Likelihood to Recommend Arena PLM is well suited for part number, BOM and file management. Processing changes (ECNs, ACOs, DCO's, etc.) in Arena is very easy to do and provides great visibility on the status of submitted requests. The ability to communicate with Suppliers and grant them access to files in Arena is extremely helpful. Arena does not appear to be the best suited system for managing software
Read full review Very well suited for direct integration with CAD packages (Solidworks/ Auto desk Inventor or AutoCAD) and version control of CAD Model/Assemblies and Drawing files) and creating parts and document objects directly into Enovia and controlling their lifecycle from CAD Interface. Similarly, Enovia's Engineering central is already equipped with Industry standard ECR/ECO process which needs little customization for implementing Engineering Change management process. The hardest part in Enovia is controlling the disposition of released material for the downstream process in other ERP systems. For example, if a released material has gone for production or purchasing in ERP system/MRP system then dispositioning that material with Major revision (which may need manufacturing to stop the production due to faulty design) have no direct control to stop the downstream activities. Most cases its manual process to communicate with ERP team to for taking action. Similarly, revision of Documents (material Spec for example) linked to thousands of parts required special process (some time needs to schedule in the weekend).
Read full review Pros It provides easy, 'login-anywhere' internet cloud-based access to fundamental PLM functions. It provides secure access control for employees & vendors (but you pay per person for access licenses). Data is effectively 'always backed up' in the internet-cloud. There is an option to attach thumbnail graphics representative of each item and create a Bill of Materials view that also displays the graphics to help provide item recognition for BOM readers. Read full review Every revision of a part or document is a separate object, hence unlike SAP status control of an object is easy. The lifecycle of each object can be controlled by its own policy. It is easy to create new types of objects rather than pre-defined object types and control them by their own customized policy. Efficient Security and access control model for design and supporting documents file checkout and check-in and easy reporting mechanisms for tracking business activity, like how many parts being created/revised/obsoleted and who has checked out how many times etc. Generation of custom reports Read full review Cons In my opinion, the Help Pages clearly do not realize that a picture is worth a 1,000 words; need illustrations and screenshots! I think the 'Save' button when editing Quality Processes needs to "float" on the active page, not lurking at the bottom. In my experience, the Arena PLM and QMS Training programs need to be revamped to include "real-world" examples and working through examples, not simply reading through a training manual. David Martin Sr. Dir., Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs
Read full review When a part/assembly has been released in Enovia and gone for production or downstream processing, Enovia doesn't have much control, hence, Enovia should come up with an easy controlling mechanism for various disposition of parts and seamless communication with an ERP or downstream process. If a document is linked to thousands of materials then revising this document takes long time gets floated to the BOMs where the previous document versions are used. So, Enovia should have an efficient way to replace the floating process or another efficient mechanism for document revision processing. Read full review Likelihood to Renew We have so much time and effort invested into Arena. The history of approvals, revisions, etc. are necessary for many of our customers. We also have entire device histories recorded. Having to re-create that on another platform would be a feat requiring years of effort. But mostly, Arena just works. It's transformed our business into a much more streamlined system, resulting in a massive cost and time savings.
Read full review Usability Arena has improved their UI over the years that I've used it to make it more user friendly. Additionally, there is a lot of redundancy within Arena (multiple ways to achieve the same end), which makes it easier to learn.
Read full review Reliability and Availability Seems like when I need to access our workspace for an emergency situation, this is when maintenance is scheduled, just the luck of the draw, I guess, and I just wait until the maintenance is complete, and then can proceed
Read full review Performance We use a few other software or systems (Silicon expert) and it is seamless to us, pages load quickly and efficiently.
Read full review Support Rating Upon initial observation, Arena Solution appears to possess a rather intricate nature, yet this complexity was effectively navigated during the initial configuration phase with the invaluable assistance of an expert well-versed in Arena, a factor that greatly contributed to our comprehensive mastery and autonomous handling of Arena Solutions thereafter.
Read full review Online Training The On line training was easy to understand and was very efficient for most of our users. We used the training tools to make sure we use all of the features to their fullest and correctly! After a few weeks mos of our users were very proficient with ARENA PLM and were able to work on their own and use mos of the sections and PLM capablilities.
Read full review Implementation Rating Pretty straightforward, from OOB
Read full review Alternatives Considered Arena is much better than
QAD in terms of BOMs and ECOs and Revision Control. We use Arena concurrently with SAP and they integrate very well together, which is nice. The integration team was really helpful in making sure that the SAP to Arena functionality runs smoothly, and when there are any issues, they are very responsive to help make changes to fix the problem that might be there.
Read full review When evaluating Enovia as a PLM product the following Enovia stacks came out as a positive feature compared to other PLMs available on the market. 1. User-friendly interface 2. Easy to Integrate with CAD systems for the manufacturing Industry 3. It is quite easy to implement the Interface with ERP/MRP system (like SAP, Oracle manufacturing) 4. Availability of 3rd party ENOVIA -SAP interface and easy to plug in between two systems
Read full review Scalability Arena is easy to customize and therefore easy to scale. Different user groups with access restrictions can be easily created and new training plans can be created to support different user bases. Suppliers can also easily be added or items can be shared with them
Read full review Return on Investment Decreased the company's time to market for release of its second generation flagship product. Decreased the turn around on non-conformance reports (NCRs), supplier corrective action reports (SCARs), and corrective and preventative actions (CAPAs). Better organized the company's process maps, DHF, and other regulatory related information so that major audits are completed faster and with fewer findings. Read full review Easy learning curve for the users- Very user-friendly Interface for Engineering central make the users happy and easy to learn the BOM creation and Engineering change management process. Time-saving - Seamless Creation and revision process of objects saves a huge amount of time compared to other systems. Easy to copy existing business data and modify them as required. Read full review ScreenShots Arena PLM and QMS Screenshots