Product Data Management

Product Data Management or PDM is a computer software which is used to control and manage data related to products. PDM helps in creating and managing relations between sets of data which define a product and stores these relationships in a database.

PDM happens to be a very important tool in product lifecycle management. PDM arises from traditional engineering activities that designed product drawings and schematics on paper and using CAD tools to create parts. PDM also helps in planning and coordinating all transactional operations of a company like sales, order management, purchasing, cost accounting etc.

PLM does the necessary, to launch the new products, and applies changes to existing products. It also retires them at the end of their life. This software focuses on information related to the core operations of a product-based company.

PDM forms just one part of a large field of Enterprise Master Data - Customer Master, Supplier Master, Employee Master, etc. PDM manages and tracks the creation, modification and archive of all product related information. Drawings, CAD models and related data will comprise of the being managed and stored and managed.

PDM captures information of the products and some of the typical data managed in the PDM software include

• Part Number and description
• Supplier and Vendor
• Vendor Part Number
• Vendor Part Description
• Unit of Measurement
• Cost Price
• CAD models
• Data Sheets

PDM possesses the following advantages:

• Tracks and manages all changes to the product related data.
• Accelerates returns on investments with easy setup
• Spends lesser time in organizing and tracking design data
• Improves the productivity through reuse of product designs
• Enhances collaboration of data

PDM is also capable of storage and retrieval of product info’s, handling of business processes, product structure modeling which includes managing the bills, configurations and the variations and different versions of the product, resource planning and tracking of projects.

PDM helps companies producing complex products to spread product data into the entire Product Lifecycle Management launch-process which significantly increases the effectiveness of the launch process. This software is widely used by engineers of Automotive, Aerospace and Locomotive companies which enables them to manage their work and also access data from the design team.