I have been using it for the last three months, it required that I attended a one hour training to learn the ropes, after the training it was very easy and simple to work with it. It's the PLM tool I have ever used.

Since it works on the cloud, you don't need to invest in a dedicated computer server to operate it. It runs in Windows, iOS, Mac, and Android OS so I can easily switch from one device to another and keep track of the approvals on my documents. It's user friendly, which reduced the learning curve and allowed me to ramp up my productivity in a short time. You can upload several documents, and the system will merge them as only one, which is very useful. It's an excellent tool for document control, it helps me to update versions, and nobody has to worry about finding the new version, they only need to know where is the master document.

There are some process that has to be done manually, like for example when you request the approval of a document once all the approvers give the ok, the platform still requires that an administrator approves the process.

ARENA PLM has been a valued partner for us for many years. It helped us create products faster and reduced our time to market, not to mention the errors we preventing because having clear and correct BOM'S the first time was so critical to us.

Creating full product BOM's and parts on a daily basis with ARENA is really easy and fast. Using their great application and integration specialists also permits fast product imports when rolling out new products from a new partner or a new acquisition.

Some features would gains to be redundant in some areas, like BOM'S and parts world, it would ease new user learning curves and speed up creations

I like that things are in steps. Makes it easier.

Our old software let you put in a MPN and will basically create the part for you. I really miss that. Often I forget to add sourcing because it’s in a whole new tab. Also searching can be improved, outs hard to find the parts you want.

Overall it has been a very positive experience. It easily allows us to review part history, have a single source of truth for file releases, and provides easy to find/read/review BOMs. It also allows for a great amount of flexibility on release workflows and approvals, as well as easy to review sharing settings for releasing parts to suppliers

Arena easily allows for a single source of truth for parts, assemblies and related documentation. It provides a quick way to view part status, history, and release state and easily allows these parts to be shared with external suppliers. It allows for a complex linking of files between multiple parts, as well as being able to track parts through the development cycle

Setup, migration, and training were difficult. Some things still need manual interaction on a daily basis such as marking primary files. Integrations with external software such as Jira and SolidWorks are non-existant, and custom integrations need to be created and maintained. Workflows need to be manually created to match workflows in other systems.

Close integration with our Contract Manufacturers and Suppliers. Ability to link the PLM with Non-Conformances (NC), Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPA), and Complaints.

Ease of use, customization, integration with Arena QMS, CADTALK, Rimsys, and FlowEQ.

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