Dean Barrick, business manager at JLG Industries, Inc., Oshkosh, Corporation, works with a staff of long-time users of PTC Creo and PTC Windchill. Like many veterans of the CAD and PLM software, he attends events and meets with the PTC team in order to find out about, and quickly take advantage of, new advances when they develop.
So what has JLG learned about their PTC software lately?
We caught up with Barrick at PTC Live Global a few months ago, and in our conversation, he told us about three things he learned while there. Maybe there are a few things here you didn’t know either:
The New Configuration Management Tools Fit Better
“Our products are highly customizable so we were particularly interested in recent improvements in PTC’s configuration management tool,” Barrick said. “The Oshkosh team met face to face with PTC product managers and developers and learned that the functionality of the configurator has expanded to the point that it is now a good fit for our products.“
For example, there is a new filter capability that displays product configurations by configuration specification, spatial location, attributes and other parameters.
JLG is already moving to a top-down design process in which it will begin the design process for a new product line by dividing the product into assemblies and assigning the responsibility for each assembly to a cross-functional team. This is a major departure from the division’s traditional design process and will pave the way for implementation of configuration management.
Dean Barrick works on the team responsible for building aerial work platforms, like scissor lifts and cherry pickers.
There’s Value in Working with ALL Stakeholders
Perhaps more of a reminder than a “learning,” Barrick says that a panel of experts from Raytheon drove home some important lessons about working with the entire team. Raytheon administers PTC Windchill for 25,000 users, making the company owners of one of the biggest deployments of that software ever.
“What stood out for me in the session was the importance of working with stakeholders outside the design engineering group, particular consumers of design information such as the manufacturing and service organizations,” said Barrick.
MPMLink Has Grown Up
The JLG team also took a closer look at PTC Windchill MPMLink by attending a session titled “Process Planning Management with PTC Windchill MPMLink.” In the past, the team had evaluated MPMLink but determined that it was not mature enough to handle their needs.
Not so, anymore. PTC Windchill MPMLink has progressed considerably and, as with configuration management, now meets JLG’s exacting requirements.
One example is the latest version makes it possible to view the design and manufacturing versions of the bill of materials (BOMs) side by side in the same window to easily determine whether there are any conflicts between them. Barrick said he expected to write up a charter for a project to implement PTC Windchill MPMLink subject to management approval.
Surprise Yourself at LiveWorx 2016
Software evolves, and attending events like PTC Live Global (now LiveWorx) is a smart way to keep up. “Meeting face to face with PTC product managers and other personnel and PTC users from around the world during PTC Live Global helped us get the most from our investment in the software,” said Barrick.
Do you want to get face-to-face and up-close with product managers? Learn the latest about what PTC can do for you and your engineering team? Mingle with your peers? Visit here for more information – and mark your calendars for June 2016.
