Working With the Supply Chain
In the last couple of decades, two major trends have played out in manufacturing companies across all discrete manufacturing industries—increasing product complexity and the growing role of the supply chain in design and manufacturing.
The convergence of these trends has created a significant challenge that impacts productivity and operational excellence every day—design collaboration with outsourced manufacturing partners.
Rethink Tools, Data, & Processes Across Disciplines
Organizations with disparate systems and multiple instances of legacy PLM should rethink their strategy and implement an enterprise-wide platform to connect all producers and consumers of product information and allow them to collaborate around a single set of processes and data.
Once this type of environment is established, it becomes possible to break down the disconnect between suppliers, partners, and manufacturers.
Connect Suppliers and Partners Via a Secure, Efficient Portal
Secure External Access (SEA) with the Aras PLM Platform connects external partners to PLM data, while providing highly secure access controls to manage intellectual property. Conceptually, SEA provides direct data access, with no artificial data packaging, allowing natural access to data and processes.
To achieve this, Aras offers three dimensions of data control that support a variety of possible portal architectures. These three dimensions are Data Access, Data Location, and Client Access.
Data Access and Authorization
The Aras security model determines what information each user is able to access by managing their access permissions. There are three types of access control supported by the Aras PLM Platform:
Role-based Access Control
Sets permissions based on the user’s defined identities (role, groups, etc.) and specifies which actions can be performed item type and state
Attribute-based Access Control
The clearance level of the user must meet or exceed the classification level of the item being accessed
Relationship-based Access Control
Involves the establishment of domains which are described using derived relationship families and is well suited to for external access control
Data Location
The Data Location dimension of SEA describes where the data that the external user accesses is physically located, either inside or outside your company’s firewall.
Inside the Firewall - Single Database: Data is contained in a single database inside of the firewall, meaning that external users are directly accessing your internal Aras PLM database.
Outside the Firewall - Multi-Database: This approach involves setting up a separate Aras server and database instance in a location outside the firewall, either in the DMZ (an isolated network positioned between the Internet and the private network) or in the cloud.
Client Access
The Client Access dimension of SEA defines the type of client front-end that the external user uses to gain access to the system.
Two types of clients are predominantly used: the Standard Aras Web Client or the Web Services Portal Client, although other types are possible, including mobile clients and authoring tool connectors such as CAD Connectors.
A Better Way to Partner
The Aras PLM Platform provides a unified environment that allows all users of product information to collaborate around a single set of processes and data.
With a Platform approach, manufacturers can trust that data is up-to-date and maintained in context, ensuring partners and suppliers receive accurate data.