ANDOVER, MA and MUNICH, Germany, Dec 2 - Aras, the leading enterprise open source Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software solution provider, announced the availability of the Microsoft Office Connector for Aras VPLM. With the Office connector for Aras VPLM, enterprises that run Autodesk Inventor, AutoCAD and Vault can manage documents, spreadsheets, slides and emails in PLM without leaving Microsoft Office applications. The Office connector for Aras VPLM improves personal productivity while driving standardization and consistency for compliance throughout the enterprise.
The Office connector for Aras VPLM extends the benefits of enterprise PLM to Autodesk users in Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook. Users can create, store, edit, search and manage documents while working within the familiar, easy to use Microsoft environment. At the same time, the Office Connector for Aras VPLM provides administrators with sophisticated capabilities for document control and security, including need-to-know access, configurable automatic document numbering and naming conventions, the optional use of corporate templates, and more.
"We created Aras VPLM to enable Autodesk users to expand the capabilities of Inventor, AutoCAD and Vault across the enterprise. With the Office Connector we’re taking that a step further, making it even easier for users throughout the company to work with PLM information and contribute to the product development process using tools they are already familiar with," said Peter Schroer, President of Aras. "What's more,” said Schroer, "The Office Connector for Aras VPLM includes the powerful administrative tools, security and controls required by highly regulated industries."
Features in Office Connector for Aras VPLM include:
- Search - Search files and templates in PLM from within the Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint
- View & Edit - Simply select View for read-only access or Edit to lock and modify a file
- Automated PDFs - Auto generate PDFs of saved files to attach and distribute to other users in the workflow
- Classification - Automated file naming and document number sequencing based on classification categories
- Linking - Option to create relationships between Microsoft documents and Aras items such as Parts, Drawings, Projects, Process Plans, and other PLM items from within Microsoft Office. Relationships can drive naming and numbering, and are updated along with associated product components
- Revision & Version Control - Configurable revision and version control on Microsoft files provides traceability and assures that users always work with the correct version of a file
- Side-by-Side Comparisons - Enables users to easily view side-by-side comparisons of different revisions of the same document or file
- Enterprise Change Management - Apply lifecycle states, approval workflows and sign-offs to documents such as engineering change requests or document change orders
- Templates - Create standardized Office document templates that comply with corporate conventions and are ready-to-use for end users
- Property Mapping - Map properties from native Microsoft files to Aras or from Aras to the native Microsoft files
- Outlook Emails - Capture and store Outlook emails with embedded images and attachments as part of the product record in Aras
- Compliance - Document controls, tracking, traceability and audit trails streamline and simplify compliance
- Security - Need-to-know access rights and permissions on files managed from within Aras VPLM
About Aras VPLM for Autodesk Vault
Aras VPLM for Autodesk Vault provides packaged functionality out-of-the-box for corporate-wide PLM business processes, enabling global companies that run Autodesk software to improve product quality, accelerate time to market and achieve greater profitability. Built on top of Autodesk Vault Professional, Aras VPLM extends the capabilities of Autodesk Vault to drive PLM processes throughout a company and its supply chain for collaboration across organizations including product development, operations, quality, purchasing, sales and marketing, and other groups worldwide. Scalable and secure, Aras VPLM is a business-ready solution for New Product Development and Introduction (NPDI), Complex Configuration Management, Enterprise Change Management, Outsourced Manufacturing, Quality Compliance and more. For more information, visit
http://www.aras-vplm.com.
About Aras
Aras is the leading provider of enterprise open source Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software solutions. Freedom from licensing eliminates up-front expenses and per user costs while superior technology makes Aras the most advanced enterprise PLM solution suite available. Customers include Motorola, Freudenberg, GE, Hitachi, Lockheed Martin, Textron and TEVA Pharmaceuticals. Aras is privately held with global headquarters in Andover, MA. For more information, visit
www.aras.com.
