Application of Product Data Management Technology for Enterprise- Wide Distributed Product Development

The paper gives a comprehensive overview and a classification of the fundamentals and the current state of the art of Product Data Management (PDM) technology regarding the support of distributed product development. Based on experiences and results of actual industrial projects, the requirements for distributed product development are presented. Considering these demands, different application approaches for building a distributed PDM solution using commercially available systems as well as methods for the replication and exchange of product data under consideration of existing standards are introduced and evaluated. Finally the demands for further developments concerning tools and methods, and standardisation are addressed and a new research approach of ITM, Bochum with special respect to flexibility and ease of implementation is shown.