An Early Preview of OpenBOM Application for PTC ThingWorx Navigate

As the world is moving towards connected web applications, we are at OpenBOM are discovering new opportunities to integrate OpenBOM with platforms and applications used by engineerings and manufacturing companies. 

Digital Thread is an industry game-changer. Navigate your browser to a recent article by PTC here. 

Improving time-to-market and cost (top and bottom lines) by becoming a truly digital organization is foremost on the mind of every manufacturer. CIOs worldwide have been tasked with establishing a seamless process and data-driven collaboration between disciplines that is both open-standards-based and secure. Providing the connection that synchronizes related upstream and downstream information for developing new innovative products and improving existing ones is the digital thread.

I had a chance to attend PTC LiveWorx event earlier this year in Boston and discovered PTC development in this space. Check out LiveWorx 2020 event next June. Here is me at PTC LiveWorx 2019.

I learned about new developed done by PTC for ThingWorx Navigate.

ThingWorx Navigate enables stakeholders throughout the organization to easily access the rich data stored within the organization’s enterprise system – no training required. With out-of-the-box (OOTB) role and task-based apps that provide contextualized information as well as the ability to easily customize apps to meet organizational needs, ThingWorx Navigate helps users spend less time searching for data and more time doing what they do best: developing, manufacturing, selling, and supporting world-class products.

Among many things ThingWorx allows you to do, it is also an open framework to build applications – Marketplace. Check more – ThingWorx Marketplace for more information. 

OpenBOM has many integrations with CAD, PDM, PLM and ERP tools. You can checklist of supported integrations here. It includes CAD systems like Autodesk Fusion 360, Dassault Systemes SOLIDWORKS, Onsahpe, and others. Also PDM and PLM tools such as Dassault Systemes SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional and ERP systems like Oracle NetSuite (here is a link to OpenBOM SuiteApp here. 

We’re expanding integration horizons for OpenBOM and we discovered the opportunity to build an application for ThingWorx Navigate, which will allow us to get data from PTC Windchill, expose it using OpenBOM real-time collaboration and simultaneous editing capabilities with multiple contractors and suppliers and then return data back in Windchill. By organizing such a process, OpenBOM will expand PTC Windchill with the ability to use OpenBOM for Suppliers and Contractors replacing multiple Excel spreadsheets used for this purpose. And ThingWorx Navigate looks like an excellent opportunity to be used as a launching gateway and data platform for visualization.  

Here is a high-level scenario of the application process supported by the OpenBOM app for ThingWorx Navigate. 

The application is in the prototyping stage and we’re currently open for exploration and experimental work with customers. The testing environment is available for OpenBOM Company subscription.  

The video below can give you an idea of what are we planning. Check this out. 

Conclusion.

Integration between web services and application is one of our favorite things at OpenBOM. We’ve been integrating with true cloud platforms such as Onshape, cloud tools from Autodesk and Oracle NetSuite. Now is a time to bring OpenBOM Integration to PTC IoT and connected application ecosystem.  

If you’re using or testing Windchill and PTC ThingWorx Navigate, please reach out to me- I’d love to talk about the potential usage of OpenBOM for ThingWorx Navigate.

Best, Oleg @ openbom dot com.

Let’s get to know each other better. If you live in the Greater Boston area, I invite you for a coffee together (coffee is on me). If not nearby, let’s have a virtual coffee session — I will figure out how to send you a real coffee.

Want to learn more about PLM? Check out my Beyond PLM blog and PLM Book website