Under the Hood

Feature Friday: Getting Attached to your Items in PLM 360

This Feature Friday post will uncover a nifty feature in the Attachments tab. For review, the Attachments tab is where you can drag and drop files onto an Item. Anything that supports the item and has a file extension including documents, images, etc. is viable here. To see this in action, watch the Drag and Drop Attachments with PLM 360 video up on PLM TV.

Now for the best part: Just about every PLM workspace has the Attachments tab enabled, making it very popular and useful. You can spot this in various workspaces, lurking amongst the other tabs, housing any files that support the record.

Now, the nature of PLM 360 is that it’s a collection of processes that relate together all necessary items into a powerful solution - as seen below in the constellation view when you click the Visualize icon. From here, you can get to any other linked Item, view the data in the tabs, etc. But wait, it gets better…

If you have Attachments in those related Items, you don’t necessarily need to navigate away to that other Workspace to view them. PLM 360 provides shortcuts to related attachments, right within the primary Item you’re looking at.

This is a great feature, and saves a little time in navigation to other locations within PLM 360 just to open & view attached files.

-Brian Schanen

Tip Tuesday! Getting Personal with your Autodesk ID

Before the recent change to Autodesk ID single sign-on, PLM 360 administrators had ultimate power to modify and maintain the profile data of all users in the system. Now that Autodesk IDs control access to PLM 360, each user is solely in charge of their personal information, managed through their Autodesk ID profile.

As a user of PLM 360, therefore, it falls on you to make sure personal details are correct in your Autodesk ID profile, which, in turn ensures your user information in PLM 360 is up-to-date. You are now the sole master of your kingdom!

So, why not take a look at your Autodesk ID profile, and make sure everything is as it should be. To do this, you’ll need to go to https://accounts.autodesk.com and sign in with the same credentials as you now sign in to PLM 360 with. Select the option to edit your profile and you’ll then be able to update your information or add a profile picture. For example, you could change your job title if you’ve recently been promoted …

Make sure you leave your email address as it is, otherwise you may not be able to sign back in to PLM 360. If your email address is wrong, you’ll need to talk to your PLM 360 system administrator first. And, of course, don’t forget to save your new details.

Making sure these details are correct in your Autodesk ID profile ensures they are also accurate in PLM 360, and this will help your fellow PLM 360 users when they need to contact you, to congratulate you on that recent promotion, for example!

--Gavin England

Feature Friday: Joining the dots with PLM 360 Connect

So, you’ve taken the plunge and subscribed to PLM 360, configured it to meet your requirements, and it now forms an integral part of your suite of critical business systems, alongside the likes of your ERP system and CRM solution. But have you considered the value integrating one or more of these systems with PLM 360 might bring? The ultimate aim of PLM is to achieve a single common environment for product information, giving one version of the truth for all stakeholders. Synchronising that information with data in other enterprise systems and databases expands that concept further, magnifying the value PLM 360 can bring.

For example, synchronising bills of material in PLM 360 with your ERP solution can reduce time wasted re-keying duplicate information, and help avoid costly purchasing or manufacturing errors. Similarly, integrating PLM 360 with your CRM system can save time and improve accuracy in your RFQ responses. These are just a few examples of what could be realised.

“But, isn’t system integration really complex?” I hear you ask. Well, it doesn’t have to be. PLM 360 Connect is designed to help you do this, but in an efficient way. Just as PLM 360 re-defined simplicity in the PLM world, so PLM 360 Connect changes the game when it comes to ease of integration.

We’re creating a series of PLM TV videos to outline what PLM 360 Connect is all about, and what it could offer you. The first one focuses on joining PLM 360 to SAP, but the principles are the same for many other types of integration. Take a look, and see how PLM 360 Connect could help you join the dots …

-- Gavin England

Photo:Crayola

Tip Tuesday! Adding Extra Nodes in the New PLM 360 Workflow Editor

Todays tip comes via Mike Watkins, one of our PLM 360 Product Managers.  Want a slick way to add an extra node to an arrow in our new workflow editor?  Press ‘Ctrl’ and then click on the line.  Voila!  Extra node so you’re not just stuck with straight lines. 

