This topic is contained in the PDXpert help file: select Contents from the application's Help menu.

Collections and their members

The collections that come already installed in your PDXpert system reflect an excellent starting point for your PLM configuration.

When you're done reading here (and maybe discussing your plans with your colleagues), you'll be prepared to review, modify or create collection members.

New company, simple configuration

If you are starting a new system at a start-up company, and don't have to worry about legacy data or conform to a particular process, you can simply start using PDXpert exactly as it is installed. All of the design decisions have been made, and the system will accommodate your company's growth for many years with little additional thought.

However, there are a few areas that you'll need to review and update:

• If your company regularly works with foreign Currencies and Languages, you'll want to make sure the appropriate members of these collections are active. After setting the default currency, update the exchange rates from the Tools menu.
• You must add all PDXpert users into the Persons collection, and create their log-in account credentials.
• The Organizations collection should include your current suppliers, regulatory agencies and other partners. Within your home organization, add all departments, groups and individuals that will be active participants (reviewers) in your change workflows.
• The home organization has been set with only a few departments, and these departments are used in the predefined Change Forms members. If your change review and approval process requires participation by more departments, you'll need to add these departments, their authorized reviewers, and the change forms they review.
• Your organization's own Product Families should be entered.
• By default, the most common metric and U.S. Units of Measure are active. If you don't use these units, you may wish to make them inactive.

Of course, even if you are starting a new system, you can extensively modify the existing collection members (as well as add new members) as described in the next section.

Tailoring PDXpert to an existing process

If, like most companies, you have existing documents and parts, and have to conform to an existing data management process, it's likely that PDXpert's collections will require editing or additional members.

1. Review the PDXpert collections, read about their functions, and get a "big picture" feel for how the collections are used by documents, parts and changes.
2. Understand and, where necessary, clarify just how your current system works.
3. Map the functions you require to the available collections.
4. Test your complete process end to end with a small number of documents, parts and changes. Tweak as necessary.

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Help topics describe the most current PDXpert PLM software release, and may differ from earlier releases.