• BOM Management – Central views, variants, and CAD integrations
• Collaborative Product Development – Enterprise-wide visibility into planning, shop floor, service context
• Change & Configuration – Automated workflows, traceability, and compliance
• Manufacturing Process Management – Digital twin visualization, plant-specific BOMs, and digital quality tracking
• Parts Classification & Variability Management – Efficient search, sustainability handling, and product customization
• Product Data Management (PDM) – CAD data control, versioning, multi-CAD support
• Quality Management – CAPA, audit trails, regulatory oversight
• Supply Chain Collaboration – Real-time supplier workflows and transparency

What problems does Windchill solve for engineering and manufacturing teams?

Windchill addresses persistent issues like data silos, manual hand-offs, and version confusion by providing a single source of truth for product, CAD, BOM and change data. This unified platform helps engineering and manufacturing teams reduce errors, minimize rework, and accelerate time-to-market. By enabling concurrent workstreams and real-time visibility, Windchill supports efficient collaboration across disciplines. 

Who uses Windchill and what industries benefit most from it?

Windchill is widely used by discrete manufacturing enterprises including automotive, aerospace & defense, industrial equipment, high-tech electronics and medical device companies. These industries benefit most because they deal with complex product structures, rigorous compliance requirements, and long lifecycles. In these areas Windchill excels. The solution supports both global, multi-site deployments and intricate configurations, making it a strong fit for manufacturers handling complexity and scale. 

Is Windchill only for large enterprises, or can small-to-mid-size companies use it too?

While Windchill is known for enterprise-scale capabilities, its modular architecture and cloud delivery options make it accessible to small and mid-sized manufacturers as well. Smaller companies can leverage core functionality like product data management, version control and change workflows without the overhead of full enterprise deployment. As their needs grow, they can incrementally add modules and scale into broader PLM roles.

What are the main components or modules in Windchill?

Windchill consists of foundational modules such as product data vaulting, BOM & change management (PDMLink/PDMLink+), manufacturing process management (MPMLink), quality and compliance (QMS), service information management, and variant/configuration management. Additional modules include extensions for aerospace & defense data, risk & reliability analytics, and digital thread interoperability. These components allow organizations to tailor their PLM deployment to specific functional needs while leveraging a unified platform.

How does Windchill support digital transformation initiatives?

Windchill acts as the backbone of the “digital thread,” connecting engineering, manufacturing and service systems by enabling consistent, trusted product data across the lifecycle. It links to ERP, MES, CAD, IoT and analytics tools, enabling companies to move from isolated applications to integrated, data-driven workflows. By unlocking real-time visibility and enabling downstream usage of design data (such as in service or production), Windchill helps manufacturers transform operations and accelerate innovation.

What are the key features of PTC Windchill?

Key features of Windchill include a central data repository for CAD and business objects, automated workflows for change management, BOM management across engineering/manufacturing, variant/configuration support, role-based access and real-time collaboration. The platform also offers advanced visualization, reporting, document control and integration APIs for enterprise systems. These features combine to reduce errors, improve productivity and enable more agile product development.

How does Windchill improve collaboration across engineering and manufacturing teams?

Windchill enables cross-functional teams to access the same up-to-date product data, drawings, BOMs and workflows regardless of geographic or functional boundaries. With change notifications, task management and configurable role-based portals, manufacturing, sourcing, and service can work in parallel with engineering. This shared visibility and process alignment reduce delays, mis-communication and hand-off errors, enabling faster and more synchronized product delivery.

Does Windchill support document and version control?

Yes, Windchill provides comprehensive document management and version control capabilities, enabling controlled access, historical tracking, check-in/check-out workflows and secure archiving of product documents, CAD files, specifications and more. These capabilities ensure that all stakeholders are working from the correct version of data, audit trails are maintained and regulatory requirements around document governance are supported.

What security features does Windchill offer to protect product data?

Windchill includes role-based access controls, permissions model, encryption in transit and at rest, audit logging, and customizable security policies to protect sensitive product information and IP. Multi-site deployments are supported with secure federated architectures and authentication mechanisms (such as SSO and LDAP) to maintain governance across global teams. These features help ensure that only authorized users can view or modify data and all changes are tracked.

