PLM Training

A visual, step-by-step PLM course for someone who has never used one: parts and revisions, the life cycle, documents and CAD, bills of materials, the ECR/ECO change process, permissions and Cowork.

Engineering and production on one treeCAD files, revisions and bills of materials are linked.
The right revision is builtSales, purchasing and production only see the valid revision.
3D models in the browserParts are inspected without a CAD licence.

Who this course is forFor an engineer, a quality or production person who has never used a PLM. By the end you open a part under the right code, move it through its life cycle, manage its documents and bill of materials, and carry a change from the request to the release.

Lessons 11
Total 162 min
Prerequisites none

The screenshots show fictional data created for demonstration (the PORTWARE demo company). Any resemblance to real people, companies, products or figures is coincidental.

The learning path

The lessons are written to be read in order; each uses the ideas of the one before. Every lesson has the same skeleton: a one-sentence goal, a large diagram, numbered steps beside their screens, a caution, a short case and self-check questions.

Four stages, eleven lessons. Each lesson builds on the one before; the change process (Lesson 6) is the centre of the course.

Lessons

Lesson 0What PLM is, and whyOne true version, and what one database with the ERP changes.10 minutes

Lesson 1A tour of the screensThe PLM menu, the part form, the blue guide box, the PLM Guide.12 minutes

Lesson 2Part and engineering codeCode and revision; a new code or a new revision?10 minutes

Lesson 3The life cycleDraft → Confirmed → Released → Under Modify → Obsoleted.15 minutes

Lesson 4Documents, CAD and check-in/outDocuments, the lock, 3D viewing and the CAD client.20 minutes

Lesson 5Bills of materialsEBOM, normal and spare BoM; where-used; comparison.18 minutes

Lesson 6Change management (ECR → ECO)Request, impact, decision, order, release — one case end to end.30 minutes

Lesson 7PermissionsFour PLM levels, the release right and access nodes.12 minutes

Lesson 8PLM with CoworkAsk, get answers from live data, act through an approval card.10 minutes

Lesson 9Good practice and checklistISO 10007 and ISO 9001 8.3.6; a one-page summary.10 minutes

Lesson 10Glossary and final checkEvery term and a ten-question final check.15 minutes

The example company in this course

Every screenshot comes from the fictional PORTWARE demo database. PORTWARE builds servo motion systems; the course follows the same parts and one case throughout: the motor bracket PW-BRK-80 that came back from the field cracked.

Code	Part	Role in the course	State
`PW-GAN-2`	2-Axis Gantry Module	top assembly	Released
`PW-KIT-750`	Servo Axis Kit 750 W	assembly: motor, drive, gearbox, plate, bracket	Released
`PW-BRK-80`	Motor Mounting Bracket	the case's part: rev 1 in work	Under Modify
`PW-PLT-80`	Gearbox Adapter Plate	rev 0 obsolete, rev 1 released	Obsoleted / Released
`PW-CVR-80`	Cable Entry Cover · IP54	awaiting release	Confirmed
`PW-PIN-6`	Dowel Pin	new design	Draft

Modules this course uses

Module	What it gives
Product Lifecycle Management	Parts, documents, revisions, life cycle, check-in/out
PLM Web Revision	New revisions from the browser (revision wizard)
PLM Engineering	Engineering BoM (EBOM)
PLM Automate Normal Bom	Normal BoM from the EBOM
PLM Spare	Spare parts BoM
PLM Compare Bom	Comparing two BoMs
PLM Web 3d Support	PLM 3D viewer (assembly tree, markup)
Product Lifecycle Management Batch conversion	Automatic conversion on the server (STEP, DXF)
PORTWARE PLM	ECR/ECO, impact analysis, blue guide box, PLM Guide
PORTWARE CAD Viewer	CAD Viewer (IGES, BREP, DWG…)
PORTWARE PLM for Cowork · PLM MCP Server	PLM tools for Cowork and external AI clients

Supported CAD programs (through the OmniaSolutions PLM CAD client): SolidWorks, Solid Edge, Autodesk Inventor, AutoCAD / DraftSight, ThinkDesign and FreeCAD. For a short summary next to manufacturing see PLM — Product Lifecycle.