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TouchBase-PDM

TouchBase-PDM, part of TouchBase-PLM framework, is an enterprise wide Product Data Management (PDM) application.

TouchBase-PDM allows the product team to work with part information, Engineering change requests (ECR), Engineering change orders (ECO), Bill of Materials (BOM), Product structure and design documents.

TouchBase-PDM manages the product data during the entire product lifecycle from concept to retirement. The initial information along with the BOM can be captured using the CAD integration during the initial design phase of the product lifecycle and later the released BOM can be transferred to ERP solution using the ERP integration.

How TouchBase-PDM works

Any product company has its own ITEM MASTER which is used to build BOM for the products it is developing. ITEM MASTER database can contain tens of thousands of items of different types and attributes. Its a very cumbersome task to manage this ITEM MASTER list, BOM for different products, change orders etc. Problem worsens when you have to manage different versions of ITEMS, BOMs etc. Also its desirable that each ITEM can reference the corresponding drawing and other documents. TouchBase-PDM is designed and developed to handle issues as described above and much more.

TouchBase-PDM administrator will first create all the item classes or types with their specific attributes. Each type or class can also have a number source defined so that a uniform part numbering scheme be followed throughout the organization. Administrator will also define standard workflow for various change processes. Once the administrator setup is done, design manager or engineer is ready to work on the product design and BOM as described in the use cases below.

USE CASE: Building BOM

User will create a new Item corresponding to the new Product
User will begin to create the CAD model and prepare the BOM for the product.
User may select the BOM items from the ERP system or create new items in TouchBase-PDM
CAD model is attached with the item corresponding to the product.

When BOM is ready for the product, the item is revised and sent to ERP system. Any further changes in BOM or CAD drawing of the product are only possible through an engineering change order.

Features and Capabilities

Part Management

Change Management

TouchBase-PDM allows generating ECR and ECO. These can be attached to the parts and result in new revisions and status for the affected parts. Each ECR or ECO contains the affected parts, documents and go through the approval process as defined in the enterprise workflows. Administrator can create signoff roles like approvers, reviewers, and change managers etc. to participate in the change process. The signoff mechanism moves the change from one stage to another before the completion. The signoff history gives complete details of the change.

Product Structure and BOM

Document Management

TouchBase-PDM offers a secure, highly accessible environment for storing and retrieving product document. Documents of any size or type can be stored in secure vault. The metadata associated with these documents such as owner, part number, document attributes is stored in the database. It is this information in the database which helps users to do powerful search queries to locate documents. It is also possible to create hierarchical documents like assembly etc. Document operations like checkin, checkout, and rollback are possible from an easy to use graphical user interface. TouchBase-PDM can be used to build, release and distribute product design configuration through revision and release management. The system maintains a complete audit trail as required for regulatory compliance in a number of industries.

CAD/ERP Integrations