Are You Making the

Best Use of PDM?

An engineering.com audience survey
on the use of product data management

This research has been sponsored by

Dassault Systèmes SOLIDWORKS.
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3

HAVE ORGANIZATIONS REALLY INVESTED IN PDM? 4

How Popular Is PDM Software? 5

Top Industries Are Just As Likely To Use PDM Software

As They Are To Skip It Altogether 6

ARE THERE INHERENT BARRIERS THAT LIMIT WIDESPREAD PDM USE? 7

Are Users Investing In Formal Training To Learn How To Use Their Software? 8

What Are The Top Reasons Users Avoid PDM Software? 9

ARE SOFTWARE PROVIDERS IN TUNE WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS? 10

How Satisfied Are Organizations With Their Current PDM Software? 11

Where Do Current PDM Tools Miss The Mark? 12

WHICH ORGANIZATIONS EFFECTIVELY AND

CONFIDENTLY USE PDM SOFTWARE? 13

Which Features Of PDM Do You Like Most? 14

Which Features Of PDM Are You Using Adequately? 15

Which Features Of PDM Have You Made Little Use Of? 16

Does The Size Of The Company Affect Use Of PDM? 17

What Types Of Companies Use PDM The Most? 18

ARE PDM USERS BRAND LOYAL? 19

How Loyal Are Organizations To Popular PDM Tools? 20

Are Engineers Gravitating Toward One Software Over Another? 21

Which Users Are Ready To Jump Ship? 22

ARE PDM USERS READY FOR THE CLOUD? 23

Have We Moved Away From Local Processing? 24

DEMOGRAPHICS 25

Industries Represented 26

Job Roles And Organizational Size 27

CLOSING COMMENTS 28

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ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Computer aided design (CAD) has revolutionized product design. However,

CAD alone is not enough. A growing library of CAD parts demands
organization. That’s where product data management (PDM) comes in. Just
like how paper drawings were managed in the pre-CAD print rooms, PDM
systems provide centralized control of design information with version control
and check in/check out. 

With all the problems PDM systems fix, and for as long as they have been
around, one would think every organization that uses CAD would have PDM
installed. But do they? And if not, why not?

We wanted to understand how PDM is really being used by companies large

and small. In this engineering.com research report, we present the results of
a survey in which we asked over 300 engineers, designers, product managers
and executives about the use of PDM within their companies. We determined
what the most popular PDM software is, what the most common frustrations
with PDM are, and what innovations in PDM software are generating the most
interest.

You’ll learn this and more:

•W
 hich industries use PDM the most
•W
 hy users stick with PDM software they don’t like
•W
 hat users think of cloud PDM
•H
 ow the size of an organization affects PDM use

Thanks for reading,

Roopinder Tara
Director of Content, engineering.com

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ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

Have organizations
really invested in PDM?

4
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

HOW POPULAR IS PDM SOFTWARE?

Over a third (37%) of all survey respondents do not use PDM software at all
because they don’t have access to the software (32%), while a much smaller
percentage have the software but choose not to use it (5%). Another third
(38%) use it every day.

Daily PDM software use appears to be much more common in the aerospace
industry (62%), whereas the other industries appear to be as likely to use PDM
as they are to avoid it altogether.

Size matters. Small businesses with 20 employees or less noted that they don’t
have PDM software at all (60%). Their counterparts at organizations with over
100 employees were less likely to not use PDM software (18%).

5.1%

4.2%
4.2%
3.4%
3.4%

2.6%

2.1%
20.7%

38.5%

38.5%

35.4%
33.3%

37.5%
41.0%

10.3%

10.3%
62.1%

12.5%
0.0%

0.0%
6.9%

7.7%

7.7%
5.1%

Aerospace (n=29) Automotive (n=39) Engineering design or Manufacturing - Other

simulation services (n=48)
(n=39)

n Not at all n Rarely - about once a year n Occasionally - about once a quarter
n Frequently - about once a month n Often - about once a week n Always - daily

Q: To what extent do you use product document management (PDM) software? Select your industry

5
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

TOP INDUSTRIES ARE JUST AS LIKELY

TO USE PDM SOFTWARE AS THEY ARE
TO SKIP IT ALTOGETHER.

Across the major industries represented in this survey, most report that
they do not fully use their PDM solutions. As for those that use PDM most
effectively, we found that teams in the construction (38%) and automotive
(31%) industries are ahead of the curve. Other industries have some work to do
to keep up.

