Bahir Dar University Ethiopian Institute of Textile

and Fashion Technology

Web-enabled Product Data Management

Product data management; (Essay)

MSc 1st year fashion technology

Course Manager: Gebeyehu B. (Dr. of Eng.) Asst.

Professor

Submitted by: Temesgen Agazhie

August, 2020
 Product data management essay
Product data management (PDM) is the technology and associated software systems that
support the management of both engineering data and process information during the product
development phase and beyond in one central location. PDM is a subset of a larger concept of
product lifecycle management (PLM) Mainly PDM focused on capturing and maintaining
detailed information on products or services through its development, manufacturing times
and the whole lifecycle of the product. Product data management (PDM) is when a company
uses a centralized software system to store all the information related to a product. This
system feeds all the other systems within the company that require information about that
product. This information can include everything from the raw materials used to construct
that product to how it was built. The data can be used across a variety of business functions,
from design to marketing.

There are information typically stored data in PDM in specific products thus are Technical
specifications, include measurements and materials. Drawing, it includes electronic or
manual visuals of the product. Bill of material (BOM), it includes list of raw materials and
consumption in detail. Engineering documentations, basically how the product is constructed
might be operation break down. And other documents like photographed image of the final
product look might be stored. PDM software provides version control and security to ensure
that the information stored in the central repository is accurate and up to date, which in turn
can reduce data processing and make operations, such as manufacturing, more efficient.
While engineers are typically the heaviest users, PDM is also employed by operations
managers, salespeople, marketers and others who work with a product throughout its
lifecycle.

The process from sales through manufacturing to delivery can take time. This means that,
when applied effectively, PDM-system should be able to connect or integrate in many other
systems in the company operation like: CAD, (2D, 3D, mechanical electronic...), ERP
(Enterprise Resources Planning or production steering, sales, purchase and economy, etc.,
Office- and workgroup systems and Quality steering systems

PDM aims at providing product design teams with the right data and information at the right
time for making proper design decisions. There are numerous benefits gained by using PDM
software such as, Track and manage all changes to product related data, Spend less time

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organizing and tracking design data, Improve productivity through reuse of product design
data, Enhance collaboration, Helps using visual management, Better management of
engineering change, Reduction of product development time.

PDM (Product Data Management) is not actually software; therefore it should be called a
system. This system handles the created information during the designing process. PDM is
nowadays the most important software in the industry, along with PLM (Product Lifecycle
Management). These two terms are commonly used synonymously although they are two
different systems. It is hard to say where the distinct line between these two systems lies and
even in some cases PDM is used in a similar manner to PLM. However, normally PLM
focuses on the whole lifecycle of a product and PDM is a storage location for all the
information that is related to the product. Because of this confusion of the terms the actual
information concerning only the PDM seems to be hard to find, or in fact hard to differentiate
from PLM information.

In general the term PDM defining by the individual letter. When discussing the PDM system
the letter P stands for the product. The product should be the centerpiece and all the
information collected around it. All product-related information should be available and
added to the PDM system and this information should also be relevant. The main goal is that
a search for any required information can be made in the PDM system under a certain item,
and not anywhere else. The letter D is for data and denotes all the information related to the
product, which has to be up to date, otherwise the designing process, and of course the
manufacturing process, may be impossible to complete. Additionally, the data is all the
information that is created during the product development process. The final letter is M
(management), the main meaning of which is control. Control means controlling both the
data and the product, i.e. making sure that the data is available to all parties and the products
data sheet(s) are up to date.