Issue Management on the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. We’re getting ready to release our new drone design. We gave it new propellers, improved the design of the body, and installed a better battery. Things are going great, but we’ve got a few issues to fix. I put a comment on the markup and shoot the engineer an email to request the changes. After a week, it doesn’t look like anything’s changed. When I ask what’s going on, my engineer tells me he never saw the email. We need a better way to manage our issues. Luckily, management just told me they’re looking into the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform, so we can get Issue Management!

Issue Management on the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform is a great tool for any organization, regardless of size. Whether using it to markup and distribute PDFs or sharing ideas between the shop floor and Engineering, Issue Management streamlines your day-to-day activities. In a nutshell, it lists existing issues based on permissions and lets users create new ones. This makes it easier to collaborate and understand your daily tasks.

When I tag someone in my organization to an issue, they get a 3DNotification with additional details. Notifications keep everyone in the loop. For example, if I need Nick to adjust the design of a new propeller design, I’ll assign him to the task. When assigning it, I might give him notes about changing the material or adding fillets to improve the efficiency. However, not all notifications require you to fix a problem. In a similar manner, we might assign users as contributors or just tag them on a comment. Either of those triggers a notification. Of course, clicking the link in the notification will take you right to the issue in question, making navigation that much easier.

Issue Management Main Interface

The Issue Management app has a simple and intuitive interface. Creating new issues from a blank or a template is a breeze. Additionally, it’s simple to find and customize your views. Further, once issues are created, there are a whole host of features included in the app. Within Issue Management, we have six key tabs to work with. Let’s take a closer look at what each of those tabs tells us.

Properties Tab

The properties tab is where all of this issue’s metadata will live. Anything and everything from creation dates, descriptions, priorities, approvals, actions and notifications.

Related Object(s) Tab

Here’s where things get interesting; If wished, one can keep CAD components in perspective. For example, in this tab we can add files as “Reported Against”,” Resolved by” and/or “Within context” of this issue.

Reported Against: This is the CAD component or related document the issue is directly impacting. In our example we are talking about an incorrect propeller ID. Therefore, we report against the propeller CAD component for this issue.

Resolver By: If/when we mark the issue as resolved, this is where we store related documents. These can be PDF markups, Excel documents, Change Actions, revised CAD components or any other document which explains how we resolved the issue.

Context: Here we would add things to keep in context. As an example, the entire drone assembly would be in context of the propeller, so we can add the assembly here to keep track of this issue on a higher level.

Members Tab

This one is fairly self explanatory, therefore I will not spend much time on it. Here we are able to add members/ users which are related to or will  be working on this issue. Members can be “Owners”, “Co-Owners”, “Assignees” and “Contributors”.

Attachments and Comments Tab

Further into the issue management app, are the attachment and comments tabs. They allow users to attach related documentation and update each other with comments about their progress.

History Tab

One very important aspect of issue management within 3DEXPERIENCE that we haven’t talked about is Lifecycle Management. This is easier to visualize within the history tab. Anyone involved with this issue can visualize what happened with it over time. For example, we can understand who approved and when. We are able to go back in time and review who created it and why. Further, when matched with lifecycle management, this tab will give us the full view of what happened with this issue over time.

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Key Takeaways about Issue Management

Using a simple, cloud based interface, the issue management application within 3DEXPERIENCE makes creating, understanding, and resolving issues a breeze. Users can leverage the interface to visualize, contribute and approve issues from anywhere. A key aspect of the app is the related objects tab, which keeps CAD components and any relevant document in perspective of the issue being discussed. Finally, key stakeholders are able to contribute to the issue at their own time and place.