In the aerospace industry, for example, 48% of respondents felt that PDM is
underused in their company. Another 44% thought that there was room for
improvement in their use of PDM. Only 8% of respondents in aerospace felt
their companies were using PDM effectively.
44.0%
48.0%

48.6%
64.3%
50.0%

50.0%
30.8%

30.8%

34.6%
38.5%
37.5%

14.3%

14.3%
15.4%
21.4%
12.5%

37.1%
8.0%

Construction Oil & gas (n=14) Aerospace Automotive Engineering Manufacturing

(n=8) (n=25) (n=26) design or - Other (n=35)
simulation
services (n=26)

n PDM is underutilized n PDM is used well, but there’s room to improve

n PDM is used effectively throughout the organization

Q: To what extent do you use product document management (PDM) software? Select your industry

6
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

Are there inherent

barriers that limit
widespread PDM
use?

7
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

ARE USERS INVESTING IN FORMAL

TRAINING TO LEARN HOW TO USE
THEIR SOFTWARE?

Could underutilization be due to a lack of training? Our findings suggest that

training is probably not the issue. Over half (54%) of participants completed a
formal PDM software training program, suggesting that they are aware of the
benefits of PDM software and have some knowledge about the tools at their
disposal.

However, PDM software may be fairly intuitive already. A third (33%) of

respondents reported needing only a few days with some assistance from
others to learn their system. Others (13%) were able to understand their
software without any formal training or assistance

12.9% 33.0% 16.5% 32.6% 4.9%

No training - It Some assistance- Training course- Attended Attended
was It took a few I undertook a training training
intuitive to learn days, software training classes at my classes at reseller,
and use help from course (online, company vendor or school
coworkers, video)
but no
training course

Q: How much training did your current PDM software require? N = 224

8
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

WHAT ARE THE TOP REASONS USERS

AVOID PDM SOFTWARE?

42% of survey takers identified themselves as non-PDM users. We asked them

to help us understand why by selecting all of the reasons they forego PDM.

It would seem that non-users are falling back on convenient options (e.g.,
Microsoft Excel) that are almost universally installed on office computers. They
cite cost (27%) and migration time (21%) as top barriers to PDM adoption.

We use standard software (MS 28.0%

Excel, spreadsheet, database)

Too expensive 27.3%

No time to set up (migrate

existing data to PDM) 20.5%

No need for PDM software,

we have a working system to 18.2%
manage parts and data

Too complicated, difficult to use 15.9%

Too cumbersome 8.3%

We have developed and use our

own application 6.1%

PDM is built into my CAD or

PLM system 5.3%

Don’t know/Unsure 18.2%

Q: For what reason(s) does your organization not use PDM software? Select all that
apply. N = 132

9
Are software
providers in
tune with their
customers?
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

HOW SATISFIED ARE ORGANIZATIONS

WITH THEIR CURRENT PDM
SOFTWARE?

Customers generally appear comfortable with their current PDM solution.

Over 36% of respondents indicate that they’re highly satisfied with their
current software, while an additional 8% claim it meets or exceeds all their
PDM needs.

Of those who weren’t highly satisfied with their current PDM software, the
most popular description of their assessment was “neutral” (40%). Only 16% of
respondents indicated some degree of dissatisfaction with PDM.

6.6% 9.6% 39.5% 36.8% 7.5%

Very low - Low - open to Neutral - no High - Very high -
actively alternative strong comfortable software
considering software feelings of either with current meets or exceeds
alternative satisfaction or software all
software dissatisfaction needs

Q: What is your level of satisfaction with your current PDM software? N = 228

11
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

WHERE DO CURRENT PDM TOOLS MISS

THE MARK?

Cost (18%), inability to interface with other programs (16%) and feature
limitations (15%) are the top pain points for PDM users.

Though software providers would be wise to pay attention to all of the

issues identified by current users, aligning improvements with the top pain
points should gain them customer satisfaction and retention. The top three
opportunities for improvement include showing the value of PDM software
over spreadsheets and Windows file manager, exploring integrations between
PDM software and complementary programs/systems, and following up
with customers to find out which new features to prioritize in software
development.

