Recently, CIMdata had a chance to review think3’s released PLM solution, TD PLM 2009.1 (the “TD” stands for “task-driven”). TD PLM is a new web-based PLM solution that, according to think3, has been designed to support a company’s entire product lifecycle, from concept through to end-of-life. think3 has built this 3-tier Microsoft .NET solution from the ground up and has incorporated a number of notable features, including a task-driven, zero-footprint Web graphical user interface (GUI), tag-based search and classification, Shell integration, and a reasonable set of built-in localization tools that support global deployments. Upon reflection, what struck us more than anything else, is the task-driven approach think3 took in the design of TD PLM’s overall user experience. In many ways, the task-driven user interface (UI) paradigm, which we also see in the latest release of Microsoft Office, has the potential to impact how all PLM solution suppliers approach the design of their UIs, and in fact how enterprises view PLM. From CIMdata’s vantage point, this is a clear indication that the evolution of the PLM market is alive and well.
For years, CIMdata has written about the evolution of the PLM market and the hundreds of PLM-enabling solutions that support it. We have commented on the evolution of these solutions from custom implementations focused on precise applications wrapped around primarily engineering design data and CAD data management, to toolkits and generic applications that automated some typical engineering-related functions (e.g., engineering change management), and to the support of focused business applications that provide standard data models, predefined workflow templates, and other functions necessary to solve engineering-related business problems (e.g., product configuration management based on CMII). Today, the focus is on complete business solutions that address top- and bottom-line issues (e.g., managing a product’s definition information for the lifecycle of the product).
In many ways, the most profound evolution that we are currently witnessing is occurring in the area of user experience. In the early days of PLM enabling technologies, it was common to find command line interfaces. In more recent years, especially with the advent of the Web, most PLM solution suppliers have dramatically revamped their user interfaces to look and act like a typical web page, with highlighted links and many of the features users have come to expect with the use of various desktop applications. Besides the web paradigm users have come to expect, Microsoft plays a significant role in setting user expectations related to UI development. With the introduction of Microsoft Outlook some years ago, many of the PLM solution suppliers and many other software vendors, sought to follow Microsoft’s lead in UI look and feel. As a result, many of today’s PLM solutions have a “MS Outlook-like” look and feel. The evolution related to the user experience clearly hasn’t stopped. The more recent advent of context-based UIs and the push by some PLM solution suppliers to provide a more lifelike user experience with highly-sophisticated visualization capabilities are clearly having an impact on the industry. CIMdata expects this to continue as a result of Microsoft’s introduction of, what Microsoft calls, the “Office Fluent User Interface.”
According to Microsoft, in the Office Fluent UI paradigm the traditional menus and toolbars have been replaced by the Ribbon (i.e., a graphical UI component that presents commands organized into a set of tabs). In turn, the tabs on the Ribbon display the commands that are most relevant for each of the task areas in the applications. This task-driven approach provides the user with a context-sensitive experience (a capability already supported by a number of PLM enabling solutions) because it has been designed to provide access to specific application features based upon the specific tasks that are being, or need to be performed. In other words, it provides visibility and access to certain sets of commands that are only relevant when certain objects are present in a certain state (e.g., displaying the graphical editor when a graphic has been selected). CIMdata has no doubt that Microsoft’s decision to incorporate various task-driven UI capabilities into its mainstream solutions will have an impact on other vendors who design and deliver UIs that operate along them; users will ultimately expect it and perhaps even demand it.
Overall, we are happy to see think3 decide to enable a task-driven UI and we feel that this is a positive step in the continuing evolution of PLM solutions and the UI experience they provide. This UI approach overcomes many of the complaints we have heard from users of functionally-rich PLM solutions. Users often comment that their PLM solution appears to be only designed for heavy users and that it is difficult to use if you are a casual user or one that only logs in a few hours a week. Upon login, TD PLM’s UI presents the user with a set of configurable panels (e.g., File, Parts, Change Order/Request, etc.) that have a set of tasks, such as Add, Remove, Check-In, and Compare BOM. If the adoption curve is similar to MS Word and other Microsoft applications that use the new ribbon bar, the average user will take to this task-driven UI quickly and a relatively small percent of heavy users will wish that they had “more direct” access to the functions. Over time, these heavy users will likely find this UI paradigm to be just as powerful as the old, because ultimately, work is all about executing specific tasks. Other benefits, as reported by think3, include an easier customization environment due to the clear identification of access points, reduced code resulting in easier maintenance for both think3 and the implementing company, and most likely lower training costs.
As already mentioned, TD PLM has a number of other notable features, including Web GUI that is task-driven, tag-based search and classification, Shell integration, and some built-in localization tools. Each of these deserves a few comments, as they represent some characteristics worth noting:
- Web GUI—think3 has designed TD PLM’s GUI, including the CAD/Office interfaces, in a manner that doesn’t require any desktop plug-ins to be installed, which means there are no extensions or ActiveX components required, and CAD users don’t have to use a separate CAD integration interface. Additionally, this GUI is configurable according to each user’s identity and role; thereby allowing only those tasks the specific users are allowed to execute to be visible
- Tag-based search and classification—think3 has, in addition to providing an administration console that allows the codeless definition of types and attributes in TD PLM data model, enabled TD PLM with a classification system based on tags. This simplified data classification approach allows “free” key words to be associated with and used to find managed data. This is a relatively natural approach that overcomes some of the complexity of the rigid taxonomies that tend to be created to support traditional classification scheme-driven solutions, but it does require a certain level of user discipline. This tag-based approach allows users to search across user-generated tags without having to worry about any pre-defined structure.
- Shell integration—This capability allows TD PLM tasks to be accessed directly from the MS Windows Explorer. Currently, TD PLM’s Shell integration supports document classification, vaulting, check-in and check-out, and revisioning. This is think3’s way of bringing PLM to the desktop.
- Built-in localization tools—think3 has taken a Unicode approach for the data and provides a set of time zone management features that allow for changes and other time-based events to roll around the world.
The current release of TD PLM comes in two packages—Office Foundation and Engineering Foundation. The Office Foundation package provides capabilities that are intended to satisfy a company’s typical office PLM-related activities, namely document and file management, parts management, versioning, lifecycle and workflow management, reporting, BOM management, and system administration. The Engineering Foundation provides a set of CAD integration capabilities to ThinkDesign, AutoCAD, Pro/ENGINEER, and SolidWorks. These capabilities have been designed to support smart legacy data capture, all meta-data appearing in the CAD systems supported are driven by TD PLM, and automatic BOM generation, title box creation and vault management capabilities are provided. Finally, the MS Office integration supports bi-directional data update, automatic vault management, and all meta-data appearing in the MS Office applications are driven by TD PLM.
think3 also offers a set of optional TD PLM modules that support various business processes, e.g., engineering change management, project management, and product configuration. The engineering change management module provides support for engineering change request and orders, and a set of functions that should provide the foundation for a typical company’s engineering change management requirements. The project management module provides a bi-directional MS Project integration, and task management from within TD PLM that is integrated with the user’s To Do List.
think3 appears to have done an admirable job leveraging their more than 20 years of experience in the development of TD PLM. For the first release, TD PLM appears to provide the capabilities required by many small to midsized organizations. It also appears to provide a solid PLM platform that has been designed, according to think3, to scale with an organization’s growth. The task-driven approach think3 has enabled holds significant promise and CIMdata expects other PLM solution suppliers to follow the same direction as Microsoft and other enterprise solution suppliers deliver applications that support it. think3 has done a good job developing a PLM solution that leverages the company’s more than 20 years of experience in the PLM industry.
