CoLab + Teamcenter

CoLab’s integration with Teamcenter allows for effective, secure design reviews with your team and supply chain, while maintaining the structure and organization of your PLM.

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Effortless and Secure Design Information Sharing

Easily and securely share 3D CAD models, drawings, BOMs, and product manufacturing information from Teamcenter to any CoLab workspace. No more worries about sending files through emails or needing reviewers to have PLM licenses. Just share files easily and safely in your web browser.

Keep your IP safe

With CoLab, you can share CAD files with anyone without compromising access to the source files.  In addition, you can avoid giving sensitive CAD files to your suppliers every time you require a quote. You control the permissions, so you always know how and where the data is being shared.

Set Up the Integration Quickly and Securely

CoLab engineers will work with a person from your IT department to create an installer to share files securely from Siemens TeamCenter to a CoLab workspace. CoLab works with you during setup, installation to a test server, validation of file sharing, and installation on a production server to ensure a smooth and secure integration. The result: Your team maintains a secure "system of record" in the Siemens Teamcenter PLM, while offering a collaborative "system of engagement" on CoLab to improve the design review process.

Efficient Revision Management at Your Fingertips

Stop wasting time searching for the right file or accidentally using outdated versions. CoLab's integration with Siemens Teamcenter lets you share files directly from Siemens Teamcenter to CoLab in the cloud. Feel confident that everyone on your team is using the latest versions, even when making changes. This helps maintain quality and accuracy throughout the process and prevents mistakes from reaching production.

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FAQ

What does the integration installation process entail? 

A typical integration follows the following structure:

  1. Provide CoLab with the necessary information regarding your Windchill setup, including your Windchill version, server type, and database type. 
  2. Our team will use this information to create the appropriate installer files for you.
  3. Install the integration on a test or development Windchill server to verify that data sharing is successful.
  4. After successful validation, install the integration on your production server.
What dependencies are required for the integration to work?
  1. Windchill V.11 or V.12
  2. Creo, if Creo drawings and representations are required to be shared from Windchill to CoLab.
  3. Installation requires Java 1.8 or above
  4. SSO: Need an identity provider that supports SAML 2.0 authentication.
How long does it take to integrate CoLab with Windchill?

The installation itself takes 15-30 minutes.

Do you offer automatic and custom installation options?

Yes, we offer automatic installation as well as custom installation options.

How would the addition of CoLab and the integration to Windchill affect WC ecosystem and other software installed ?

The CoLab integration is a stand alone integration with PDMLink only, and separate from the other products in your ecosystem (e.g. ProjectLink, PartsLink, MPMLink, CreoView Client). The integration simply creates the ability to share a file to CoLab using the action context menu and right click context menu in PDMLink. Many of our customers using the integration have customizations in their Windchill and our integration does not affect these customizations. We give you the ability to manually manage the context menu modification if necessary.

What data can be transferred between the two systems?

You can share 3D models, drawings, Bills of Materials including metadata, and product manufacturing information.

Do I need to change my Windchill setup to integrate CoLab

Standard windchill utilities are used to accommodate the CoLab integration. This requires minimal adjustment to your existing Windchill setup.

What is the investment from my IT team for installation and maintenance of CoLab’s Windchill integration?

Most teams spend 30 minutes preparing setup information for CoLab, 30 minutes installing the integration on a test Windchill server, and 30 minutes installing the integration on their production server. The amount of time spent on testing and validation is up to you.Maintenance requires minimal effort. Minor updates to Windchill are tested by CoLab, and should require no update to the CoLab integration. Major Windchill upgrades will require a reinstallation of the CoLab integration.

Can the integration be installed on the test/development server and the production server at the same time?

Yes, it can be installed on both at the same time.

What security measures are in place to protect my data when sharing from Windchill to CoLab?

