Design of a PDM system for research institutions

On the background of developing the design platform for vehicle powertrain integrated design, we found the problem that for the design activities of research institutions, design object and its technical parameters need to be able to customize freely, the design activities are around design tasks such as the design parameters, knowledge, tools, methods are all need to be dynamic configured for each design task, which can not be satisfied by the mature Product Data Management(PDM) softwares, so we developed a PDM system for research institutions which called Powertrain Integrated Design System(PIDS). In this paper, Unified Modeling Language(UML) is used to represent a visual and unambiguous system functions. Four Use Case Diagrams of actors including Leaders, Designer, Reviewer, and Administrator are designed. The design task life cycle is established using an Activity Diagram with embeding lanes. The concepts of Technical Parameters Table, Data Package, Design Function, Product Code are proposed to support the design process. The innovative solution proposed is also useful for the development of design platform for other research institutions, and it's a new way of thinking for the improvement of enterprise-oriented PDM softwares.