UK launch of a new PDM product

Citation

(1998), "UK launch of a new PDM product", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 70 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.1998.12770dab.014

UK launch of a new PDM product

UK launch of a new PDM product

Keywords MatrixOne, Scheduling, Software

An important product was recently unveiled by MatrixOne at the Integrating CADCAM and Associated Technology (icat'98) Exhibition. MatrixOne is prominent in product data management (PDM) solutions that improve product development competitiveness.

New to the British market, the software application is called Matrix Structure Manager. It is a software module that integrates with the company's Matrix PDM system and will help users who want to plan, develop, manufacture and document products with greater efficiency. Matrix Structure Manager will enable them to organise the various aspects of the product structure right at the outset of conceptual design and as work proceeds through the life cycle of the project.

Matrix Structure Manager claims to provide a number of distinct business benefits which include enhanced productivity by creating customised views of structures that are more familiar, meaningful and useful to users; and it shortens time-to-market by eliminating ambiguities across the product development database.

Product structures help product managers, systems engineers, project engineers, design engineers, process planners and others to visualise and represent the product in different ways for different purposes. Design engineers may want to build pictorial views of parts, sub-assemblies and the finished product for depiction in maintenance manuals; systems engineers may want to construct functional logic "trees" for analysis; or project managers may want to plan tasks and procedures to achieve deadlines.

With Matrix Structure Manager, product or logical tree structures can be assembled quickly and easily from scratch, either by using existing parts and assembly representations obtained from the Matrix database, or creating new ones that may be "plugged" into the structure. As work proceeds and designs are altered, modified and revised, Matrix Structure Manager automatically reflects these changes in all the structures, ensuring that everyone involved in the process is working with consistent, accurate and up-to-date information.

Matrix Structure Manager is stated to be fully Microsoft Windows compliant and complements the existing Matrix PDM system. The software module is launched either from the operating system or from within Matrix. Structures are designed by means of the Microsoft Multiple Document Interface (MDI), a facility which is integrated into Matrix Structure Manager.

MatrixOne, Inc. also announces an integration between Matrix, MatrixOne's enterprise-wide product data management system (PDM), and SAP AG's R/3, a leading enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. The Matrix SAP R/3 Integration provides for seamless, two-way sharing of bill of material and item master data between Matrix and SAP R/3.

"Organized product data is a crucial component for all of our customers' business processes", said Bernhard Herzog of Gedas (formerly VW Gedas). "SAP and MatrixOne both have tremendous track records for supporting enterprise-wide applications and streamlining business processes. The Matrix SAP Integration tightens the link between engineering and manufacturing, improving workflow, communication and providing manufacturers with greater control over mission critical information."

"SAP R/3 technology offers a powerful application for corporate manufacturing and operations. Matrix is a powerful infrastructure for optimizing the product development process," said Paul Gilmartin, vice-president of marketing at MatrixOne. "Linking the two reduces redundant processes, such as entering data twice, streamlines release control of bill of materials and parts throughout the enterprise and assures that engineering, manufacturing and purchasing all work with current, accurate information. The result is a dramatic reduction in scrap and rework and a virtual elimination of production delays which previously had been caused by manufacturing building to the wrong documentation or purchasing ordering obsolete or wrong parts. The enterprise benefits with improved quality, reduced cost and faster time-to-market."

More information is available from MatrixOne Limited. Tel: +44 (0) 1784 898055: Fax: +44 (0) 1784 898510; Internet: http://www.matrix-one.com