Too expensive 17.6%

Doesn’t interface with other

programs 15.7%

Lacking in features/functionality 15.4%

Too complicated, difficult to

learn, use 14.4%

Too difficult to maintain 12.8%

Too cumbersome 12.8%

Lack of support 11.2%

Glitching/crashes 9.9%

Other 3.8%

Q: Do you have any issues with your current PDM or PLM software? Select all that
apply. N = 312

12
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

Which organizations
effectively and
confidently use
PDM software?

13
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

WHICH FEATURES OF PDM DO YOU LIKE

MOST?
We asked respondents to tell us how well their PDM software supports their
needs.

Survey respondents appear to be most satisfied with their ability to reuse

previous inputs like parts, models and systems (56%), protect their IP (54%),
and maintain a centralized database of models (50%).

Reuse of parts, models and

systems (n=313) 55.6%

Protecting our IP (n=313) 54.3%

Maintaining a central repository

49.7%
of models (n=308)

Collaboration across design

46.1%
teams (n=317)

Model version control (n=312) 45.8%

Models/files uniformly named

according to convention (n=308) 45.5%

Bill of material generation

(n=311) 41.2%

Duplicate models/files are

removed to avoid confusion 36.3%
(n=306)

Q: Please indicate your level of satisfaction with the following tasks and needs.
Response: Best in class / We’re happy with it

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ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

WHICH FEATURES OF PDM ARE YOU

USING ADEQUATELY?
Topping the list of features/tasks for which their use of PDM is merely adequate
are maintaining file naming conventions (31%), the ability to produce a bill of
materials (30%), and the ability to reuse parts, models and systems (14%).

It’s good to know that these tasks have become standard practice. The
challenge now is to discover opportunities to innovate and bring additional
efficiencies to these areas.

Models/files uniformly named

according to convention (n=308) 30.5%

Bill of material generation (n=311) 29.6%

Reuse of parts, models and

29.1%
systems (n=313)

Collaboration across design

28.4%
teams (n=317)

Model version control (n=312) 26.9%

Maintaining a central repository

of models (n=308) 24.7%

Duplicate models/files are

removed to avoid confusion 23.9%
(n=306)

Protecting our IP (n=313) 21.4%

Q: Please indicate your level of satisfaction with the following tasks and needs.
Response: Passable, average or mediocre

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ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

WHICH FEATURES OF PDM HAVE YOU

MADE LITTLE USE OF?
At the bottom of the list of features/tasks of under-used features of PDM
are reuse of parts (only 15%), protecting IP (24%) and, surprisingly, keeping a
central repository of parts for the whole company.

Duplicate models/files are

removed to avoid confusion 39.9%
(n=306)

Bill of material generation (n=311) 29.3%

Collaboration across design 25.6%

teams (n=317)

Model version control (n=312) 26.0%

Models/files uniformly named

according to convention (n=308) 25.6%

Maintaining a central repository 25.6%

of models (n=308)

Protecting our IP (n=313) 24.0%

Reuse of parts, models and 15.3%

systems (n=313)

Q: Please indicate your level of satisfaction with the following tasks and needs.
Response: Needs improvement / We suck

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ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

DOES THE SIZE OF THE COMPANY

AFFECT USE OF PDM?

Short answer: Yes.

We asked engineers about their organization’s PDM use. Of the 222

survey takers who responded to this question, 40% considered PDM to
be underutilized, 42% felt that there was room for improvement, and only
18% indicated that the PDM software is used effectively throughout their
organization.

We wondered if the size of the organization played a role. Indeed, engineers

at smaller organizations are less likely to opt for widespread use of PDM.
Organizations with less than 100 employees are most likely to underuse PDM
(ranging from 32% to 68%).
5.3%
68.4%

24.0%
45.8%

45.8%

50.0%
66.7%

47.4%
25.0%

35.0%
26.3%

33.3%

41.0%
16.7%
31.6%

21.1%
8.3%

8.3%

1-5 employees 6-20 21-50 51-100 101-500 >500

(n=34) employees employees employees employees employees
(n=41) (n=31) (n=27) (n=63) (n=119)

n PDM is underutilized n PDM is used well, but there’s room to improve

n PDM is used effectively throughout the organization

Q: In your opinion, how effectively is your organization using PDM?

What is the approximate size of your organization?

17
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

WHAT TYPES OF COMPANIES USE PDM

THE MOST?

Larger organizations (over 100 employees) are more likely to rely on PDM
software every day as evidenced by 49% (101 to 500 employees) and 54% (over
500 employees).

