Arena implementation better than my expectations!
October 12, 2018
Arena implementation better than my expectations!
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Arena
We use Arena for all of our BOM management. It is used across the entire organization. All part numbers, bill of material revision control and engineering change orders are managed using Arena. Using Arena allows us to give all our employees visibility to changes and ensures all employees are using the latest revision of the files associated with any part number.
- Implementation of the product was fantastic. We worked closely with our solutions architect and he trained the team to understand the product fully. During the first part of the project, it was overwhelming learning all aspects of the product. We wondered why he could not just move all the information from our old system to Arena. As we moved through the process and the team had a better understanding of the product, it was apparent why Arena equips the user with the knowledge and wants them to be the experts in Arena. At the end of the process we were experts in the product and could fix issues ourselves and understand how we could better use Arena to manage our parts.
- Arena has not had any major bugs or issues with their software. The product works as documented and designed.
- The help videos and documents are very helpful and easy to access by anyone in our organization. They can help themselves, rather than relying on IT support.
- There were a few fields that we could not modify. They were standard fields that Arena would only allow specific data. It would have been nice to be able to modify the field and customize as we wished.
- We wish there was a shared user license. There are some users that might only use the product once per month. It would be nice if they did not need to hold their own user license to access information.
- When approving changes or requests, or completing a task in a project, it would be nice if the system automatically notified all down stream users with open items that the task was completed.
- We heavily rely on Arena for our NPD. When we participate in our yearly audits, we no longer need to dig through paper files or hard drives to find sign-offs of gate reviews or changes. Everything is electronically captured and the timeline is visible to stakeholders in the NPD process as well as our outside auditors. This saves time during the sign-off process and the audit.
- The quality of the product has seen improvement as well. The latest revision of the BOM is always visible and the user has access to see if there is a working revision and if changes are in progress. If engineering sees there is a working revision, they may add a cost reduction to the next BOM changes, so we can implement all changes at once, instead of multiple changes and releases.
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
I have been involved in multiple implementations of PLM tools. The product usability and the customization of the tool that can be completed by the customer is key. I did not have to pay a consultant to make the changes I needed to use Arena. I was trained to make the changes myself and I can continue to modify and improve the product as I see fit, and not have to hire a contractor to come in and make the modifications for me.
Arena was easy to deploy, and we had a fantastic system architect that walked us through and trained us through the entire process. We defined the timeline we wanted for the implementation and transition and he helped us achieve those goals and stay on track. He was there the entire process and even after implementation to help us understand the best way to track and store data and files.
I was able to modify Arena myself, store my data in cloud rather than expensive servers, and I did not need to hire consultants to bring Arena on board. I was trained to make the changes myself and be able to be self sufficient to support the product and my data.