How does Windchill enable compliance and traceability in regulated industries?

Windchill provides traceable process management and audit-ready records of engineering changes, version histories, approvals, manufacturing effectivity and document revisions. Modules such as QMS and audit management support corrective and preventive actions (CAPA), non-conformance tracking and regulatory reporting. All of these outcomes are critical in industries like medical devices, aerospace or defense. By capturing who changed what, when and why, Windchill supports downstream compliance with standards such as ISO 9001, FDA 21 CFR Part 820 and AS 9100.

What APIs or data exchange capabilities are available in Windchill?

Windchill offers REST and SOAP web services, a comprehensive connector suite (ERP Connector, MES integration), configurable workflows, and open APIs to import/export data, integrate with enterprise systems and automate processes. These capabilities enable companies to connect Windchill with ERP, MES, IoT platforms and analytics tools. This ensures product data flows seamlessly across the enterprise ecosystem.

Getting Started with Windchill

Adopting a new PLM system can feel overwhelming, but Windchill is built with flexibility in mind. Whether your business is just beginning to formalize its processes or scaling globally, the platform can be tailored to fit your immediate needs while leaving room to grow. Getting started is about choosing the right deployment model, identifying quick wins, and building momentum for long-term digital transformation.

Here’s how you can begin:

1. Define your deployment preference: on-prem, cloud, or hybrid.
2. Identify key use cases: change management, BOM governance, quality processes.
3. Engage implementation experts (like EAC) to configure, integrate, and train your team.
4. Leverage SaaS tools like Windchill+ for faster time to value with built-in cloud benefits.

PTC Windchill saves ALM Positioners 4 hours per project

 If you are trying to confidently make a smooth transition from paper files to digital files with a complete PLM solution, you should contact us to learn more about PTC Windchill. Read on to learn more about a business who succeeds in digital transformation to reduce time-to-market, decrease costs, and increase collaboration.

Business Overview
ALM Positioners, Inc. is a manufacturing and assembling facility for state-of-the-art positioner lifts located in Rock Island, Illinois. Myron Pundt, VP of Engineering at ALM said, “We build positioners that lift, rotate, and turn machinery in the manufacturing industry. The positioners allow our customers to put their parts at the right elevation and rotation for their operators to build things efficiently.” Their business eliminates the need for straps, chains, and slings and instead allows the operator to raise and position weldments and assemblies to the necessary height and working position. 

ALM specializes in custom designs and manufacturing solutions for their customers who need positioners to meet specific requirements. Their unique selling proposition in the Industrial Automation Industry allows them to offer significant cost savings for equipment, improved safety for welders and operators, and increased manufacturing and assembly production efficiency to their customers.

Business Challenges
ALM was challenged by an increasing number of custom design requests. These requests increased product design cycle times. Inaccurate and inefficient information was finding its way to engineers and technicians because product data was stored in paper documents throughout the manufacturing facility.  

Pundt reported, “We would have a lot of problems with not having the right prints, so something would end up being built wrong – requiring rework or just extra time to disassemble or reassemble it.” Modifications were being made to designs that weren’t communicated to other departments. This created a bottleneck in operations causing stalls in production and higher costs due to rework. “We’re looking to streamline our processes and get rid of the paper on our shop floor.” 

To keep up with the demand of their customers, ALM knew they had to be able to securely store and access product information, Bill of Materials (BOMs), and design requirements all in one place to eliminate the bottleneck and to operate at maximum speed and efficiency on the shop floor. Kevin Toft, President at ALM, proclaimed, “Our company is growing at a fast rate. Last year we saw a forty-six percent growth in our sales revenue and we expect that we are going to double sales by the end of 2019. We need to have systems that work for us so we can continue to see that kind of growth. We have to be as efficient as possible.” 

Solution
ALM Positioners turned to EAC Product Development Solutions to help solve their bottleneck problem. EAC helps companies optimize their product development systems so they can succeed in the market place. EAC is a PTC value-added network partner, offering the latest advancements in technology utilized by companies around the world, including PTC Windchill. EAC’s Solution Architects proposed PTC Windchill, a product life cycle management (PLM) tool that allows organizations to consolidate and manage product information into digital form. 