Add another and make it look even better.

 

Hope this helps you make beautiful workflow maps.  ^MS

Autodesk PLM 360's New HTML 5 Workflow Editor

Hey PLM 360 fans – great news came this weekend in the form of our new HTML 5 based Workflow Editor. This new integrated Workflow Editor makes creating and editing workflow maps easy and there is even a new validator to help find and correct errors before saving. The editor is also launched from the Workspace it is built for, check out the new Configure Workflow function at the bottom of Workspace edit screen.

And I know what you’re thinking: What about all my existing maps? All prior Workflow maps are retained and moved to the new sleek design.

There’s so much to talk about – so I’ve created a video tutorial to introduce and take you through the new editor. This video is part of the new PLM TV Summer School Series so stay tuned for more.

Closing the Loop (PLM 360 links to Vault data)

This week’s PLM 360 tip covers how to establish a link from PLM 360 to Autodesk Vault. Now, for review we know that Vault Professional integrates with PLM 360, but this post covers a clever way to round-trip the process. This will involve some minor tweaks to any existing Workspace by creating a new field. First, let’s start with how we would get to the Vaulted file.

Whether you’re targeting a Vault Pro Item, Change Order, or a File, there is an option under the File pull down menu called Send Link. See image below:

Furthermore, you can shift-select a group of data and send it, and it will group all the Vault objects together. The key here is the link that it produces. In my example here I’ve chosen one Item. Note that is creates a link to the exact Vault object – Item, CO, or File.

Now that we’ve established one way to get the link to Vault data (yes, there are more elaborate ways) let’s focus on getting PLM 360 ready for the link. Log in to PLM 360 under an administrative account, and go to Administration>Setup and find your target Workspace. I’ve chosen Items and BOMs for my example.

Next, expand the Workspace and click the Item Details Tab entry. Click Add field and enter a name like ‘Vaulted File’ or something that establishes that this is a record that resides in Vault, as opposed to a url to another location.

Drag the field over to a section and Save Layout. Go back to the Workspace front end and choose an Item to edit.

Now, go copy the link to the link and paste it into the field you created. Save the item and examine the new data in the field. This is the link directly to the Vault file. But how does one use this?

Here’s where your mileage will vary. Depending on the browser you’re running and the settings therein, you will have to use a couple of techniques. First thing is to click the url.

If you have access to a Vault client, this will download a .acr file. Different browsers had this differently as mentioned, but the key here is to open the .acr file. By the way, this is the same functionality as getting an email from Vault Professional Change Orders when you are on the routing list.

However you chose to open the .acr, just be sure to set up your Vault client to ‘Automatically log in next session’ as this will save you the step of entering your name, password. And if I may suggest, use the Windows Authentication combined with auto log in for the best user experience. Finally, you will be brought directly to the Vault Item, CO, or File – providing you have rights to see it, but that’s another Blog post isn’t it?

PLM Tip of the Week - Linking Workspaces in PLM 360

“That rug really tied the rooms together,”   -The Dude Lebowski

Today’s post will cover some best practices in tying linking data together within PLM 360. Items from one Workspace can call upon and provide a link to items in another Workspace. There are a number of ways to do this, and the advantages include ease of navigation, removing duplicate data entry, and (intended) transparency of information within PLM 360. First, we’ll examine the use of picklists to draw Workspaces together:

Linking Picklists

A Picklist is a drop down of predefined values used during data entry. They display in a variety for forms such as single choice, radio button, check box, and multiple choice to name a few. The advantage is the predefined nature of them, allowing user to select rather than type in values. A Linking Picklist takes that a step further and provides access to Items in another Workspace of your choice. During configuration of a field, choosing Linking Picklist will lookup values available in the other Workspace and establish a link, thus the name.

