PLM maker PROCAD enhances existing integration of its PRO.FILE PLM software with SAP, bringing it up to speed with the new HANA-based generation of products.Karlsruhe, November 5, 2019. SAP user companies with extensive engineering operations place particular demands on their product lifecycle management and PLM system. They need a suitable PLM strategy for the new world of SAP S/4HANA. To accommodate their needs, PROCAD has enhanced the integration of its PRO.FILE PLM platform, making engineering companies ready for the upcoming migration to S/4HANA.

Product-centric companies that use both CAD Desktop and SAP PLM may soon run into problems: The incumbent PLM component CAD Desktop (CDESK) is only supported by the current SAP ERP and will be replaced by 2025. It will no longer be available with SAP S/4HANA. Given the fact that all SAP user companies will eventually have to make the switch to the new product generation, they should really start to rethink their PLM strategy. One system for enterprise resource planning and one system for managing product engineering across the lifecycle are two separate things and should always remain separate.

With many years of PLM platform experience, PROCAD knows exactly what a PLM platform in the SAP ecosystem needs and why a dedicated PLM system integrated with SAP is the way to go. PRO.FILE comes with the added bonus of a tightly integrated DMStec system. Because in order for PLM to work, companies need to able to link together every single piece of product-relevant information (including any information contained in documents). Companies that switch from CDESK to PRO.FILE will only need to flip the integration switch when the time comes to migrate to S/4HANA.

More than 100 SAP user companies have already implemented PRO.FILE as their PLM, PDM or DMStec platform, giving them one less worry when their S/4HANA migration comes around. With PRO.FILE as their Product Data Backbone, they can build a forward-thinking PLM solution that will work just as well with the next generation of SAP products. At the 2019 annual congress of the German-Speaking SAP User Group (DSAG), PROCAD showcased just how such a solution could look like. The goal: An ERP system and a PLM system that, despite being bidirectionally integrated, stay true to their intended purposes.