I am very pleased, that after finalizing the 70h training package this January, PTC awarded me the certificate for the Windchill Fundamentals Curriculum for Consultant. Herewith, BoostPLM is adding another PTC certificate to the series of certificates already obtained by my colleague Zeljko Ratkaj.
At BoostPLM we strive to provide our clients with the most professional service. Consequently, we dedicates 20% of our time to competence development.
Curriculum and objectives
The course gives a thorough insight into the core Windchill functionality. This include Windchill Installation & Business Administration, integration with CreoParametrics, Thingworx Navigate, ProjectLink and much more.
Personally, I have been working with Windchill for some years now and believe to have a solid knowledge of most of the areas covered. However, I decided to enroll in the training in order to:
- Revisit the basics to strengthen and update foundational knowledge
- Learn new things and gain insight into adjacent areas of what I normally consult in
- Recognize and understand the complexity of related domains
- Become a more insightful and knowledgeable consultant to service our clients even better.
- Obtain a formal Windchill certificate
In short, I can conclude that the training certainly fulfilled the above ambitions. Besides being quite labor intensive, I believe the below takeaways from the curriculum to be of general interest.
My General Reflections
- The curriculum is very relevant to both internal and external consulting/specialist roles working with cross-system solutions.
- Focus lies on giving the student a holistic understanding and overview. Relevant administrative tasks are shown and context provided.
- Examples and exercises are carried over from topic to topic. Consequently you will obtain a bigger picture of how the various functionalities are interlinked over time.
- The Curriculum teaches a lot and goes into great details in many areas. Despite that, one should not fall into the trap of believing this to be “all of it”. Windchill has a lot more to offer and complex areas like Product Structure Management or Workflow definition are only briefly touched upon.
- As a great benefit, “best practices” are included in the guides on how and when to utilize certain functions and possibilities. Unfortunately, these are not given consistently throughout the curriculum… but when they are, it’s highly valued.
My Course Specific Reflections
- The course Business Administration of Windchill takes one into great details of defining and managing various business objects. All of it seeming a bit overwhelming to start with, but there is really no way around this fundamental knowledge. Knowing the basics in these areas also greatly will improve dialogue with system admins and architects.
- Topics like Object Management or Access Control are complex and often handled by the implementing partner or System admin. However, I believe these topics are highly relevant as they are directly linked to topics like Advanced Lifecycles and Workflows – both which we as a company work with.
- Windchill Navigate as a concept will, with its simple customization possibilities, widen the use and adaption of PLM data to business areas outside Engineering. Much more to come – keep an eye on it; it’s a highly evolving area
Closing Thoughts
I highly recommend the curriculum to anyone who works cross-functional with Windchill and finds themself collaborating or consulting across the PLM value chain. The curriculum is ambitious, and a significant level of practical experience certainly will help digesting and relating all the topics being covered. Obtaining a formal Windchill certificate is of course relevant to any professional in itself.
The quality of the individual courses and examples is high, and the given examples are very relevant – especially as they build upon each other enhancing the holistic understanding.
Concluding the curriculum is not only relevant for the student, but also for the related organization or future clients. The related certification may act as a means for competence development, stating a competence requirement or as proof hereof. An obtained certificate is valid for 2 years after which it needs to be renewed.
You can find many more training offerings on PTC University www.ptcu.com