Implementation
With the help of EAC’s implementation team, ALM incorporated Windchill throughout their organization so they could view, operate, and manage up-to-date CAD designs on computers throughout the shop floor. “Before we implemented Windchill we were running paper copies. Our ERP implementation was through exported BoMs in Microsoft Excel and we would import them back into the ERP system. It was very time consuming and inefficient,” Pundt explained. Windchill eliminated the obligation to use multiple systems to view product information, associated BoMs, and CAD designs. 

Overall employee morale was up because there was less redundancy throughout the early design stages. Brydon Sanders, Product Design Engineer at ALM, reports, “Before Windchill we had an archive of data that was not necessarily 100% accurate. So, when we were sorting data that we thought was right, we’d find out there was a problem after we made changes to it. EAC helped us customize a life cycle specifically for how small of a company we are to help facilitate changes and make the correct revisions. Everything is much faster when designing and validating the product.” 

EAC helped customize Windchill to optimize operational efficiencies specifically for ALM’s needs. Colten Brunenn, Product Manager at ALM, reported, “EAC’s implementation specialist was on site for several days at a time throughout the implementation process to help us customize the application to our needs. The specialist was giving us examples, walking us through the processes, showing us how it would work if we did it a certain way, and showed us how to make things easier. It opened our eyes to the capacity and abilities of what we could do with Windchill for our specific needs.” 

Results
Compared to previous processes, ALM is able to more quickly and accurately meet their customer’s needs because of their Windchill implementation. “We save about four hours per job with just the front-end BoM load and getting the information into the ERP system – which has been huge,” Pundt explained. “Customers tend to want what they want and a lot of times we can get their order over our competition because we’re willing to customize it for them. Windchill and our new ERP system make it very easy to manage those customizations and helps us to make sure that we have materials in-stock and on-time to meet those needs.” 

“With the implementation of Windchill, our manufacturing efficiency is greatly improved. Everything is live on the shop floor now, there are no more paper copies, no more prints getting lost, and nobody building something off the wrong or unrevised print. It has really improved our efficiency through the manufacturing process,” Pundt said. Transitioning into a digital workflow with Windchill allows ALM to reduce time-to-market, decrease costs, and increase collaboration throughout the organization.

Watch the video.

You can reduce time to market and cut costs by advancing your digital thread with PTC Windchill, the industry-leading Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution. Windchill consolidates data so that your team can work faster and more accurately so you can focus on product innovation.

See how Virnig Manufacturing uses PTC Windchill to change the way their data is delivered within their organization.

Business Initiatives 

Located in Rice, Minnesota, Virnig Manufacturing has been designing and producing skid steer attachments for over 27 years. This family owned one-stop shop does all steps of the manufacturing process in-house: engineering, cutting raw materials, machining, welding, and painting the finished product. Virnig dominates the industry by offering high-quality skid steer attachments and continually innovates to maintain a strong competitive advantage in a challenging and competitive market.  

Business Challenges 

Virnig has grown exponentially in the last decade, prompting the on-boarding of more employees 
to keep up with the growth. The expanding workforce introduced a new challenge of organizing critical work documents. The process of finding documents every day began to inhibit productivity. The need for a file management system became obvious and critical.  

Finding a solution became a top priority as Darin Virnig, Engineering and Production Manager, and his team found themselves taking on projects that required “more time in a day” to complete. Darin stated, “When there were just a few of us looking at files we weren’t quite as concerned about file management and having things get overwritten. But as we had more and more people working we all looked at each other and decided it was time to implement a file management system so that we didn’t start losing data or have
 it changed accidentally.” Prior to implementing a system, Darin and his team kept product content and design data in large red binders throughout the manufacturing facility. Engineers would leave their workstations to access folders in designated areas – sometimes on the other side of the manufacturing floor. Virnig was losing precious time to their paper-based processes. Darin needed to find a quicker way for his team to access data if he wanted to achieve maximum productivity on the shop floor. 

