Elite Aerospace Group Gets Product Data to Downstream Teams with ThingWorx Navigate

Through acquisitions, EAG was growing at lightning speed. However, its fast growth had caused some growing pains with how it managed its data. To solve this problem, EAG invested in Windchill, PTC’s product lifecycle management (PLM) software. Windchill ensured that users across EAG’s various locations are able to access the most up-to-date product data, from a variety of sources, in a consolidated product definition.

EAG was thrilled with how Windchill had made managing product data easier than ever. However, because PLM solutions are typically geared towards designers and engineers, EAG realized that downstream teams were still having some difficulty accessing the information that they needed. On top of that, because PLM solutions offer such a wide array of capabilities, their complexity requires new users to attend extensive training sessions. EAG needed a simpler way to get downstream teams the product data that they need.

EAG turned to ThingWorx Navigate, a set of role and task-based applications from PTC that gives stakeholders direct access to the product data stored in Windchill, such as work orders, tool paths, engineering data, and customer data. With a clean, simple user interface, ThingWorx Navigate is as intuitive to use as your average smartphone app. And because access to data through ThingWorx Navigate is based on a stakeholder’s role or task, EAG is able to ensure that information doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. Using the out-of-the-box ThingWorx Navigate apps, downstream stakeholders such as machinists are able to search a part number or work order and find the data they need.

By leveraging ThingWorx Navigate, EAG was able to quickly and easily get valuable product data into the hands of downstream teams. Not only that, since the applications are easy to use, EAG was able to replace an hour-long training session with easy-to-follow training videos. So far, the company has only connected ThingWorx Navigate to Windchill. However, it is looking to customize the app to connect it to other data sources such as ERP for complete data orchestration.