Arbortext vs Propel PLM

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Our analysts compared Arbortext vs Propel PLM based on data from our 400+ point analysis of PLM Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Arbortext Software Tool

Product Basics

PTC Arbortext is an end-to-end publishing and content authoring solution designed to help manufacturing organizations streamline the delivery of technical publications. It allows users to maintain a digital thread of dynamic data to boost consistency with real-time synchronization and a single source of data truth.

Users can create high-quality content by writing XML documents and creating stylesheets, complete with 2D and 3D illustrations. Automation capabilities include auto-generating content, automating publishing, formatting and printing. It also supports multi-channel delivery and multi-language formatting.

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Propel PLM is a solution designed to facilitate the management of a product's lifecycle from start to finish. Users can initiate the production of top-notch quality and original products that hit the market faster while decreasing costs, raising product throughput and establishing internal collaboration.

Some of the key accessories Propel PLM possesses include computer-aided design (CAD) integration, bill of materials (BOMs) management, regulation compliance and cost supervision.
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$700/Seat, One-Time
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Tailored to your specific needs
$35 Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
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Product Assistance

Documentation
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Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
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Product Insights

  • Improve Productivity: Save time with reusable XML component-based content and automated formatting. Minimize programming by creating, updating and simplifying stylesheet creation.
  • Simplify Content Management: Gain a single source of truth for all your technical documentation. Centralize stylesheets, layouts, formatting, and service and product information, eliminating scattered information and streamlining your content lifecycle.
  • Enhance Technical Content Quality: Deliver error-free documentation by enforcing stylesheets that automate information layout and delivery. Improve content reusability, enforce style guides and ensure regulatory compliance with approved information.
  • Increase Automation: Minimize manual tasks by automating publishing processes, formatting, layout tasks, and the delivery of multi-channel and multi-language service and product information.
  • Reduce Publishing Production Costs: Develop a single source for styling criteria and formats to eliminate disparities and rework from multiple stylesheets, languages and document types. Minimize the costs of distributing and printing paper copies of product information.
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  • Accelerated Innovation: Propel PLM streamlines product development processes, enabling teams to bring new products to market faster by automating tasks, centralizing data, and fostering collaboration.
  • Enhanced Collaboration: The platform provides a central hub for cross-functional teams to share ideas, track progress, and make informed decisions, fostering a collaborative and efficient work environment.
  • Improved Product Quality: Propel PLM's robust change management and traceability features help ensure product quality by providing a comprehensive record of product changes and enabling teams to identify and address potential issues early on.
  • Reduced Costs: The software helps businesses reduce costs by eliminating redundant tasks, optimizing resource allocation, and minimizing errors through its automated workflows and centralized data management.
  • Increased Agility: Propel PLM empowers teams to adapt quickly to changing market demands by providing real-time visibility into product data, enabling them to make informed decisions and adjust product specifications swiftly.
  • Improved Compliance: The platform helps businesses comply with industry regulations and standards by providing comprehensive audit trails, version control, and traceability features.
  • Enhanced Decision-Making: Propel PLM provides powerful analytics and reporting tools that empower teams to make data-driven decisions, optimize product design, and identify areas for improvement.
  • Scalability and Flexibility: The software is designed to scale with growing businesses, accommodating the increasing complexity of product portfolios and the evolving needs of diverse teams.
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  • Content Creation: Use the editor to create standardized content for multiple media formats. Auto-generate text using language-specific collation rules. Incorporate editable, intelligent graphics and embed 2D and 3D animation or illustrations in web and interactive content.
  • Structured Editor: Simplify technical content creation with word-processing capabilities like change tracking, drag-and-drop editing and keyboard macros.
  • Real-time CAD Data: Gather and use real-time CAD data to develop illustrations and animations more quickly. Ensure product information and graphics are accurate with IsoDraw’s ability to update objects and change specifications throughout the production cycle. Create output in multiple data formats including raster graphics, 2D, 3D and animations.
  • Automated Document Creation: Automate formatting and document layouts prior to publication with the Advanced Print Publisher tool. Minimize time spent manually editing graphics, text and other features in formats including XML, JPG, GIF, CGM and SVG.
