Arena PLM

Vorteile

Approval signature flow works very well. Analytics is very powerful, but of course it comes at extra cost

Nachteile

The notification emails are too frequent and can be very cryptic as one learns the system. There is not bulk permissions update, so when vendor has a new person come on board, that person has to be manually added one-by-one to every Engineering Change Order they need to view.

Vorteile

Everything is linked and in one place. From supply chain, to product, to quality, to engineering to CM, everyone is looking at the same data!!

Nachteile

File loading within modules is not consistent.

Vorteile

Arena PLM has a lot of functionality, so much we don't really use more than half the features.

Nachteile

The UI is very inconsistent, with every place requiring different interactions, boxes checked to proceded, etc. The UI also does not scale so you need to scroll your browser on nearly every page to find the "save" or other button way off in the corner off the page.

Vorteile

That it is cloud based and that there are regular updates that address user inputs.

Nachteile

Some of the search tools are not as intuitive as other applications and create some user frustrations.

In Betracht gezogene Alternativen

Gründe für den Wechsel zu Arena PLM

Vorteile

We have projects, non conformances and BOM in one software

Nachteile

It doesn't allow to analyze data and create control charts. Capability could be expanded to be used on production floor to track times for a work order

Vorteile

I like that arena has an account manager that for your company that is always available to answer your questions or point you in the right direction. I love how their website has helpful Q&As and videos so when it is a smaller question, you can solve it on your own.

Nachteile

My least favorite thing about Arena is the training world. It is lacking be able to send retraining to individuals and have other unique features.

Vorteile

I like the ease of access and the aesthetics of the website. Arena is one of the few platforms that make a very user friendly interface. I was new to QMS and Arena made the process simple and easy for me to understand & organize,

Nachteile

I think the learning curve is definitely steep, but once you become acquainted with the system it is easy to use.

Vorteile

Easy to use. Custom reporting. Feature rich.

Nachteile

Weak control of regulatory items such as RoHS/REACH

Vorteile

I've really liked using ARENA for a lot of the information we are able to store and use. I am able to access files and work instruction very easily and be able to efficiently do my job. The ease of use is what i have really liked the most.

Nachteile

While using the program i am not able to find key terms very easily. Because of this I have to track down part numbers and this eats away at the time I have to get my job complete. if there was an easier or more accurate way to find names of parts it would make my life as lot easier and allow me to do my job quicker.

Vorteile

It is a great single source of truth for our products that links into our eQMS system without the need to build out complex software in our other systems.

Nachteile

Integration options. When we reviewed the integration options with our operational systems(ERP,CRM) there were not a lot of turnkey options. We would then have to build out and maintain these on our own.

Vorteile

file accessing , maintaining history files

Nachteile

multiple items creation , unable to preview excel

Vorteile

The topics of arena plm is so interesting.

Nachteile

For me i'm don't disagree with arena plm.

Vorteile

Ease of use, customization, integration with Arena QMS, CADTALK, Rimsys, and FlowEQ.

Nachteile

The Help Pages are text only; remember, a picture is worth a thousand words.

In Betracht gezogene Alternativen

Gründe für den Wechsel zu Arena PLM

Vorteile

Arena easily allows for a single source of truth for parts, assemblies and related documentation. It provides a quick way to view part status, history, and release state and easily allows these parts to be shared with external suppliers. It allows for a complex linking of files between multiple parts, as well as being able to track parts through the development cycle

Nachteile

Setup, migration, and training were difficult. Some things still need manual interaction on a daily basis such as marking primary files. Integrations with external software such as Jira and SolidWorks are non-existant, and custom integrations need to be created and maintained. Workflows need to be manually created to match workflows in other systems.

Vorteile

Ease of use, decent amount of customization, straightforward BOM/Parts and Documentation revision/tracking.

Nachteile

Some options/fields don't jive with other tools we currently use. Customization needs customer support though in some cases.

Vorteile

Arena has so many beneficial tools it offers. I am only scratching the surface.

Nachteile

It can be overwhelming trying to learn everything.

Vorteile

I liked how easy it was to see how each part and product is connected across Bill of Materials and revisions.

Nachteile

I don't like that we can't overwrite a revision in Design.

Vorteile

Easy of use and implementation, configuration for specifics to my company is easy and consise

Nachteile

Upgrades change the look and feel of things, which impact my daily usage

Vorteile

The integration aspect into the business was not too difficult for us

Nachteile

Setting up the views when you have multiple projects is hard at first

Vorteile

I love how easy it is to use, very user friendly, can do all kinds of changes, document all of it,

Nachteile

there's nothing I haven't really liked on this software, so far so good.

Vorteile

Streamlined workflows. Being on the cloud not worry about updates.

Nachteile

Some features are hard to use, in particular when it comes to creating ECOs. We have a dedicated product documentation team to help with that.

Vorteile

It's fairly intuitive to use and is packed with all the different "worlds that you can need" - Training, NCRs, Documents, etc.

Nachteile

The NCR world seems to need the most improvement - it's not very intuitive to navigate and seems to be missing a lot of the key steps/info required to complete a thorough investigation.

Vorteile

The thing I liked most about the product was the ability to customize it to fit our needs. Once you understand how to use it the software can keep an excellent record of your product, parts, documents etc. that is easy to navigate.

Nachteile

The thing I like least about this product is the number of steps required to complete a task. Updating information for lots of items is cumbersome and the import tool that is meant to speed this up lacks documentation making it frustrating to learn. While I understand that some of this might be related to the flexibility that it offers there are a few features that could greatly improve efficiency, specifically related to making the same change to a large batch of items.

Vorteile

I like that things are in steps. Makes it easier.

