SOLIDWORKS Manage

SOLIDWORKS Manage comes in three different license types — using the same structure you are used to in SOLIDWORKS PDM — all of which are global floating licenses: Viewer, Contributor and CAD Editor. It’s important to note that SOLIDWORKS Manage Licensing also includes licensing for PDM Professional Vault capabilities.

• Viewer Licenses provide basic access to view, search and print documents and records. With this license, you can also view CAD and non-CAD data and other information, such as project statuses, processes, bill of materials (BOMs), dashboards and more.
• Contributor Licenses add the ability to assign tasks, run reports and edit or update most items within Manage other than CAD data.
• The CAD Editor License adds the ability to create and edit CAD data with an integrated Add-In for SOLIDWORKS CAD.

SOLIDWORKS Manage is a highly configurable system and can be used to handle any number of traditional product lifecycle management (PLM) functions, including BOM management, change management, document control and quality management.

A major differentiator between SOLIDWORKS Manage and other PLM software is that SOLIDWORKS Manage is tightly integrated with SOLIDWORKS CAD data, meaning if that’s where the bulk of your product design IP is created, you will be able to leverage that data seamlessly for PLM functions and processes.

Most project management tools are either not integrated with data management solutions or they lack functionality. SOLIDWORKS Manage integrates tightly with SOLIDWORKS and PDM Professional, allowing you to consolidate data from your engineering team, document control and other related departments within a single user interface that also offers downstream benefits for project reports and other analytics.

We know that SOLIDWORKS does an excellent job of calculating bills of materials (BOMs) based on what’s in the CAD file. The fact that SOLIDWORKS Manage uses your native SOLIDWORKS files is a game changer when it comes to keeping a product BOM up to date. When the CAD file changes, your BOM record receives those updates.

There are still other items to account for in a BOM, though. Non-modeled items such as packaging material, documentation, spare parts, assembly tools or consumables. The good news is that those items can be managed in one common environment with SOLIDWORKS Manage, so you can easily add those to a BOM structure along with your CAD data. Automatic updates and ease of adding non-modeled items will streamline the maintenance of your product BOM.

SOLIDWORKS Manage can be configured to leverage any process that your company wishes to automate. Think of a workflow that defines specific steps that need to happen for product deliverables to make it to and from your organization. With these advanced flow chart capabilities, you can build any process and automate the tasks associated with it. From quality management, engineering change processes, sales, service and more, the system can work for you and eliminate redundant or mundane tasks so your organization can focus on what’s important —providing the best product and experience possible for your customers.

No. SOLIDWORKS Manage integration with SOLIDWORKS PDM is supported only for PDM Professional. The good news is that there’s an easy upgrade path. You can easily upgrade your PDM Standard Vault when you purchase SOLIDWORKS Manage licenses, which also includes licensing for PDM Professional. This upgrade process actually makes it very straightforward because there is no migration of data involved for your PDM system.

PDM and PLM are two acronyms that often get used interchangeably, but the fact is, they are different concepts altogether. PLM is the management of your product lifecycle from cradle to grave, meaning ALL the processes involved with your product. PDM is a PART of PLM strategy. You still need a place to securely store, revise and control your product design data. There’s no better tool than SOLIDWORKS PDM for SOLIDWORKS CAD data management. SOLIDWORKS Manage simply adds another level of possibilities in terms of handling your company’s PLM initiatives.