Project Background

Zhengzhou KeHui Technology Co., Ltd. is a diversified global industrial group specializing in the development and manufacturing of thermal treatment and cooling medium testing equipment, welding equipment, robotic workstations, intelligent standalone machines, welding robot systems, intelligent welding equipment systems, integrated industrial automation solutions, and comprehensive smart manufacturing solutions.

Currently, KeHui Technology is a publicly listed company on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ) (Stock Code: 831045). The company has obtained ISO 9001 international quality management system certification and holds 41 national patents and 6 software copyrights. It has been recognized as a National High-Tech Enterprise and serves as the host institution for the Henan Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Intelligent Welding Automation. Additionally, KeHui is designated as a Henan Provincial Postdoctoral R&D Base, the Henan Technical Center for OTC Welding Robots, Vice Chairman Unit of the Henan Robotics Industry Alliance, a Henan Key Industrial Product Compliance-Registered Enterprise, and hosts both the Zhengzhou Engineering Technology Research Center for Intelligent Welding Automation Equipment and the Zhengzhou Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Welding Equipment.

Project Objectives

BOM Management: Establish a data model centered around the Bill of Materials (BOM), associating and managing technical documentation (including drawings) produced by R&D. This will facilitate interoperability between technical data and ERP systems.

Material Management: Through implementation, integrate the PLM system into the Vitongli material management information process to achieve standardized material management and provide BOM data support for production systems.

Project Management: Standardize product development processes and other related business procedures within the project management module. Ensure organized management of input, output, review, and other process documents (all files are complete, systematically archived, and easy to access). Guarantee that all development processes are recordable and traceable, thereby strengthening project management capabilities.

Process Management: Fully utilize the speed and traceability of the network to gradually establish mechanisms for electronic notifications, approvals, and reviews. Avoid errors and omissions associated with manual methods, paving the way for paperless office operations. After system launch, use PLM system electronic documents as the control origin for issuance, prohibiting approval and distribution of off-system drawing files to ensure complete consistency between electronic documents and on-site paper documents.

Knowledge Management: Establish knowledge management standards throughout the product lifecycle, using the knowledge base module to build a support repository for product R&D (lessons learned, technical literature, patents, etc.) and the standard document module to construct a standard repository for product R&D (national standards, corporate standards, etc.). Accelerate the visibility of knowledge assets through the implementation of management measures.

Peripheral Interfaces: SIPM ensures complete export of data from the PLM system for peripheral use. If the official launch of peripheral system interfaces is later than the PLM system's official switch, the design, development, and debugging of peripheral interfaces should not affect the PLM system launch and acceptance. However, SIPM commits to completing the development and integration testing of peripheral system interfaces before their official launch.

1. Product Data Management

SIPM/PLM’s product management enables centralized, systematic, and unified management of all product-related data within the company—including components, tooling, and other associated information. The system ensures the completeness, consistency, and accuracy of enterprise product data, while also facilitating internal knowledge sharing, enhancing knowledge reuse, avoiding redundant work, shortening R&D cycles, and improving design and development quality.

Finished products and components are classified in an orderly manner to ensure effective management.

Product Classification

By leveraging the coding management module of the SIPM/PLM system, the company has established a standardized coding system for components and documents. Codes are automatically generated according to predefined rules, effectively eliminating the possibility of multiple items sharing the same code at the source.

Establish the company's knowledge system according to different types, facilitating employee access and sharing, and supporting the standardization and normalization of documents.

After design drawings undergo the system's approval workflow, signed PDF versions of the drawings are automatically generated.

Standardized business processes enable the standardization of the company’s product development procedures. Visualized approval workflows enhance operational efficiency and promote transparency and effectiveness in the review and approval process.

Extract the BOM from 3D models and center it around the design BOM, integrating all design data in a structured format to achieve effective control over the entire design dataset.

BOM Management

2. Change Management

SIPM/PLM provides comprehensive and detailed change records, enabling control over the entire change process and supporting efficient change inquiries. The system uses project management to oversee the full lifecycle of changes, monitors both change requests and their implementation status, and ensures traceable change history for all managed data—including components, drawings, BOMs, and documents.

Document version control

Clear BOM change tracking with visual comparison of structural differences

3. Project Management

Before implementing SIPM/PLM Project Management:

There was no clear categorization of project types, resulting in inconsistent approaches and practices across teams ("a different approach for every person").

Insufficient control over project deliverables and approval workflows, making it difficult to ensure a controllable R&D process and complete, reliable outputs.

Projects were primarily managed by project managers using spreadsheets, leading to low visibility and lack of control over execution. Management efficiency was low, and while product development processes were documented in files, the company lacked a unified, standardized workflow.

After implementing SIPM/PLM Project Management:

Standardized project templates categorized by type

Categorized project control and management

Project managers use Gantt charts to track the progress of task execution, providing a more intuitive display of the project's implementation status.

Summary:

Through the successful implementation of this PLM project, Zhengzhou KeHui Technology Co., Ltd. has continuously improved its design and R&D management capabilities—gradually enhancing R&D efficiency, improving design quality, and reducing product development costs. The company has now achieved centralized online management of all documentation, drawings, and product data throughout its R&D process, enabling designers to quickly access and utilize data, thereby significantly boosting their work efficiency.