Exchange of Data between PLM and ERP Systems through Middleware Integration

Abstract

PLM and ERP are key components of any manufacturer‘s application strategy, and should be adopted in a way that it encourages and supports product innovation. Both PLM and ERP are important, and should be prioritized and selected based on business need and relative product capabilities. Since any transaction of components, whether it is a design of a Prototype or a Production component or generating manufacturing plan or specifying purchase requirements at the company should happen through their ERP system. The above being the case, the creation of Item Master and BOM in ERP system happens to be one of the most important aspects even for the New Product Development process. In the present scenario, the format incompatibility between Windchill and ERP suites resulted in loss of productivity during the exchange of data at both Engineering and Managerial levels. The above being the case, an Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) software provided by TIBCO® is used for the exchange of data between various Oracle Databases. Connecting PLM and ERP systems through middleware integration- optimizes and automates business processes, improves operational efficiencies, and creates opportunities to add value not available with isolated systems. Further the integration allows direct sharing of engineering and manufacturing data through an automated process ensuring seamless information flow between functional groups, such as engineering and manufacturing and their respective enterprise applications and the synchronization of these systems is an ensured receipt of the most current design information for more efficient production processes. The work concludes in creating an integrated environment which decreases redundant efforts and guarantees that all departments involved in the product development and manufacturing cycle have access to current and accurate product data and being able to deliver higher quality products in less time and maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.