The product data created in Windchill is transferred to MS Dynamics NAV either based on a menu call or automatically during the course of a workflow. The MS Dynamics NAV user will always have up-to-date and released product data from Windchill.

Special features of the NAV interface

The standard functions are configurable. The functions and attributes of the NAV systems vary by provider, therefore a provision to initialize the NAV attributes in the configuration was planned in.

The interface is designed so that internal trigger functions from MS Dynamics NAV continue to be executed. This retains the logic of creating or changing the item master and item structure.

The NAV user can easily and quickly visualize the geometries or drawings in PTC Windchill® by storing a corresponding URL on the viewing files in Windchill, provided this is a Light User.

Changes to linked item masters in NAV can be transferred to the corresponding PTC Windchill object by using the SIS module in combination with the ReleaseEngine. For example, a change in the status of the item master can cause a change in the lifecycle of the WTPart or CAD model.

Item master

The components required for a product are defined by the designer. As soon as an item has to be procured or produced, an item master is created in NAV. The interface allows the creation of an item master at the push of a button. The CAD part is marked with the item number. This creates a unique association of CAD part to the item master in NAV. If the CAD part changes, the change can be manually updated with the touch of a button or automatically in the NAV item master.

Structure browser

For ease of selection, the IFConneX interface has been equipped with a PTC® Windchill® PDMLink® embedded browser. The browser facilitates the selection and navigation in the product structure. Documents linked with the items are displayed. The system validates the data before it is displayed in the interface browser. The browser then displays the validation result with any appropriate error messages. This ensures that the data transferred to NAV meets all data quality requirements.

Item BOM

The CAD structure defines the design structure. PTC Windchill® automatically creates a corresponding item structure from the CAD structure. A NAV bill of materials can be extracted directly from the CAD structure or from the item structure derived from PTC Windchill® for storage in NAV, using IFConneX for NAV. If the structure changes, the change can be automatically transferred to the NAV item BOM. If required, the user receives a preview of the NAV BOM or the BOM changes in the BOM browser of the interface before transfer to the NAV system.

Release process

After the design has been completed and the NAV master data has been created or updated via the interface, the design engineer can release the product structure and all descriptive documents. The NAV interface ensures once again that the NAV master data created in NAV is synchronized with the data to be released in Windchill. The item status signals the NAV user that the design data for the item master have been released.

Change process

Changes are created via change requests in PTC Windchill®. After approval of the change request, a change notice is created in PTC Windchill®.

Once the changes have been implemented by the designer, IFConneX transfers all changes to the item master and bill of materials with reference to the change number to NAV at the touch of a button or automatically via the Change Notice Workflow.

When the change is released from PTC Windchill®, the status of the item master in NAV is set to "Design released", so that the NAV user can begin any further processing.