200-seat license of PDMWorks Enterprise to manage its CAD data while collaborating with engineering teams in Europe, Brazil, and Japan. PDMWorks Enterprise helps the company streamline product development, reduce errors, and minimize costs.
"One of the biggest mistakes a company can make is to not have a dependable PDM tool when designing products in 3D," said Thad Perkins, Director of Mechanical Engineering at PCMC. "The amount of data you're generating with parametrics, including the relationships between assemblies and parts, is exponentially higher than with 2D. PDMWorks Enterprise will help us securely manage several hundred thousand 2D and 3D designs. That's crucial, whether we're working on a new project or retrofitting a 60-year-old machine."
After evaluating four PDM products, PCMC purchased PDMWorks Enterprise because the software's intuitive user interface accelerates training, and the dependable version control and concurrent design let engineers on different continents work on the same design without creating errors. This concurrent design accelerates development while minimizing re-work. The software's stability and integration with SolidWorks will ensure users don't wrestle with data loss or waste time hopping between different application windows.
PCMC will integrate PDMWorks Enterprise with its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to enable engineers to create one up-to-date bill of materials (BOM) for each project. Engineers will create the BOM in SolidWorks, manage it in PDMWorks Enterprise, and make it accessible to the ERP, where, in the future, PCMC will be able to automatically cost out each project based on the BOM. PCMC previously managed separate BOMs in its CAD and ERP systems, which can introduce errors and delay development and delivery.
"Global design collaboration demands efficient, secure management of product data," said Rainer Gawlick, SolidWorks vice president of worldwide marketing. "PCMC has an industry reputation for precision machine design, and SolidWorks and PDMWorks Enterprise will help the company maintain that reputation as it continues to design better products for the industry."
PCMC works with authorized SolidWorks reseller FISHER/UNITECH for ongoing software training, implementation, and support.
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