5.

Product Lifecycle Management

Database Technologies for Integrating

Engineering Data
 Overview
• Motivation
– The Product Lifecycle
– The Product Development Process
– Islands of Automation
• Overview of Product Lifecycle Management
– History: From Engineering Databases to PLM Systems
– Relation to CAD and Enterprise Ressource Planning (ERP)
• Functionality
– Product Data Management
– Product Structure Management
– Document Management
– Engineering Workflows: Projects, Workflows and State Management
– Versions, Variants, Configurations
– User Management
• PLM System Products
• PLM and STEP

Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications

 Term: Product Lifecycle Management
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) comprises concepts to manage
products and integrate all according product data over their entire
lifespan from inception to disposal.

• Strategic management concept

• Includes methods, processes and organizational principles
• Supported by specific software: PLM Systems

A Product Lifecycle Management System (PLM System) is a software

system that enables and supports Product Lifecycle Management by
integrating data and metadata from systems involved in all life phases of
a product, and, based on this, provide higher-level functionality.

Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications

Product
Life
Cycle

From [2]
Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications
 Usage in Product Development
• Not limited to usage by engineers
• Historically stemming from “Engineering Databases”
• Still focused on product development process

Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications

 Product Development Process

From [2]
Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications
 History of PLM Systems
• Engineering Databases (EDB): software systems to manage and integrate
engineering data
• Engineering Data Management (EDM): EDB + concepts to structure
engineering processes
• Product Data Management (PDM): EDM + Integration of non-engineering
product data (e.g. marketing, sales, etc.)
• Product Lifecycle Management (PLM): PDM + focus on integrated
management concepts

From [2]
Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications
Historical Landscape: Engineering Data

Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications From [2]

 Other Related Terms
• Historical or alternative related terms
– Technical Information System
– Technical Drawing Management System
– Engineering Document Management System
– Product Information Management
– …

Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications

 PLM Integration Concepts
• Development from EDB to current PLM systems triggered by
so-called “islands of automation”
– Many software specialized systems used in engineering
– Input for one system may be generated by another system
– All have their own storage concepts and formats
• PLM systems try to manage integrated Product Model (also
Product Information Model, Product Data Model, Product
Data Record, etc.)
– All partial data/models connected through metadata
– Metadata stored in database system
– Actual data maybe controlled by PLM system in special vaults (maybe
stored in the database as BLOBs)

Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications

 Exchange between “Islands of Automation”

From [2]

Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications

 PLM and other Systems
• PLM and CAD Systems
– CAD Systems have central role in product development
– Output (geometrical data of solid designs) often input for many
further systems
– Very tightly integrated with PLM systems
• PLM and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
– ERP systems represent integrative perspective from operative
management
– Overlapping/not clearly separated from PLM, e.g. production planning
tightly linked with product data
– PLM and ERP considered along with Customer Relationship
Management and Supply Chain Management as cornerstones of
company data management
– E.g. SAP PLM is part of SAP Business Suite along with SAP ERP
Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications
 Central Role of CAD

From [2]
Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications
 PLM and ERP

From [2]

Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications

 PLM Systems Architecture
• Typically
– More or less separated modules providing basic functionality
• Product data/product structure management
• Document management
• Process/workflow management
• …
– Database to store
• Metadata of product data
• Optional: product data as BLOBs or in Database File System
• Information about users, projects, processes
– Interfaces to many systems providing relevant product data
– Collaboration synchronized by DBMS

Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications

 PLM System Architecture

From [2]
Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications
 PLM Main Functionality
• Product Structure Management: construction of products from
parts or assemblies - input for production planning and Bill of
Material (BOM)
• Document Management: control of storage for engineering data
• Product Data Management: references and relationships
between partial product information from various engineering
systems
• Process Management: representation and support for execution of
engineering workflows
• Configuration and Version Management: management of changes
and states of product data
• User Management: management of engineers, their roles, and
collaboration in processes
From [2]
Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications
 PLM Main Functionality