Smaller organizations appear to skip PDM altogether. Perhaps factors such as

cost or unwanted complexity are holding these organizations back.
2.8%
2.8%

54.0%
54.8%

40.7%

49.2%
29.0%
55.0%

25.0%

23.0%
33.3%

18.0%
86.1%

10.6%
12.4%
18.5%
12.5%

21.3%
11.5%
8.3%

9.7%
6.5%

7.4%
7.5%

1-5 employees 6-20 21-50 51-100 101-500 >500

(n=36) employees employees employees employees employees
(n=40) (n=31) (n=27) (n=61) (n=113)

n Not at all n Rarely / Occasionally (about once a quarter to once a year)

n Frequently / Often (about once a week to once a month) n Always (daily)

Q: In your opinion, how effectively is your organization using PDM?

What is the approximate size of your organization?

18
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

Are PDM users

brand loyal?

19
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

HOW LOYAL ARE ORGANIZATIONS TO

POPULAR PDM TOOLS?

Overall, PTC Windchill (67%) and SOLIDWORKS PDM (65%) users appear to be
loyal to their current software. Users of Autodesk Fusion Lifecycle (85%) and
Oracle Agile PLM (69%) are ready to test the waters with another tool.

To better understand which software vendors are at the most risk, we asked
survey takers if they would consider switching to a different PDM software.
Of those who responded, 37% plan to stay because they are satisfied, 19%
plan to stay because it’s too much of a hassle to switch, 34% plan to switch if a
better solution becomes available, and 10% are actively looking for a new PDM
solution.

Diving deeper, we asked if users were actively evaluating software to purchase.

Though most (74%) replied no, 9% plan to make a purchasing decision within
the next six months, and 17% intend to switch providers at a later date. 44.4%

40.4%
84.6%

46.2%
30.8%

65.0%

66.7%
59.0%
69.2%

53.8%

35.0%
59.6%
55.6%

33.3%
41.0%
15.4%

Autodesk Oracle Agile Autodesk Dassault SAP Siemens Solidworks PTC

Fusion PLM Vault ENOVIA PLM Teamcenter PDM Windchill
Lifecycle (n=13) (n=39) (n=26) (n=18) (n=57) (n=60) (n=36)
(n=13)

n No n Yes

Q: Would you consider switching to a different PDM software?

Which PDM or PLM software do you or your organization use? Select all that apply.

20
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

ARE ENGINEERS GRAVITATING TOWARD

ONE SOFTWARE OVER ANOTHER?

Overall, out of the 331 individuals who shared the software they use, we
learned that the most popular tools include SOLIDWORKS PDM (18%),
Siemens Teamcenter (18%), Autodesk Vault (12%), PTC Windchill (11%), and
Dassault Systèmes ENOVIA (8%).

After that, software purchases are spread across several providers, where the
software was selected by at least 10 survey takers.

SOLIDWORKS PDM 18.4%

Siemens Teamcenter 17.8%

Autodesk Vault 12.4%

PTC Windchill 10.9%

Dassault ENOVIA 7.9%

SAP PLM 5.7%

Oracle Agile PLM 3.9%

Autodesk Fusion Lifecycle 3.9%

Less popular software (selected by less than 10 survey

takers): Actify Centro, Hexagon PPM, Infor PLM Discrete,
Kenesto, Propel, Sopheon, Upchain, IBM PLM, Aras PLM,
Arena, Synergis Adept, and GrabCAD Workbench

Q: Which PDM or PLM software do you or your organization use? Select all that apply. N = 331

21
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

WHICH USERS ARE READY TO JUMP

SHIP?

Looking at satisfaction with the most popular programs, we found that

SOLIDWORKS PDM users were the most satisfied (64%), followed by Dassault
Systèmes ENOVIA (60%).

40.0%
60.0%
24.0%

64.3%
50.0%

36.8%

26.8%
45.7%

47.3%

41.8%
16.0%

10.9%
14.3%
13.2%

8.9%

Autodesk Vault ENOVIA PTC Windchill Siemens SOLIDWORKS

(n=38) Dassault (n=25) (n=35) Teamcenter PDM
(n=55) (n=56)

n Very low / Low (actively considering or open to alternative software)

n Neutral - no strong feelings of either satisfaction or dissatisfaction
n High / Very high (comfortable with current software / software meets or exceeds all needs)

Q: What is your level of satisfaction with your current PDM software?