Nachteile

Our old software let you put in a MPN and will basically create the part for you. I really miss that. Often I forget to add sourcing because it’s in a whole new tab. Also searching can be improved, outs hard to find the parts you want.

Vorteile

Arena is the central hub of document control within our company. It is easy to search for documents and changes.

Nachteile

The UI has lots of small text and empty space

Vorteile

- User friendly interface
- Clear routing and approvals
- Easy administrative backend controls

Nachteile

Arena had no notable cons or points of concern.

Vorteile

Revision history and search capabilities. Available reporting works well for data extraction and offline analysis (Power BI).

Nachteile

Reporting does not have some key fields available to users.

Vorteile

I love the simplicity of some functions that other PTC products, like Windchill, overly complicate.

Nachteile

There's no way to truly customize the dashboard to show ALL items where you are involved - instead of creating a quick link to a search which opens a separate window view of Changes I have open, I want to see a direct list of items I have open. It would also be nice if it could develop an interface to SolidWorks so we wouldn't have to use a convoluted process of getting our information between both programs.

Vorteile

Easy to use. The Change Order system works well.
Tracking history of Items created is good.
Creating BOMs is easy.
Approval system flow is basic and works.

Nachteile

More difficult if administrator doesn't configure it correctly.
Some sections are little vague on how to use properly like the Sourcing section. Everyone enters the information differently due to it's flexibility to use it.
Redlines section is confusing how to use (I still don't know how to use it!) so I end up just attaching a document for redlines.

Vorteile

Allows our company to collaborate on releasing and control documents and trainings

Nachteile

The UI is semi clunky and takes time to learn and parse

Vorteile

Arena PLM is extremely user friendly. The ability to link products together combined with the BOM capability is top notch.

Nachteile

We have experienced issues with integration between platforms, although these issues are usually simply fixed.

Vorteile

The best part of Arena PLM for me is the organizational aspect of the platform that allows me to stay on task. It's a fantastic time saver.

Nachteile

Nothing, everything is good about Arena PLM; especially the fact that new enhancements are added often.

Vorteile

The centralisation of all documentation, quality and development processes, and the ease with which they can be monitored.

Nachteile

BOM Management. It is not possible to freeze a BOM with defined revisions. When a children Item is updated, it is automatically pushed in BOM.

Vorteile

I like how user friendly is their application. Very easy to navigate and configure different settings. It has useful tabs/fields which can be all very customizable.

Nachteile

Some fields limitations and customizations, like defining minimum/maximum number of characters for each field.

Vorteile

Easy access to the system, good management on modifications as requested.

Nachteile

It could be more visual to the users so it can be harder to perform some mistakes and the capability to delete items/changes that will not be used.

Vorteile

It's very user friendly even without asking someone to help on how to use it.

Nachteile

When I need to push the "Retry Release" button

Vorteile

ARENA does exactly what we need it to do. It has the flexibility to handle all our documentation.

Nachteile

Not the most intuitive, quite a substantial learning curve to get proficient with it.

Vorteile

The user interface is fairly organized and easy to read. Navigating the site to find what I need is easy enough.

Nachteile

Sometimes the search function is not as sensitive as I need it to be and I have to find different combinations before I find what I'm looking for.

Vorteile

Easy to use and navigate. The platform has all required fields needed to execute an investigaton.

Nachteile

Not easy to use for metrics reporting on NCR by supplier or per problem statement

Vorteile

The search menu is intuitive and easy to use

Nachteile

Creating new entries and searching doesn't have any smart features like auto complete.

Vorteile

Arena has all the functions I need for our PLM.

Nachteile

Some of the functions are not as straight forward. Some learnings are needed.

Vorteile

Very customizable

Nachteile

Steep learning curve

Vorteile

Easy to look up and retrieve information.

Nachteile

If only the redline can be display and be shown by itself.

Vorteile

Since I started using Arena, it has been reliable.

Nachteile

Some days the server can be a bit slow but not for too long

Vorteile

Arena is easy to use and offers a detailed breakdown of our BOMs and tracks our change management with ease.

Nachteile

There are some features that can be improved upon but more so from an admin side and not from the user. It all in all is a very good tool.

Vorteile

I do like the Engineering Change function and that fact that with the change function as well as others you can attach files.

Nachteile

I do not like the fact that some of the features needed for quality functions have to be made in the Quality World and require alot of clicks for approvals, complete etc. Currently to set up annual procedure reviews we are having to set it up as a project for notifications to go out 1 year from last revision. One of the most troubling areas for me is that if something changes in one document, such as a revision to a stated value the system does not provide you a list of all documents that the value is found in as some other systems do. For Engineering I think a very good system; for the actual needed quality actions I feel there are some areas lacking. Also have not been able to find an escalation process.

Vorteile

I like the confidence in knowing that we are all working with the same documents and revisions, without a risk of misalignments between teams.

Nachteile

DCOs and ECOs should have pre-defined macros especially in terms of approval matrices.In addition, the fact that Arena does not integrate with SolidWorks is a shame, as we have to manually create files every time which is a time consumer.

Vorteile

the GUI is built in a very neat and user friendly way.
the support is very professional.
systems is very versatile

Nachteile

Not sure yet, i have a very good experience with this SaaS as an Administrator.

Vorteile

Ease of use! Able to train users very easily

Nachteile

Searchability is a bit wonky and it causes users to be confused

Vorteile

I really like the continual effort to provide more features and customer support to implement your PLM environment in a way that works for your company.

Nachteile

The only thing that I have a difficult time with is making editing multiple lines easily if all parts are rolling to the same status, but that's a minor issue.