Project Background 

Zhuhai Kangjin Electric Co., Ltd., established in 2006, leverages the national demand for energy development and focuses on the R&D, manufacturing, and sales of intelligent, environmentally friendly, and compact high-voltage power equipment. The company holds a leading position both domestically and internationally within its industry. Kangjin is equipped with world-class electrical production and testing facilities and possesses strong technical R&D capabilities. Its comprehensive product portfolio includes: • Intelligent high-voltage switchgear • Compact, eco-friendly solid-insulated high-voltage switchgear • Side-mounted high-voltage AC vacuum circuit breakers • Solid-insulated pole high-voltage AC vacuum circuit breakers • Outdoor high-voltage AC vacuum circuit breakers • Compact high-voltage AC vacuum switches • Fully sealed and fully insulated SF6 switchgear • Miniaturized medium-voltage withdrawable switchgear (MV switchgear) • Ring main units (RMUs) • Intelligent neutral grounding resistor cabinets • Low-voltage distribution cabinets • Cable branch boxes • Outdoor intelligent ring main units • Prefabricated substations  Moreover, Kangjin can provide integrated solutions for high/low-voltage switchgear and neutral grounding systems tailored to users’ specific grid conditions.

(Kangjin Products)

Project Objectives

Through the implementation of the SIPM/PLM project, Kangjin aims to achieve the following goals:

• Ensure all R&D design data is managed within the system, making PLM the sole authorized platform for data sharing and distribution.

• Standardize engineering change management—requiring documented justification and formal approval workflows for all changes.

• Standardize BOMs, materials, drawings, and technical documents, and implement templated document management.

Establish a centralized R&D data management platform to support modular product management. 

Build product-level document and BOM management from the product source; use the BOM as the core to create a systematic document and drawing management model, enabling orderly product data control and significantly enhancing engineers’ ability to share product information.

(Product Management Model)

Use 3D structural design as the basis for “bare-product” design, automatically generating the bare-product BOM via 3D interface-driven processes.

(3D Design-Driven BOM Generation)

Classify parts/materials by material categories (major and minor types), with automatic classification handled by the system.

This implementation addressed the previous lack of a formal design data approval mechanism at Kangjin Electric. It established and institutionalized a standardized review and approval process for R&D data, ensuring data standardization and reliability control.

 By leveraging SIPM/PLM’s graphical workflow functionality, Kangjin solidified its R&D document review process within the system. Standardized requirements for design documentation were defined, and reviewers can directly open and inspect documents/drawings within the visual workflow, clearly tracking approval progress. This ensures that all product development drawings and documents comply with standardized controls, guaranteeing product quality and reliability.

(Standardized R&D Data Review Workflow)

(Management View: Workflow Instance Monitoring)

Establishment of a Unified Coding System

 A standardized coding system for R&D management was implemented to serve as an accurate data source for future ERP production systems. Using SIPM/PLM’s coding management module, Kangjin solidified coding rules for products, materials, and technical documents, enabling engineers to easily retrieve codes. This significantly improved coding efficiency, enhanced standardization across the enterprise, and ensured consistency between PLM and ERP part numbering.

(Material Code Generator)

PLM–ERP System Integration

 The project enabled seamless integration between PLM and ERP systems. Design data—including product BOMs and material information—is transmitted from PLM to ERP based on a mutually agreed-upon data transfer protocol. Both systems underwent joint development and testing, ultimately achieving successful data synchronization via intermediate database tables.

(Interface Data Transfer Diagram)

(PBOM Release from PLM Side)

(Visualized PBOM Release Results)

Summary

The PLM implementation has successfully institutionalized Kangjin Electric’s R&D design standards and workflows—from project planning and task execution to reminders, status monitoring, and task tracking—ensuring full control over the product development lifecycle. Stage-gate reviews now guarantee timely, high-quality deliverables.Key outcomes include: • Real-time monitoring of the development process • Transparent visibility into process outputs • Effective control over project delivery completeness

Through SIPM/PLM interface integration, drawing-BOM consistency is ensured, and a formalized business approval process for R&D data has been established.

SIPM/PLM’s product management capabilities enable associative management of components, drawings, and technical documents. Combined with workflow and change management, this ensures full traceability of product data. Furthermore, the integration between PLM and ERP bridges the gap between design and production, enabling a seamless digital thread from engineering to manufacturing.