I need some help from any PLM experts in the community. I am looking for guidance on how to handle firmware/software releases in a PLM system. it seems that most of these PLM systems are geared for mechanical/hard parts, but not necessarily for soft parts like firmware binaries or software applications. We have several products that need firmware images for many MCUs throughout the product and I think it makes sense to track firmware versions in PLM for product-level tracking. I need for tips/advice/resources (it's a very hard thing to google because I get back PLM software results, so thought I would ask the community.)
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\$\begingroup\$ What does PLM mean? \$\endgroup\$– HearthCommented Dec 22, 2023 at 15:30
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\$\begingroup\$ Does PLM mean Product Lifecycle Management? \$\endgroup\$– Chester GillonCommented Dec 22, 2023 at 16:28
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\$\begingroup\$ Yes, PLM is Product Lifecycle Management and is basically the software that many companies use to manage SKUs and products out in the marketplace. \$\endgroup\$– Awm0121Commented Dec 31, 2023 at 1:33
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The way we used to do it in my old company was as follows: Source code was managed in a version control platform (like Github). Tags would be used to track the releases, and the binaries (or executables) were uploaded as attachments to items created in PLM. These could then be added to BOMs (e.g. ptogrammable PCA) and revisioned accordingly. One thing to remember is to mark these 'soft parts' as non-inventory or non-consumable parts.
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\$\begingroup\$ Out of interest, what does
PCAstand for? \$\endgroup\$ Commented Feb 18 at 9:28 -
\$\begingroup\$ Printed circuit assembly. Denotes an assembled circuit board vs a bare board. \$\endgroup\$– Awm0121Commented Feb 28 at 22:52