Proposal of a CAD/PDM-ERP Integration Procedure

Abstract

The current globalization process exposed the compa ni es to new challenges. One of those strongly related with the competitive strateg y of the companies is to develop better quality products faster and cheaper than the competitors. The companies have been investing great amount of resources in computer applica tions that aid the new products process development, such as: Computer Aided Des ign (CAD), Product Data Management (PDM) and Enterprise Resource Planning-(ERP) , only to name a few. A quick investigation inside these companies reveals that the computer applicati ons are being used in an isolated manner yielding automation islands inside the companies as a result. The responsibility of administrating product data (design or manufacture view) v aries from company to company, depending on the business sector the company belo ngs to. Based upon this criterion as well as the product complexity level of the , the companies can be usually classified into two categories: design center ed or manufactu...