CAD / project management integration supports distributed engineering
Online project management software links to SolidWorks so users can manage a project’s progress from within their own CAD tools.
Mountain View, CA — Clarizen , a provider of on-demand, online project management software, has begun to market an integration capability with Dassault Systemes SolidWorks mechanical CAD software that lets distributed design and engineering teams manage and track a project’s progress within their own CAD tools. No separate project management software is needed to ensure dispersed teams synchronize schedules, progress and accountability.
There is always a balance between management, who want more visibility, and employees, who say that project management tools are just overhead that slow them down. It’s a project itself to implement a project management system,” says Avinoam Nowogrodski, chief executive officer and co-founder of Clarizen.
Project plans and engineering activities have historically been managed in separate environments—in the desktop-based project management tools and CAD tools respectively—creating miscommunication and project delays.
This integrated environment Clarizen has developed allows design engineers to create new project tasks, update the status of tasks, view task due dates or attach CAD drawings to project tasks for collaboration with team members, all from within their CAD system.
Nowogrodski explains: “A Solidworks user goes to the Website and downloads a small plug in that creates menu. Another plug in for Microsoft Outlook lets you write e-mails in Clarizen, and they become a Clarizen task. You can then manage tasks and action items because they are part of the project. Security is based on where you are in the project, and you only have to share what you have agreed to share.”
Clarizen markets over the Web and sells over the phone in a software-as-service structure. The software is $25 per user per month and requires no dedicated hardware or software. Nowogrodski added, “We will continue to use our Open API to integrate Clarizen with other popular CAD tools to enable design and engineering users worldwide with a streamlined way of managing projects.”
– Edited by Renee Robbins , senior editor Control Engineering News Desk Register here and scroll down to select your choice of eNewsletters free .
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