Tuesday, February 27, 2001
A new collaboration tool for design projects was launched
yesterday by PTC (Parametric Technology Corp., Needham, MA; www.ptc.com).
Windchill ProjectLink is a web-based workspace that allows
dispersed engineers to work through design iterations. It is flexible enough to
run on your own server or as an ASP, and to be used in a manufacturing
enterprise, a private exchange, or a public B2B exchange. And PTC says it is
designed to be so simple to implement that engineers can produce results within
two weeks.
ProjectLink offers compartmentalized workspaces so different users
and projects can be kept secure, while connecting product teams and their
suppliers across time, space, and firewalls. It does this by using the Project
Vault, a centralized repository for all project data, including documents,
design files, and model structure information.
The new product is based on PTC's high-end Windchill Factor!
E-Series (TM), but its pricing and training requirements are designed for small
and mid-size companies, says Robin Saitz, PTC's director of Windchill Netmarkets
strategic marketing. And to minimize its startup and customization requirements,
it is "very horizontal," spanning PDM, B2B, and standalone solutions.
Saitz says PTC launched the product because smaller and smaller
companies are now facing the challenges of the globalized design cycle, such as
"move with the sun" schedules, increased outsourcing and supplier networks, and
frequent mergers and acquisitions. Also, ProjectLink can address the shortcoming
of Internet trading exchanges (ITEs), which cut costs only in commodity
supplies, not in the early design stages.
Tweet This
0 
