PTC Windchill Reviews

I am using Windchill for managing CAD data and document data, specifically for product lifecycle management.

The strong point of Windchill is its close connection between the CAD structure and the bill of materials structure. This feature is its main strength yet also limits flexibility. The core functionality is commendable with many good concepts, however, they are not fully implemented. The version control maintains consistent versions, which is beneficial.

There is room for improvement in implementing features fully. The user interface is inconsistent and outdated. It appears that different departments or locations have implemented features differently, leading to inconsistency. There is a significant need for improved integration, particularly using OSLC for connecting with other tools like SAP ERP or ALM tools. The version control, while consistent, lacks flexibility regarding changes in CAD data and requires manual intervention for BOM management analysis.

I started to explore Windchill about ten years ago. I recently resumed working with it three months ago but have not yet been using it productively.

The support initially involved too much blame game, especially after the initial implementation. This seems to be a style of doing business with PTC characterized by a strong sales pitch but lacking in consistent follow-up support.

Neutral

I have previously used Siemens Teamcenter for change management, which offered a better solution for integrating different ALM and PLM worlds using OSLC.

During the beginning of the implementation with Windchill PLM, PTC's approach was more focused on the sales pitch with fewer end-user considerations.

I have evaluated Siemens Teamcenter, which offered a solution for connecting ALM and PLM tools more effectively out of the box.

I would not recommend doing business with PTC regardless of the product. Although Windchill has a commendable core functionality, it lacks refinement and complete feature implementation. 

On a scale from one to ten, I would rate Windchill a seven due to its interface and partial implementation of features.

I use the solution for product data management.

The solution provided essential support for workflow and decision-making.

I like how the product integrates with other technical solutions. Source control and application management can be integrated into Windchill. Also, since the product is based on Java, we can easily develop products on it.

Some parts of the system are exclusive, so we can't work with them. There are many programs, but ones from other companies' systems are hard to maintain. Though they are from the same neutral format, we cannot implement them. PTC Windchill should improve that. Moreover, the product is expensive.

The scalability, stability, and the initial setup should be improved.

I've worked with the solution for about five years.

I rate PTC Windchill's stability a five out of ten.

I rate PTC Windchill's scalability a seven out of ten. We want 300 users on the solution, but we currently have 30 to 50 users daily.

The problem with support is that there aren't enough people in technical support who fully understand the whole process.

Neutral

I've used SmartTeam before. We switched to Windchill because it was bigger and more stable.

PTC Windchill is not easy to set up. We need more time and expertise to work on it. I rate the initial setup a six out of ten. It took a couple of days to deploy the solution.

We developed a roadmap following the company's strategies when deploying the solution.

We had a third party as a consultant. We needed five or six people for deployment. We just need one person for maintenance.

I rate PTC Windchill's pricing a seven out of ten since it is pricey. The costs are fixed, and there are no additional costs.

There are many alternatives like TeamCentral and other smaller in-house solutions. We are considering other solutions now.

Before choosing Windchill, think about the price and integration. There are many software where you have to pay more and more money to do what you want to do with them. I rate PTC Windchill a five out of ten.

The connection between the search engine and parameters in the Pro/E data makes searching for parts easy.

We run it internally to manage our Wildfire 5 data, and prior to Intralink, we had our files on the hard drive with search paths. It was our first database that stored versions and parent/child relations without any drama.

Intralink needs to work better with various file formats. Also the publishing and viewing process needs to be simplified so that data can easily be shared outside of the CAD department.

We started using Intralink in 1997 to present, and I would rate v8 6/10, and the first we had, v3, 10/10.

When we first deployed Intralink 3.4, we had a PTC application engineer set it up for us and everything went perfectly. The following two upgrades were performed by another company with an “out of the box” set up and it has been miserable since then.

None, other than when our server started to die of old age.

No issues as this was not a factor for us.

PTC customer service was fantastic until our company got cheap during our chapter 11 phase and tried not paying the bills to PTC. As a result, PTC black listed us for a few years (rightly so, but frustrating).

It is very high.

Prior to Intralink we had a directory structure on the hard drive and used Search Paths within Pro/E. This did not have version control… or any control.

Intralink required planning. We needed to plan out our objectives, and how were we going to search for data, create start parts with parameters for search fields, migrate existing data and set up a release scheme.

Intralink was set up originally by PTC who did a fantastic job. The name of the company we used with the last two updates is not readily available to me but I would rate them more dangerous than competent.

Before we settled with Pro/Engineer/Intralink we were also looking at I-Deas Metaphase and Catia-Smart Team. As for the customer solutions we had no choices.

Don’t cheap out on the support. Hire an application engineer from PTC to help map out and implement the software. It is worth the extra money to be up and running quicker and without nagging issues. Also purchase a help desk contract. No matter how good the install you will need this for at least the first year.