  • Stylesheet Creation: Create stylesheets with the styler tool, which allows users to develop a set of standards and rules across stylesheets. Ensure content and product quality and consistency along the product lifecycle in multiple layouts and languages.
  • Multichannel Content Delivery: Generate one or more different types of dynamic output simultaneously to multiple formats. Take single-source content and publish it across multiple channels.
  • Multi-Language Formatting: Export generated text as a separate file to translate and create multi-language stylesheets. Increase reusability by using multiple numbering schemes to meet regional numbering rules and mirroring page layout definitions for right-to-left languages.
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  • Immediate Collaboration: Propel PLM offers a collaboration accessory that's equipped with whole data transparency, teamwork across the entire company, blended analytics and full access control. When users connect people, systems and procedures with this tool, they can make better business choices and rupture project silos. 
  • Interchange Information: Users can use the collaboration tool to employ relevant upgrades in user adoption rates. These upgrades will enable users to swiftly trade information with the sales, services and product groups to get their merchandise out to the market sooner. 
  • Create Edits and Cancellations: This program offers enhanced adaptability, clarity and efficiency when contrasting and supervising product versions. Users can review and compare revisions without interrupting workflows. This accessory enables users to effectively cancel any product traits such as bill of materials (BOMs), pricing, product catalog attributes and structure rules to specifically pinpoint what changed and where. 
  • Administer All BOMs: Users can use the BOM management tool to safely share their current BOM information and cooperate with several internal teams, suppliers and partners connected to the product's lifecycle. Users can plot and conceive all product options and features to formulate the ideal business decisions.  
  • Manage Changes and Revisions: Propel PLM's change management accessory enables users to adjust the precise approval work procedures and monitors product updates throughout the entire value sequence. Users can seamlessly evaluate and validate workflows from their phone, tablet or laptop thanks to Propel PLM's cloud-based deployability.  
  • Task and Project Accomplishment: Users can supervise and trace project accomplishments with Propel PLM's active collaboration and data transparency. This module can assist users in supervising project schedules and collaborating with suppliers, internal team members and manufacturers. Users speed up production by recognizing and rectifying the precise causes of delays and downtimes. 
  • Integrate Computer-Aided Designs (CADs): Propel PLM can integrate with on-premise or cloud-based CAD solutions to produce parts, BOMs and change orders. This integration permits users to expedite time to market, dwindle errors, reinforce innovation, gain prompt teamwork, automatically formulate parts and receive thorough 3D CAD visualization. 
  • Oversee Costs and Profits: Users can deplete costs and boost profits with effective design, supply chain maximization and precautionary maintenances. Propel PLM traces, supervises and studies material, prototype, labor, maintenance, production and supply chain so users can assess product growth and linked profit margins.  
  • Intricate Analytics: Propel PLM's analytics capability enables users to collect and review cost information received from distributors and manufacturers. Users can input this information into a BOM to examine and compare costs throughout various products and time intervals.  
  • Lawful and Environmental Compliances: Users can comply with stock-keeping units (SKU) and global trade item number (GTIN) regulations by managing adjustments, regulation requirements and allocation principles. This module ensures a product is sold in global markets by cooperating with local market requirements. Users can also verify compliances with environmental specifications such as restriction of hazardous substances (RoHS), waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals (REACH), China RoHS, joint electron device engineering council (JEDEC), Japanese Green Initiative and Conflict Minerals standards.  
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Product Ranking

#9

among all
PLM Software

#16

among all
PLM Software

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Analyst Rating Summary

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Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

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Bill Of Materials Management Change Management Compliance Management Design Management Document Management Packaging And Label Management Part Management Platform Capabilities Project Management Quality Management Recipe And Formula Management Reporting And Dashboard Requirements Management Supplier Management 100 100 100 93 100 18 100 100 100 93 57 100 100 100 0 25 50 75 100
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User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 26 reviews
Great User Sentiment 73 reviews
84%
of users recommend this product

Arbortext has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 84% when considering 26 user reviews from 2 recognized software review sites.

84%
of users recommend this product

Propel PLM has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 84% when considering 73 user reviews from 2 recognized software review sites.

