ERP / PLM DATA MIGRATION

Preparing Data Product Lifecycle Management

Convergence provides capabilities for migrating data for PLM and ERP systems. Our approach is based on using agnostic software that doesn’t depend on where the data is coming from or going to. We are accustomed to migrating data from a large variety of source systems our customers may have; then moving the data to a variety of enterprise PLM or ERP systems. The following case study describes why most PLM migrations don’t go well, how we can improve the process and what capabilities we leverage to address the expected data issues. Here are some of the proven benefits received.

70% reduction in the amount of time spent working on migration issues
50% reduction in the number of migration issues
40% reduction in required migration resources

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Why do most PLM migrations not go well?

Typically the data migration for a PLM implementation is never given the attention it deserves. An observation we’ve made is PLM vendors are not in the business of cleansing and repairing data; something that is required when you migrate data to a PLM system. PLM vendors usually deploy an ad hoc process for migrating physical files (CAD models, BOMs, drawings, documents, etc.). Little attention is provided to the actual meta-data (part numbers, attributes, etc.) around your parts and documents. Since this area of a PLM implementation is usually under-scoped; these migration issues are handled poorly or not at all.

What is convergences approach to PLM migration?

Convergence takes a more formal approach to managing the migration process. Our approach makes it as easy as possible to identify migration issues and to repair migration issues. Typically our software is deployed as a staging database, sitting between your legacy system(s) and your new PLM or ERP system. We create a central environment for everyone to see the migration issues so you know where the problems reside at any moment in time. Here is just some of the added value Convergence offers to PLM migration:

Validations – data is validated from the moment it is loaded into our database to the moment it’s ready to be exported for go-live
Cleansing – not only do we point out the migration issues; we make them easy to repair
Reporting – obtain up to the minute status on where the migration issues are and who is working on them

If you’re migrating data from multiple systems, we can anticipate there will be migration issues to resolve. Migration issues we address include:

Part numbers – as items are loaded into our database, part numbers are validated for various issues including: duplication, organization codes, category codes, etc.
Incorrect or missing data – validation rules are set up in our software and your data is analyzed against these criteria to help identify incorrect data or missing data
BOM issues – parent-child relationships are managed in our software to make sure they are valid. As your data is repaired your BOMs will need to be updated prior to migration

DFMA Integration Architecture

To have an effective DFMA costing environment your key applications need to be integrated and working together. DFR provides application integration tools and supporting applications to satisfy your particular costing architecture. Here are samples of the types of integrations that can be supported:

Reading BOM or Product Architecture relationships from your PDM systems to support cost roll-up capabilities
Supporting PDM DFMA file management to allow DFMA refresh and re-use requirements
Integrating part number generation and cross reference capabilities to support competitive benchmarking
Integrating ERP to capture current internal costs and enable should-cost comparisons

How we can help your PLM Migration?

If you are planning an enterprise system implementation like PLM; now is the time to start working on your data migration. If you don’t want the migration to extend the implementation timeline, you need to start it right away. Cleansing your data prior to loading into a new PLM system will only make that new system more valuable to your company. Our software is agnostic; it works with any legacy system a company has or any new PLM system a company wants to implement.