A traditional product lifecycle management (PLM) system provides a secure central repository for all of a company’s product designs and associated data. It also manages the flow of that data by automating common processes, like engineering change orders. In the most sophisticated settings, you’ll even find it completely integrated into a company’s ERP system as well.

Traditional PLM systems are complex organisms that require a lot of planning, investment, and IT resources to do correctly.

So, when PTC announced earlier this year that you could now use its professional PLM technology via the cloud, some people were pretty excited about the implications. On the cloud, your PLM solution is delivered as a service with no software residing on your computer. In software circles, we call that Software as a Service, or SaaS. It means that someone else worries about deploying the technology, upgrades, storage space, availability, security, etc.

For the end user, a PLM solution is as close as the nearest web browser. It’s a great solution for small- and medium-sized businesses that have found themselves priced out of the PLM market up until now.

A complete PLM system!

With so much of the system operating from the cloud, you might wonder how the SaaS version of PTC’s PLM technology compares to what better-funded enterprises are using.

Rest assured, PTC PLM Cloud is full featured. Here’s what you’ll get when you subscribe:

• A central repository for your data. Team members can all securely vault models, their structures, and relationships for streamlined control and collaboration.
• Powerful searching tools. Team members can also quickly search, copy, or rename designs for easy product information discovery and more efficient design reuse.
• Revision control. Every time someone updates a model, the system tracks the changes. That means, among other things, that you can’t lose work due to colleagues overwriting the wrong file.
• Built-in multi-CAD support. Any author can use PTC Creo, SolidWorks, AutoCAD, and Inventor integrations at any time at no additional charge. So working with teams, partners, or clients who use other systems doesn’t require separate processes or systems.
• Process management. The system includes support for automated change and release management. Optimize new product introduction, Six Sigma and Advanced Product Quality Planning, too. 
• Easily connect with suppliers, clients, and data.
• PTC Creo View Lite. With PTC’s 2D and 3D Viewer, even people who don’t have CAD tools on their system can view and interrogate product models from the PLM system.
• Part BOM management.
• Secure access. Lifecycle states control access managing the ability to view, use, and update product items. This ensures that organizations such as manufacturing and purchasing can only access released items.

Custom workflows, integration into ERP systems, advanced configuration and customizations are all available too.

To find out more about how PTC PLM Cloud brings big-company efficiency and results to small- and medium-sized businesses, watch the video.