Manufacturing companies, even the ones that are not highly regulated, have no shortage of complexity these days as they build, scale and manage multiple interdependent pieces of equipment, software bundles and networks. All this, while under time and cost pressures....
PDM/PLM-Product Data and Lifecycle Management
January 2022 vCAD feature updates
Happy New Year vCAD Users! It was a busy 2021 in terms of vCAD development and feature enhancements. We've been receiving lots of feedback regarding the platform, and we're assembling a roadmap for 2022 based on our users' needs. Here's what to expect in 2022:...
3 Top Trends in Product Lifecycle Engineering Tools
Overview In 2015, SPK and Associates co-founder Chris McHale spoke with Peter Thorne, Director at Cambashi, a Cambridge, England-based independent industry analyst firm. With his over 30 years of experience as a software engineer user, vendor, and now analyst, Peter’s...
Problems that Engineers in Regulated Industries Face
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og6826J7EOo Video Transcript: I'm Carlos Almeida, VP of Engineering at SPK and Associates. I've spent most of my professional life doing software engineering. 25 years plus in the world of high tech in the electronic design automation...
Efficient Reporting in Windchill RV&S (PTC Integrity)
As explored in one of our previous articles, tracking metrics is a crucial component of a successful development system. But how can you leverage those metrics further? The solution is quite simple: with the trace reporting function available in Windchill...
The 12 Principles Behind the Agile Manifesto
Last March we introduced "The 12 Principles Behind the Agile Manifesto," a multi-part series that examined the key principles behind an effective agile development strategy. Over the course of this series we have introduced the principles, defined them, and...
The 12 Principles Behind the Agile Manifesto: Principle Number Seven – The Primary Progress Indicator
This installment of our 12-part series on the principles of the Agile Manifesto deals with principle 7. This principle states: Working software is the primary measure of progress" In a traditional waterfall development cycle, all the design is done up front and the...
The 12 Principles Behind the Agile Manifesto: Principle Number Six – Promote Face To Face Interaction
Welcome back to our series as we continue to examine the 12 principles underlaying the Agile Manifesto! Our topic for this installment is principle six's guidance on effective communication. This principle states the following: The most efficient and effective method...
The 12 Principles Behind the Agile Manifesto: Principle Number Five – Cultivate Supportive Environments
Welcome back to our discussions of the 12 principles behind the Agile Manifesto! This is our fifth installment of this series which will cover the concept of what I am calling "creating supportive environments." Just as our last discussion pointed out that Agile is...
Sample PTC Integrity Reporting
Download the Requirements Traceability Report This report starts with a Market Requirements document, and traces down to the Tests and Test Results. Sheet 1 covers compact categorization, where the artifacts are basically defined by the Document types. Sheet 2...
PTC Trace Report Video
The video below demos a productivity add-on for PTC’s popular Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) product, PTC Integrity Lifecycle Manager. As with many such products, customers have asked for more powerful and flexible reporting capabilities. SPK now offers a new...
The 12 Principles Behind the Agile Manifesto: Principle Number Four – Organizational Cohesion
In this discussion of the 12 principles behind the Agile Manifesto, we will address organizational cohesion. Since Agile is closely associated with software development, it can be easy to forget development takes place in the context of the whole business entity....