linkLoader™
Speed up bulk loading Pro/ENGINEER®, Autodesk® Inventor™ and AutoCAD® , and SolidWorks® content along with flat file documents into Windchill® PDMLink™ and Pro/INTRALINK®.
Is your Pro/ENGINEER, Autodesk Inventor, AutoCAD, or SolidWorks data currently on a file system or in another PDM system?- Would you like to bulk load your flat file documents like Microsoft®Word, Excel®, and PowerPoint® into your PDM system?
- Are you planning a Pro/INTRALINK or PDMLink Implementation?
- Are you worried about the amount of time, manual effort and errors associated with data loading?
Data migration is usually the worst part of a PDM/PLM project. linkLoader for Pro/ENGINEER, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk AutoCAD, SolidWorks, and documents will reduce the pain of a tough project and ensure a successful implementation with an increased return on investment.
View Recorded linkLoader Webinar (March 2010).
Contact Us to learn more, schedule a demo, or request a quote on linkLoader for:
linkLoader Product Specifications
linkLoader for Pro/ENGINEER, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk AutoCAD, and SolidWorks :
- Finds duplicate files and instances
- Validates data prior to loading and also *verifies family tables
- Sequences loading objects in the correct order based on their hierarchical relationships
- Transfers Pro/ENGINEER, Inventor, AutoCAD, or SolidWorks data from a file system into PDMLink or *Pro/INTRALINK
- Loads any metadata defined in Pro/ENGINEER, Inventor, AutoCAD, or SolidWorks parameters and maps them as soft attributes within PDMLink or *Pro/INTRALINK
*linkLoader for Pro/ENGINEER only.
Batch loaders for other CAD data types are available upon request.
linkLoader for flat file documents:
- Includes a simple GUI interface
- Can easily included IBA's in the bulk load process
- Can be ran from any computer on the network, not just the app server
- Has improved and detailed error messages, compared to the PTC data loader
- Can be used in minutes, compared to the days it can take to configure the PTC data loader
Reduce your migration time and realize a speedy ROI!
Supported Platforms
- PDMLink (On Demand or On Premise) 8.0, 9.X
- Pro/INTRALINK 3.4, 8.0, 9.X
- Pro|ENGINEER Wildfire 3.0, 4.0
- AutoDesk Inventor 11, 2008, 2009, 2010
- AutoCAD 2008, 2009, 2010
- SolidWorks 2008 and 2009
- Windows XP, 2000, 2003 Server
linkLoader News
Fishbowl Solutions Announces Support for AutoDesk Inventor with linkLoader
Fishbowl Solutions Announces Support for SolidWorks and AutoCAD with linkLoader
linkLoader Use Cases
linkLoader for AutoCAD and Inventor
John Bean Technologies Corporation (JBT), a leading global technology solutions provider to high-value segments of the food processing and air transportation industries, was migrating from a protected file system to Windchill PDMLink 9.0. They had a variety of CAD files, including Pro/ENGINEER, Autodesk Inventor, and Autodesk AutoCAD. Manually loading their thousands of CAD files along with the tedious task of assigning metadata to each file would have taken months. JBT went in search for bulk loading tools that would support their CAD file types.
Fishbowl Solutions was working with JBT on their migration and introduced linkLoader for Pro/ENGINEER as a way to bulk load Pro/E files into PDMLink. Since the majority of JBT’s files were Inventor and AutoCAD, they worked with Fishbowl to develop linkLoader solutions for both Inventor and AutoCAD files.
linkLoader for Inventor and linkLoader for AutoCAD files takes metadata defined on the drawings and maps it as soft attributes in PDMLink. It also checks for dependencies, and provides a report of drawings with errors, so users can fix them before they are loaded into PDMLink. linkLoader also allows multiple users to load parts at one time.
JBT was able to load 50 files per hour, on average, compared to manually loading 2 files per hour. In addition to loading 50 files per hour, JBT was able to write engineering reports, fill in all attribute information, promote all parts in PDMLink, and compare data with their ERP system that is not linked to PDMLink or Inventor. linkLoader also improved JBT’s efficiency by allowing them to check parent-child relationships and correct relationship errors prior to promotion.
linkLoader for Inventor and linkLoader for AutoCAD provided an almost immediate return on investment to JBT and helped to provide a smooth migration to Windchill PDMLink.
linkLoader for Pro/ENGINEER
A world leading manufacturer of HVAC equipment was migrating from a file system to PDMLink 9.x. The company estimated it would take two months to manually load all of their Pro/ENGINEER data into PDMLink. At a burden rate of $75 per hour, it would cost over $24,000 to manually load their data.
The company went in search of a bulk loading application and found Fishbowl Solutions’ linkLoader for Pro/ENGINEER. With linkLoader they were able to import all of their Pro/ENGINEER data in two weeks, with just one engineering resource monitoring the application part time. linkLoader for Pro/ENGINEER saved the company around $18,000 and allowed them to quickly migrate their Pro/ENGINEER data helping to create a smooth migration to PDMLink 9.x.
linkLoader for Documents
A leading manufacturer of generators was migrating to PDMLink 9.x from a file system. They were looking for a way to bulk load their flat file documents into the PDMLink system. The customer was aware of the PTC® Data Loader, but it would take days to read through the Windchill Data Loading Reference and Best Practices Manual to learn how to configure the loader to meet their requirements.
The company was already working with Fishbowl Solutions on their upgrade to PDMLink and knew of Fishbowl’s bulk loading application, linkLoader, for Pro/ENGINEER drawings. Fishbowl worked with the company to configure linkLoader to bulk load flat file documents. The company was then able to perform the document loading in less than an hour, saving them days of non-value added work and eliminating a road block in their implementation schedule.