Which PDM or PLM software do you or your organization use? Select all that apply.

22
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

Are PDM users ready

for the cloud?

23
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

HAVE WE MOVED AWAY FROM LOCAL

PROCESSING?

We’re starting to. We asked users to let us know where they store their
PDM. Out of the 313 who responded to this question, most (54%) are still
operating via a local network or a non-networked workstation (10%). A fourth
of respondents were unaware of their storage practices, and only 12% have
moved their PDM operation to the cloud.

It appears that some organizations are hesitant to move away from local
solutions, but many are ready to take the leap. While 45% plan to stay with
their local solution, 42% are willing to consider the idea, and 13% are eager to
implement a cloud-based PDM solution.

Very - I’d like to

implement a
cloud PDM
solution
13%

Not at all -
I’m more
comfortable with
a local solution
45%

Somewhat - I’m
open to the idea
42%

Q: To what extent are you interested in a cloud PDM solution? N = 311

24
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

Demographics

25
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

INDUSTRIES REPRESENTED

Though respondents work in a diverse range of industries, the largest

industries represented here are manufacturing (17%), engineering design or
simulation services (13%), the automotive industry (13%), and aerospace (10%).

41% of respondents were spread across various other industries. The other top
industries with at least 10 respondents include:

•C  onstruction (4.8%)
•M  edical equipment/devices (4.5%)
•E  ducation (4.1%)
•H  eavy equipment (3.8%)
•C  onsumer products/electronics (3.8%)
• Industrial machine tools (3.4%)

17%
n Other
n Oil & gas
n Aerospace
41% n Automotive
13%
n Engineering design or simulation services
n Manufacturing – Other

13%

10% 6%

Q: Select your
industry N = 291

26
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

JOB ROLES AND ORGANIZATIONAL SIZE

A third of respondents are engineers (33%), but there’s also a large

representation of designers (24%). The rest of respondents take on diverse
roles, including teacher/faculty (15%), student (8%), consultant (9%), analyst
(4%), and technicians and other specialists (6%).

Almost half of respondents are individual contributors (45%) or team leads

(25%) on the front lines. However, about a third (31%) hold leadership roles.

The respondents also hail from a variety of company types, from small five
person teams (11%) to large enterprises with over 500 employees (20%).

11.2% 12.8% 10.0% 8.7% 19.9%

1-5 6-20 21-50 51-100 101-500
employees employees employees employees employees

Q: What is the approximate size of your organization? N = 321

27
ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST USE OF PDM?

CLOSING COMMENTS

We conducted this survey to determine how companies today are using PDM,
and how satisfied they are with their PDM systems. One of the major findings
of the survey was that for most, PDM is an all-or-nothing deal. Few use PDM
occasionally. Those who use it, use it every day. For those who don’t use it, the
reasons were many: cost, complexity, and custom Excel systems topped the
list.

Here are a few other key takeaways from the survey:

•S
 mall companies use PDM much less than larger companies. In companies
with five or fewer employees, only 3% of respondents use PDM every day,
and 78% don’t use it at all. In companies with over 500 employees, 51% of
respondents use PDM every day and only 17% don’t use it at all.

•T
 he industries that use PDM most heavily are consumer electronics (71% of
respondents from this industry use PDM every day), heavy equipment (67%),
aerospace (64%), and oil and gas (50%). 

•T
 he most used PDM platform was SOLIDWORKS PDM, with 18% of
respondents as users. SOLIDWORKS PDM was also the most highly rated
PDM platform, with 64% of users indicating a high or very high level of
satisfaction with the software.

•M
 ost users feel their organization could be using PDM more effectively. Only
18% of respondents indicated that PDM is used effectively throughout their
organization, while 40% indicated PDM is underutilized. The remaining 42%
suggested PDM is used well, but there’s room to improve.

•M
 any users feel locked into their current PDM solution. A full 19% of
respondents indicated that, while they’re unhappy with their current PDM
platform, they wouldn’t considering switching because of the cost and
complexity involved.

Engineering.com would like to thank the participants of this study. By sharing

their knowledge and allowing others to see how they compare, they have
enriched the entire engineering community.

Thanks for reading,

Roopinder Tara
Director of Content,
engineering.com

Learn how you can eliminate errors, improve collaboration

and safely share up-to-date design data with
SOLIDWORKS Data Management Solutions.

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