In order to share information from Windchill to CoLab:

  1. The user must be authenticated within Windchill
  2. The user must have permissions to download files from Windchill
  3. The user must have a CoLab license

To learn more about how we keep your data secure, visit our security page.

What is the architecture of the integration?

The CoLab Windchill integration is installed on your Windchill server. Users must authenticate with CoLab in order to use the integration. The integration shares file data and metadata (CAD Documents, PDFs, WTPart Attributes, etc) with the CoLab application via a secure REST API. Data shared from Windchill is securely saved in CoLab’s AWS cloud environment.

What is the process for removing the CoLab integration from our Windchill Ecosystem?

An administrator would simply need to run the installer again and select the Uninstall option, then restart the Windchill server. This should only take about 15-30 minutes.

What does the integration installation process entail? 

A typical integration follows the following structure:

  1. Provide CoLab with the necessary information regarding your Teamcenter setup, including your Teamcenter version, server type, and database type
  2. Our team will use this information to create the appropriate installer files for you.
  3. Install the integration on a test or development Teamcenter server and client to verify that data sharing is successful.
  4. After successful validation, install the integration on your production server.
  5. The integration will also need to be installed on each desired client machine.

What dependencies are required for the integration to work?

  1. Teamcenter 12 onwards.
  2. The user installing the integration should be a Teamcenter admin account.
  3. Installation requires Java 1.8 or above.
  4. SSO: Need an identity provider that supports SAML 2.0 authentication.

How long does it take to integrate CoLab with Teamcenter?

The actual installation takes 15-30 minutes. Usually our customers want to go through a staged approach where they install in a sandbox environment, then QA, then Production. We sometimes encounter environment or configuration specific issues that need to be investigated and addressed as we work through that process. Typically we see 10-20 hours of involvement from IT teams across a period of several weeks, depending on their internal process and level of testing and validation required.

How would the addition of CoLab and the integration to Teamcenter affect the Teamcenter ecosystem and other software installed?

The CoLab integration is a standalone integration with Teamcenter Server and Teamcenter Rich Client only, and separate from the other products in your ecosystem (e.g. Active Workspace, NX, etc). The integration simply creates the ability to share a file - or collection of files - to CoLab using the right click context menu in Teamcenter. Many of our customers using the integration have customizations in their Teamcenter environment, and our integration does not affect these customizations. CoLab gives you the ability to manually manage the context menu modification if necessary.

What data can be transferred between the two systems?

You can share 3D models (parts and assemblies, both native NX and standard formats such as JT), as well as drawings in PDF format if a PDF representation exists.

Do I need to change my Teamcenter setup to integrate CoLab?

Teamcenter Environment Manager (TEM) is used to install the server-side integration. This requires no adjustment to your existing Teamcenter setup. The client-side installation is just a jar in the RAC installation and running the standard Teamcenter utility to register it.

Can the integration be installed on the test/development server and the production server at the same time?

Yes, it can be installed on both at the same time.

What security measures are in place to protect my data when sharing from Teamcenter to CoLab?

In order to share information from Teamcenter to CoLab:

  1. The user must be authenticated within Teamcenter
  2. The user must have permissions to download files from Teamcenter
  3. The user must have a CoLab license, and if using Single Sign On, be given access to the CoLab application within your Identity Provider (IdP) system

To learn more about how we keep your data secure, visit our security page.

Does the CoLab Teamcenter Integration support Active Workspace?

The CoLab Teamcenter Integration currently supports Teamcenter Rich Client (RAC). Active Workspace support is planned for H1 2024. It is important to note that CoLab is a cloud-based application that can be accessed via a web-browser, and that the Integration is not necessary for end users to access the CoLab platform. CoLab's Teamcenter integration simply facilitates easier sharing of CAD data from your Teamcenter environment to CoLab.

Ready for smoother collaboration?

  • Simple external sharing with comprehensive access control
  • Enterprise-grade IP security
  • Automatically capture a more complete digital thread

See how CoLab and Teamcenter work together

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