Why MedTech Leaders Are Moving from Oracle Agile to Windchill

Why MedTech Leaders Are Moving from Oracle Agile to Windchill

As Oracle Agile PLM is scheduled to end support in December 2027, MedTech organizations and their leaders face a critical decision: continue with a document-based legacy system or embrace a modern platform purpose-built for regulatory rigor, innovation, and operational efficiency. Increasingly, to meet those needs, numerous MedTech organizations have chosen to replace Agile with Windchill in the last few years.

The End of Agile PLM—and What It Means for MedTech

Oracle’s announcement to end support for Agile PLM has left many MedTech manufacturers exposed. Without ongoing updates or patches, companies face:

• Compliance risks due to outdated validation frameworks
• Operational inefficiencies from siloed data and manual processes
• Limited scalability in a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape

While Oracle offers Fusion Cloud PLM as a successor, many MedTech firms find it lacks the depth and flexibility needed to support complex, regulated environments. The urgency to modernize is real, and Windchill is emerging as the platform of choice.

Why Windchill Is the MedTech Standard

Windchill isn’t just a replacement for Agile PLM; it’s a transformation engine designed to instill product quality and maintain compliance.

Built for Compliance

Regulatory compliance is non-negotiable in MedTech. Windchill helps MedTech organizations by providing:

• Support for FDA 21 CFR Part 11, ISO 13485, and EU MDR
• Built-in Medtech workflows, audit trails, e-signatures, and SOP alignment
• Validation-ready SaaS solution accelerates time to value, plus on-prem support options

Digital Thread & Traceability

Windchill is the backbone of the PTC Intelligent Product Lifecycle, connecting product data across engineering, quality, regulatory, manufacturing, and service, enabling:

• End-to-end traceability of data from design to service
• Closed-loop quality management by using AI to create complaints from service issues
• Seamless integration with SAP and other ERP and MES, ServiceMax, PTC’s asset-centric field service platform, and Codebeamer - PTC’s requirements, risk, and test management platform

SaaS-Ready & Scalable

Windchill+ MedTech, the SaaS offering, enables:

• Secure, validated cloud deployments
• Role-specific apps for intuitive access spanning multiple systems and leveraging REST integration frameworks
• Huge savings in cloud infrastructure, system admin, validation, and System Integrator costs

AI Capabilities: Driving Smarter Decisions

A strong data foundation for AI-powered insights

Both Windchill+ (SaaS) and on-premises Windchill are introducing advanced AI features that help MedTech organizations unlock new levels of efficiency and innovation

AI Part Rationalization:

• Search similar parts while designing to reduce duplicate creation
• Find duplicates across your data to reduce carrying costs
• Validate similarity during supersession to prevent costly mistakes

Document Insight Access:

• Quickly access vital knowledge in your document control system
• Summarize lengthy documents for deeper insights intuitively search for information to enhance productivity

These AI-driven capabilities empower teams to make data-informed decisions, reduce manual effort, and accelerate time-to-market—all while maintaining regulatory compliance.

Real-World Impact: MedTech Success Stories

Windchill is a solution used by companies like CONMED to manage their products from concept to retirement. CONMED integrated PTC Windchill with its Quality Management System (QMS) to unify product development processes, improve regulatory compliance, and increase efficiency in its medical device manufacturing.

• What it is: Windchill is a PLM software suite that manages the entire lifecycle of a product. It includes functionalities for Product data management (PDM), manufacturing process management, and project collaboration and embedded Quality Management capabilities.
• How CONMED uses Windchill: CONMED adopted Windchill as its core PLM and QMS foundation to streamline its medical device development. By integrating the two systems, CONMED was able to:
  • Unify product development, manufacturing, quality, and regulatory processes into a single system.
  • Improve product safety and efficacy.
  • Ensure continued compliance with global regulatory authorities.
  • Proactively build quality into the products.
• Benefits: Implementing Windchill helped CONMED improve collaboration, streamline processes, and increase efficiency by moving away from separate, integrated systems like Oracle Agile and TrackWise. The solution allows for better management of product information, risk, and quality throughout the development cycle.

Innovation in MedTech: How Content Solutions Save Hundreds of Thousands Annually

Learn how CONMED streamlined product development and saved money using PLM and eIFU.

Watch the Webinar

Migration Made Easy

PTC offers structured migration paths from Agile PLM to Windchill, designed to minimize disruption and maximize compliance:

• Validation Ready SaaS environments
• Secure data exchange via Azure
• Post-migration validation and support

Whether you're implementing Windchill at a single site or a global enterprise, PTC’s migration framework ensures a smooth transition.

A Strategic Opportunity for MedTech

This isn’t just a technical upgrade; it’s a strategic opportunity. By moving to Windchill, MedTech organizations can:

• Reimagine PLM as a driver of innovation
• Strengthen regulatory readiness and audit resilience
• Unlock AI-driven insights for product and service excellence
• Reduce time-to-market and cost of poor quality

The sunset of Oracle Agile PLM presents a challenge, but also an opportunity to leap forward. Windchill offers MedTech companies a future-ready platform that’s built for compliance, innovation, and scale. Please contact PTC to understand how your company can undergo the transition from Agile to Windchill before the December 2027 deadline.

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