Omnify Empower 4.5 SP1 has been released

Omnify Empower 4.5 Release Introduced New BOM Routing, Advanced Training Management and New HelpDesk Features for More Complete Product Records.

We are pleased to announce the availability of Service Pack 1, of Omnify Empower 4.5. It is recommended that existing Empower 4.5 customers intall this Service Pack. Click here to view a complete list of new features and updates for Service Pack 1.

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Omnify Software, a leading provider of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software for electronic, medical, mechanical, and defense manufacturers, today announces the release of version 4.5 of the Omnify Empower PLM solution. This version includes key customer-driven enhancements and delivers a solution for manufacturers to capture data spanning the entire product development process, from design engineering to the manufacturing floor- for more complete product records.

“Our customers continue to drive us to encompass more product development and manufacturing processes within our system,” said Chuck Cimalore, chief technology officer for Omnify Software. “Empower 4.5 achieves this by providing the capability to manage and streamline the flow of data for all aspects of design, manufacturing, test, and maintenance processes. This version changes the concept of the ‘traditional PLM’ system by extending PLM beyond the management of parts, documents, BOMs and formal Changes.”

Omnify Empower PLM 4.5 was launched at Omnify’s 2009 Customer Conference and the response from customers was exceptional. Eric Krug, vice president of engineering for Technology Driven Products, Corp. (TDP) stated, “TDP is very excited about the new Empower PLM 4.5 release.” “Version 4.5 adds the capability to manage BOM routers in great detail and includes significant improvements to the Training Module with on-line comprehension testing, tracking of training requirements, and signoffs by trainers. These features will improve our efficiency in maintaining and documenting information per our ISO 13485 requirements.”

Key new features include:

BOM Routing Module provides a method for documenting manufacturing, assembly, inspection, and test procedures for any product (Bill of Material) and ties this information directly to the product record. Routing revisions can be triggered from an Engineering Change, enabling automatic restructure of routing information on a product revision or BOM update. This module allows customers to capture all manufacturing steps and procedures and leverages the Bill of Material (BOM) for quantity validation to help minimize inventory issues. Users can capture detailed processing times and costs for analyzing throughput and expenses. By linking to all part data and documentation within Omnify, BOM Routing can display metadata (specifications) and graphical depictions (documents) for each process/step.
Enhanced Training Management offers improved versioning, automation of changes and resetting of training requirements, and training comprehension to gauge user proficiency and training effectiveness. Empower PLM 4.5 now includes a range of training reports and simplifies navigation to easily identify training and user requirements. Integrated with Empower’s new email/alerting platform, users are automatically notified of pending and overdue training requirements and events.
HelpDesk Module is a communication and collaboration portal designed to capture and track the discussion trail around Omnify Objects such as Changes/ECOs, Corrective Actions, Projects, etc. This module provides a blogging environment for users to discuss decisions, capture feedback, and provide data to internal and external resources. The HelpDesk includes a “ticketing” feature that provides routing and employs closed-loop strategies to address issues and build knowledge to help improve product design.

“The enhancements to the Training Module in Empower 4.5 have closed the gap on retention of training history and made it easier for highly regulated companies to maintain compliance,” stated Curt Kienast, quality manager for Still River Systems. “The addition of the HelpDesk Module is a simple way to manage daily IT issues and frequently asked questions and allows us to capture some of the ‘human element’ that goes into product decisions.”