Integrating your CAD and PPM Systems - configuration considerations in PPM

Effective project management requires accurate planning, precise execution, and constant monitoring. CAD systems can help in achieving these goals by providing a platform for creating accurate design concepts, and project management tools can help in tracking progress and managing resources effectively.

Integrating CAD with PPM can provide organizations with real-time data and insights, enabling them to make informed decisions and deliver projects on time and within budget."

Integrating PPM (Project Portfolio Management) with a CAD (Computer-Aided Design) can provide several benefits and support various use cases. Here are some of the use cases (with benefits) that can be supported:

1. Resource Management: By integrating a CAD system with a PPM system, project managers can get a clear picture of the resources available, their skill sets, and availability. This helps in making informed decisions when assigning tasks and managing resources effectively.
2. Task Management: CAD system integration with PPM system allows project managers to monitor the progress of tasks in real-time, set up dependencies, and adjust project timelines when necessary.
3. Cost Management: By tracking project costs in real-time, managers can identify cost overruns and take corrective actions to mitigate them. Integrating CAD system with PPM system allows for accurate tracking of the time and expenses incurred by the project team, which can help in budget management.
4. Document Management: CAD system integration with PPM system allows project managers to store design and other related documents in one place. This ensures that all project stakeholders have access to the latest documentation and can track changes made to the design.
5. Collaboration: CAD system integration with PPM system allows project team members to collaborate effectively and share information in real-time. This ensures that all project stakeholders are on the same page and can work towards achieving common goals.
6. Reporting: Integrating a CAD system with a PPM system provides project managers with accurate and real-time data, which can be used to generate reports. These reports can provide insights into project performance and help in making informed decisions.

When we look at doing this, the business proceess is what we are aiming to support. This is an example one, but it an vary by product set, company, and opperational needs.

1. Ideation and Demand Capture: The ideation process typically involves gathering information on project requirements, customer needs, and market demands. This is best done by capturing data in the PPM system.
2. Project Initiation: Once the project requirements are captured in the PPM system, the project can be initiated, and the required resources can be assigned. The PPM system can then send this project data to the CAD system via integration, which can create a new project and set up the required tasks.
3. Design and Development: The CAD system can be used to create design concepts based on the project requirements captured in the PPM system. Once the design concepts are created, they can be sent back to the PPM system via integration, where they can be reviewed by the project team and stakeholders.
4. Project Management: The PPM system can be used to manage the project, track progress, and monitor costs. The CAD system can send data related to tasks completed and time spent on tasks back to the PPM system via integration, which can be used for tracking project performance and costs.
5. Delivery: Once the design is finalized, it can be sent to production, and the project can be delivered - this is not allways the case, so I will do a seperate article on PLM integration to try and cover all concepts.

Your working practices are key, so deciding on the cadence and Master Data is an importnat consideration. This is an overview of the integration points and data transfer between a CAD system and a PPM system.

PPM to CAD Integration Points when PPM is the Master of the work:

1. Project creation and setup: CAD system sends project data to PPM system to create a project with relevant details such as project name, start and end dates, project manager, and other related information.
2. Resource management: PPM system shares resource data such as employee details, skills, availability, and utilization with CAD system, which can help in planning resource requirements for a project.
3. Task management: CAD system sends task data such as task name, duration, and dependencies to PPM system, which helps in managing and scheduling tasks.
4. Time and expense tracking: CAD system can send data on time and expenses incurred by the project team to PPM system, which can be used for tracking project costs and making informed decisions.

Data transferred from a CAD system to a PPM system, assuming CAD is the Master of the Work:

1. Project data: project name, start and end dates, project manager, project objectives, and other project-related information.
2. Resource data: employee details, skills, availability, and utilization.
3. Task data: task name, duration, dependencies, and other task-related information.
4. Time and expense data: time and expenses incurred by the project team for each task.
5. Project status updates: updates on project progress, including completion status, milestones achieved, and issues faced.
6. Documentation: CAD system can send design and other related documents to PPM system, which can be used for reference and tracking. However, its typically better to keep the drawings in CAD and just have a link to them in PPM.
7. Reporting: PPM system can generate reports based on data collected from CAD system, which can be used for monitoring project performance and making informed decisions.

?WHY CONSIDER CORA PPM (www.corasystems.com )

There are several reasons why someone might want to consider Cora PPM over the alternative options:

Unique features: Cora PPM offers features & capabilities that are not available in other tools, which would make it a better fit for your organization's needs.

Ease of use: Cora PPM is more user-friendly and easier to learn than other tools, making it a much more attractive option for organizations with limited training resources, larger user communities, or higher levels of staff turnover.

Customization & Configuration options: Cora PPM allows for more customization and configuration flexibility than other tools, which is a major advantage for organizations with specific or unique requirements.

Strong customer support: Cora offers excellent customer support, including training, onboarding, and ongoing technical assistance on a 7x24x365 basis, which would make your PPM tool a more appealing choice for organizations that value a high level of support and may need it to support global teams

If you would like to discuss Cora PPM, and our SPM (Strategic Portfolio Management) please drop me a note.?

Alan Crean | Project Financials, Systems, & Technologies Specialist?|?Cora?|[email protected]