What’s even better is that Picklists are global in your PLM tenant. Meaning good, well built Picklists that reference other Workspaces can be used over again in another field, another Workspace.

 

Relationships Tab

The Relationships tab is yet another way to establish links between Workspaces. This tab is enabled through adding permissions on the role of a Workspace. Once enabled, anyone with permission can add a direct link to an Item from another Workspace and establish this as either bi-directional or uni-directional from the active to the related Item.

Workspace Relationships setting on the Workspace

Building upon the previous paragraph, the Workspace Relationship setting on each Workspace allow the administrator to link multiple Workspaces to each other. Certain tabs actually lend themselves to Item relationships as in the image below. Project Management tabs need other projects, tasks, and activities to link to, forming a project gantt chart. Bill of Materials needs BoM items, Revisioning Workspaces need Revision controlled items, and the Relationships tab needs well, something to relate to.

Scripting

Finally, Workspaces can be tied together through the use of an action script that spawns a new item in a difference Workspace. This in turn provides a direct link back to the item from whence it came. A great example of this is an Inspection that leads to a Non conformance, which leads to a Corrective action.

This can even extend from the Corrective action to a Change Request and onto a Change Order. At each step, a link back to the item record that spawned it is available for audit trail purposes.

 

-Brian Schanen

PLM 360 Video Spotlight - Lifecycle Management

Hello all PLM 360 fans, enthusiasts,and aficionados. This week’s video spotlight is on Lifecycle Management. This video is timely as the Vault to PLM 360 Sync tool is now live on Autodesk Subscription Center. http://subscription.autodesk.com/

Lifecycles are a key part of Items in PLM 360 that go through revision changes. Items in PLM 360 that are in a Revision Controlled revise though the use of a Revisioning workspace that follows a defined Lifecycle definition. Within the Lifecycle route are states and transitions that define the behavior of the Items.

This video takes a behind-the-scenes look at the Lifecycle editor and how to advance Lifecycle states using a Change Order in PLM 360.

http://wikihelp.autodesk.com/PLM_360/enu/community/Videos/Lifecycle_Management_Guide

-Brian Schanen

PLM 360 Video Spotlight - Creating Reports and Charts

If you have been following along with the videos tutorials on PLM 360, building out Workspaces and creating data, then be sure to check out the video on creating reports and charts. With some data on your tenant, you can create a variety of reports and display them several ways: HTML, Excel (export), and as a Chart.

This video tutorial also shows how to share reports with others in your organization and pin these reports to your Dashboard in PLM 360.

http://wikihelp.autodesk.com/PLM_360/enu/community/Videos/Creating_Reports_and_Charts

 

-Brian Schanen

Autodesk Vault and PLM 360 Integration

Great news for Autodesk Vault and Autodesk PLM 360 users! The Vault/PLM360 synchronization utility is in the final rounds of testing, and I have compiled a sneak peek video on the integration  - here – out on the PLM 360 Wiki Video page.

The first phase of the integration will provide a seamless push of Vault Professional (2013) Items to PLM 360 upon moving to the Release state. In the image below, this Bill of Material has been 'Released' in Vault Professional, and is sent to Autodesk PLM 360 (next image).

All Item, Bill of Material, structure, rev level, and quantity will be sent to PLM. In addition, select Item properties (UDP’s) will populate and update Items in PLM 360.

The sync configuration will involve setting up an optional Vault user account (similar to ‘Job User’), choosing a PLM 360 tenant, configuring a Workspace, and mapping Vault Properties to PLM 360 fields. Please see the video for more details. This is for Vault Professional 2013 only, and due out shortly.

In the mean time, consider brushing up on Vault Professional Items (hint, hint). To help prepare you, I’ll be reviewing Vault Item theory on this blog and calling up posts and AU papers from the past.

http://wikihelp.autodesk.com/PLM_360/enu/community/Videos/Autodesk_Vault_Professional_to_PLM_360_Synchronization

Enjoy!

 

-Brian Schanen