Solutions 

EAC Product Development Solutions (EAC) is an engineering and technology services company headquartered in Minneapolis, MN. They provide product development solutions that transform the way small to medium sized companies design, manufacture, connect, and service their products. Virnig had partnered with EAC to implement PTC’s simulation software and trusted them with this new file management challenge. PTC is 
a global technology provider and the maker of tools such as Creo Parametric CAD software and the Windchill line of product lifecycle management solutions. “It was only logical to go with PTC products since we have been doing all of our modeling with their products,” says Darin.  

The benefits of going paperless exceeded Virnig’s accuracy and collaboration goals, and provide an ancillary benefit of reducing the cost
 of paper and printing. The decision was made to implement Windchill, PTC’s product lifecycle management software to streamline operations and control files. 

The Paperless Movement 

Windchill PDM Essentials, PTC’s Product Data Management tool empowers companies to organize and manage their product content to improve access to accurate, timely product data. Darin and his team have implemented Windchill across their engineering and manufacturing facility with 10 different access points for each department on the shop floor. Darin chuckles as he talks about removing the now-unnecessary red binders, “we took away their file cabinets.” The new process didn’t require any paper documents
 on the floor – everything was now digitally stored in their workstation computers throughout the facility. The implementation prevented wasted time that was previously used to sort through red binders, and avoided the use of old, irrelevant information.  

Darin talks about the success of the new data management system, “Paperless provides access on the floor which has increased accuracy and quality that will give us the competitive advantage we were looking for.” He describes how his team members used to take over 30 minutes a day searching for the data needed to complete a specific task. “It was a company initiative to go paperless in all areas to increase accuracy – the accuracy is where the cost savings would come in for us.” Going paperless has allowed Virnig to take advantage of that 30 minutes a day to add over 325 productive hours to their operation each year. 

Learn more about PTC Windchill, contact us, download the case study, or watch the video.

Manufacturers always try to find a ways to streamline processes and ‘do more with less.’ It drives success in a world full of competition. One way organizations do this is by reducing process complexity with powerful product life cycle management (PLM) or change management software. Connecting your team directly to live operational data increases efficiency in all departments and allows your organization to save money and manufacture products faster.
EAC Product Development Solutions has partnered with PTC, the world’s product development technology leader, to bring organizations the products and services that they need to succeed in their industry. As a PTC Solutions Provider, we provide the maintenance, support, configuration, and training you need to implement change management software as easily as possible.

PTC Windchill Data Management

If you’re looking to do things like keeping better track of files, create and store Bill of Materials (BoMs), put CAD models and drawings in one place, eliminate the risk of two individuals working on a file at the same time, or secure your data without burdening IT – you’re looking for PTC Windchill.

PTC software – specifically Windchill – is a complete PLM solution that provides capabilities such as:

• Bill of Materials (BoM) Management (EBoM, SBoM, MBoM)
• Configuration and Change Management
• Requirements Capture Management
• Early insight into product quality, reliability, and risk
• Efficiently making product variations with a structured platform
• Product Data Management
• Collaboration across all departments with accurate, up-to-date information
• Seamless software integration and defining standards

PTC Windchill is a PLM solution that provides a smooth transition from design to manufacturing with universal access to all critical product data information so that the process isn’t fatigued with delays.

PTC Windchill, Change Management, eBoM Case Study

ALM Positioners, a leading manufacturer of positioner lifts located in Rock Island Illinois, needed PTC Windchill. The company offers unique, customizable weldments and assemblies that require a lot of CAD models and other product information from engineering before manufacturing even begins. Due to extensive product customization and configuration depending on the needs of their customers, ALM needed a better solution to manage product data. They were drowning in paper files – a lot of which had outdated information.

EAC’s implementation team helped ALM Positioners transition to a digital workflow using PTC’s Windchill software. Windchill helped ALM save up to 4 hours per project by integrating EBoMs and MBoMs into their ERP system.

Watch the ALM Case Study on PTC Windchill to see how it has consistently proven to be a leader in the industry and outperformed competitors when it came to product lifecycle management.