CIMdata review on SAP's PLM cPDm program (PDF) - Large ...

the material within one assembly. Order BOMs provide
the capability to manage this type of situation where
the sales order number becomes part of the order BOM
key. Order BOMs have the same appearance and are
managed using the same transactions as standard
BOMs.
The fully integrated product structure browser can be
used to display and to navigate through product structures.
The browser uses an indented structure layout to
present users with information. It displays information
associated with the product structure, including item
data, associated documents, classification data, and
other related objects. Navigation to referenced information
is provided from within the structure browser.
In addition, product structures from distributed instances
of mySAP PLM can also be accessed and displayed.
Filtering capabilities to view structures are available as
well. Users can select an item, such as a part, and
explode the related links to that item, e.g., links to
documents and other parts. This approach is consistent
with other cPDm solutions, and is viewed as generally
intuitive and user-friendly.
Another strength of the mySAP PLM solution is its
ability to support transfer of configuration data to multiple
organizations (including engineering and production)
and different manufacturing locations. This includes an
ability to define "usage" for each manufacturing location
that specifies what portions of a configuration are
applicable to that facility. Once this is established,
change releases will automatically ensure that each
location receives only the information that is applicable
to it. These views are physically different and must be
maintained separately. mySAP PLM also allows a
generalized single BOM to be defined and used throughout
the enterprise and at multiple manufacturing locations
while still allowing different views to be defined
at the item level.
Features are provided to support part number assignment
and synchronization across an organization. Part
numbers can be automatically generated on a systemwide
basis. A user exit is provided when creating a part
to allow implementers to write custom code to generate
part numbers as needed. Authorization for changes
to parts and BOMs is controlled; however, the system
cannot automatically increment a revision number for a
part or BOM. This must be done through the use of an
ECN. An authorized user must decide on the rules for
incrementing revisions of a part and BOM, which
would typically relate to changes in form, fit, or function.
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SAP’s mySAP PLM
mySAP PLM also provides the ability to load product
structure data into the system at initial system startup
and for bulk migration of data from legacy systems.
This is a major concern for cPDm implementations,
and often requires substantial customization and services.
SAP appears to provide good support in this area.
With mySAP PLM, Version 4.6A, SAP introduced a
new environment, known as the Engineering Workbench.
The Engineering Workbench comes with a user
interfaces that enables BOMs and routings to be maintained
in one logical transaction, whereas in previous
releases it would have required several individual
transactions in order to complete a task.
The Engineering Workbench covers object types used
in BOMs and routings and includes classifications,
quality inspection characteristics, and object dependencies.
Specific views can be defined to meet the needs of
different user roles, such as designers and work schedulers.
Filters allow data to be presented according to
individual user requirements. The user can view and
edit BOMs and their corresponding routings simultaneously.
In addition, the Engineering Workbench provides
the ability to work on different ECNs relating to
the same product at one time. Using the ECN effectivity
controls, different views and configurations of the product
can be explored and worked on. Product structures
or routings being "actioned" are locked at the item
level, not at the assembly level, as was the case in previous
versions. This means that more than one engineer
can be working on different parts of the same structure
at the same time.
mySAP PLM comes with a high level of application
functionality to support product structure and configuration
management for manufacturing organizations.
While SAP's implementation of these capabilities may
not match directly with all companies' processes and
procedures, these pre-developed capabilities are robust
and a major start for most implementations. The variant
configuration capability of mySAP PLM is one of the
most complete in the industry. We are particularly
impressed with this aspect of the system. It provides
capabilities that allow a company to define and manage
product structures, documents, and manufacturing
routings that are very powerful and robust.
<strong>CIMdata</strong> Program Assessment