From shared-drive folders to SolidWorks PDM

A long-running pain point, a company-wide switch, and the one-page flowchart that helped people use it.

When: Early in my tenure
My role: Local administrator for the design team

PDM administration
ECN management
Documentation

The situation

For years the design team kept its CAD on a folder structure on a shared drive. It was a steady source of confusion about which file was current. The company looked hard at two options: a custom-built PDM system, and a customized version of the industry-standard SolidWorks PDM.

Diagram: the PDM workflow flowchart (sanitized)pdm-flowchart.png

the PDM workflow flowchart (sanitized)

What I did

Supported the rollout of the customized SolidWorks PDM as a local administrator.
Used the admin rights to help teammates advance, retract and modify file states and revisions when they got stuck.
Wrote the guidance the team used to adopt the new workflow: a flowchart as the main reference, plus a frequently asked questions sheet.

What I took from it

A new system only works if people can find the next step without asking. The flowchart did more than any training session.