From [2]
Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications
 Product Structure Management
• Hierarchical/tree-like structure
• Product as root of tree
• Assemblies as inner nodes consisting of other assemblies or parts
• Parts (produced within company or bought from supplier) as leaf
nodes
• Central role in data management
• Product data and documents are linked to parts in tree
• Alternatives represented in tree are subject to configuration
management
• Bill of Materials (BOM) can be created from product structure

Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications

 Example: Product Structure

From [1]

Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications

 Example: Product Structure Schema

[Li Chen, Tingjin Wang and Zhijie Song : A

Web-based Product Structure Manager to
Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications Support Collaborative Assembly Modeling]
 Bill of Materials (BOM)
• Special form of representation of the product
structure data
• May contain varying information depending on
usage in
– Engineering
– Manufacturing
– Sales
• Configurable BOMs can be applied for configuration
management

Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications

 BOM Example

From [1]

Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications

 Document Management
• Strong requirements and regulations regarding the
management of engineering documents
– Legal regulations to store product data for certain time-
span
– ISO 15226:1999 Technical product documentation -- Life
cycle model and allocation of documents
• N:M Relation to product data and product structure
– There may be many documents on one part (e.g. design,
specification, simulation, electronic components, etc.)
– There may be documents related to many parts/products
(e.g. specification of product line or parameterizable
design) From [3]
Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications
 Document Management /2

From [3]
Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications
 Document Management /3
• Document Structure: similar to product structure
– Document may contain other documents
• N:M-relation to files
– Document may consist of several files
– Same file may be contained in many documents
• Vault: Controlled storage location
– Special area in file system (special control mechanisms
access right, distribution, etc.)
– BLOB in relational database

From [3]
Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications
 Document Management /4

From [3]
Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications
 Variants, Version, Configurations
• Management of versions and variants key
functionality of PLM systems
– Sequence of version
– Branches of Alternatives
• Combined with hierarchical product structure
become configuration management (CM)
• Configuration = state of a complex product
• Tightly integrated with process/worflow model

Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications

 PLM Systems
• Enovia (Dassault Systems)
• TeamCenter (Siemens)
• Windchill (Parametric Technology Corporation)
• Oracle Agile Engineering (Oracle)
• SAP PLM (SAP)

Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications

 PLM Systems: ENOVIA

Schallehn:
[U. Bracht et al., Data Management
Digitale Fabrik, for Engineering Applications
Springer 2011]
 PLM Systems: Siemens

Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications [U. Bracht et al., Digitale Fabrik,
Springer 2011]
 PLM Systems: Siemens TeamCenter

From [3]

Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications

PLM Systems:
Oracle Agile
PLM
BOM Browser

From [3]

Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications

 PLM and STEP
• STEP does not define dedicated work package
• PDM Schema initiative of ProSTEP
– Combine existing standards (Application Protocols)
– Intersection of existing standards covering aspects of PDM
• AP 203: Configuration controlled 3D design
• AP 214: Core data for automotive mechanical design processes
• AP 212: Electrotechnical design and installation
• AP 232: Technical Data Packaging Core Information and Exchange

Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications

 PLM and STEP: PDM Schema

[ProSTEP: Usage Guide for the STEP

PDM Schema V1.2 Release 4.3, 2002]
Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications
 Literature / Further Readings
[1] John Stark: Product Lifecycle Management - 21st Century Paradigm
for Product Realisation.
ISBN: 978-0-85729-545-3 , Springer 2013

[2] Hirz Mario, Wilhelm Dietrich, Anton Gfrerrer, Johann Lang:

Integrated Computer-Aided Design in Automotive Development.
ISBN: 978-3-642-11939-2, Springer 2013

[3] Martin Eigner, Ralph Stelzer: Product Lifecycle Management - Ein

Leitfaden für Product Development und Life Cycle Management.
ISBN: 978-3-540-44373-5, Springer 2009

Schallehn: Data Management for Engineering Applications