Mountain View, CA — April 21, 2003 — Product lifecycle management (PLM) provider Arena Solutions Inc. (formerly bom.com) today introduced its Advanced File Management module, which, according to the company, helps manage changes to product-related documents and other intellectual assets — including CAD and EDA files, design documents, test results and business processes — along with the product definition in Arena PLM.
Along with the release of the Advanced File Management module, Arena announced its strategy to integrate product data management (PDM) tools into Arena PLM through the development of a new series of integration adapters. This integration offers improved availability of current design data and better organizational efficiency and accountability. The provider said the new functionality will especially help those in OEMs in industries designing products with significant mechanical content, such as automotive, industrial equipment and aerospace.
Arena said its PDMWorks Integration Adapter would allow integration of SolidWorks files in PDMWorks with product definition data in Arena PLM. Engineering teams can manage SolidWorks drawings and part and assembly files in their PDMWorks vault, while managing corresponding released distribution files (like PDF or eDrawing) in Arena PLM. In addition, access to SolidWorks part files by groups outside of engineering, including the supply chain, can be provided and controlled by Arena PLM. Arena is also planning similar integrations with other PDM and geometry vaulting systems.
The company explained that Advanced File Management handles documents that are released to manufacturing and used with outside suppliers and outsourcing partners. By bridging the gap between engineering and the rest of the organization, Advanced File Management in turn facilitates collaboration around changes across the extended product team.
It utilizes Arena PLM's security infrastructure to store and manage any type of file, including documents, CAD drawings, redlines and other markups, software and image files. Its new features include check-in/check-out capability, intelligent file associations and a distribution file repository.
"Arena Solutions combines file management with product definition functionality," said Michael Topolovac, CEO of Arena Solutions. "Our customers gain both file management capabilities and the ability to integrate into the product definition record files authored or controlled in other enterprise applications, such as PDM vaults."