4.2 (25)
4.2 (72)
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5.0 (1)
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Awards

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SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Propel PLM and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Bill of Materials Management and Requirements Management.

Bill of Materials Management Award
Requirements Management Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Improved Collaboration: Foster seamless collaboration across engineering and design with manufacturing and marketing departments. The centralized platform eliminates information silos and ensures everyone has access to updated product data, reducing communication errors and delays.
Enhanced Product Quality: Facilitate a controlled and standardized approach to product development with features like change order tracking and revision control. Real-time updates ensure everyone is working on the latest version of product specifications, minimizing the risk of errors and improving overall product quality.
Streamlined Supply Chain Management: Integrate with supplier databases and other supply chain management tools to improve communication and coordination with suppliers, leading to more efficient procurement processes and faster time-to-market.
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Powerful Data Management: Propel PLM provides a centralized platform to manage product data, enabling efficient access, collaboration, and version control.
Seamless Integration: It integrates seamlessly with other business systems such as ERP, CAD, and MES, eliminating data silos and streamlining workflows.
Enhanced Collaboration: The collaborative features facilitate real-time communication, document sharing, and change tracking, fostering efficient teamwork.
Improved Product Quality: Propel PLM's robust quality management capabilities help identify and mitigate product defects, ensuring high-quality deliverables.
Increased Productivity: The automation of repetitive tasks and the elimination of manual processes significantly increase productivity and reduce time-to-market.
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Complex Implementation: Implementing a PLM system can be complex and time-consuming. Businesses need to invest time in data migration, user training and system configuration to ensure a smooth transition.
High Initial Investment: The cost of PLM software is not as cheap as chips, especially for larger companies with complex product lifecycles. Licensing fees, implementation costs and ongoing maintenance charges can add up quickly.
Data Migration: Migrating existing product data from legacy systems to a new PLM platform opens a whole new can of worms. Incomplete or dirty data or inconsistent formatting can lead to problems down the road, so data quality and consistency require careful attention during migration.
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High Cost of Ownership: Propel PLM can be expensive to purchase and maintain, requiring significant upfront investments and ongoing subscription fees.
Steep Learning Curve: Users often find Propel PLM's interface complex and challenging to navigate, requiring extensive training and support.
Limited Integration Options: Propel PLM may not seamlessly integrate with other enterprise systems, creating data silos and hindering efficient collaboration.
Poor Customer Support: Some users have experienced delays and unsatisfactory responses from Propel PLM's customer support team, affecting their productivity.
Lack of Customization: Propel PLM's out-of-the-box features may not meet the specific requirements of all businesses, limiting customization and tailored solutions.
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PTC Arbortext is a content authoring tool designed to streamline the creation, management and delivery of technical documentation. Its focus on reusability through XML components and automated formatting helps users save time and reduce errors. Additionally, it centralizes product information and enforces stylesheets to ensure consistency across various media formats.Beyond core content creation functionalities, it offers features like real-time CAD data integration, automated document creation and multi-channel content delivery. While pricing isn't publicly advertised, it likely follows a tiered licensing structure based on required features. Overall, it offers organizations an effective way to optimize technical content creation and delivery and maintain a digital thread.

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Over the past year, Propel PLM has garnered attention for its innovative approach to product lifecycle management, distinguishing itself from competitors like PTC Windchill and Siemens Teamcenter. Users have praised Propel for its user-friendly interface and cloud-based deployment, which significantly reduces the IT overhead for small to medium-sized businesses. A standout feature is its seamless integration with Salesforce, allowing sales and engineering teams to collaborate more effectively than ever before. This integration has been a game-changer for companies looking to streamline their operations and enhance cross-departmental communication. However, some users have noted that while Propel PLM excels in ease of use and integration capabilities, it may lack some of the advanced features found in more established PLM systems. For instance, complex product data management and simulation tools are areas where users feel improvements could be made. Despite these criticisms, the consensus is that Propel's strengths in collaboration, cloud-based flexibility, and user experience significantly outweigh its limitations for a wide range of businesses. Propel PLM is most suited for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that prioritize ease of use, cloud-based solutions, and strong integration with CRM systems. Its ability to facilitate communication and collaboration across different departments makes it an invaluable tool for companies looking to improve their product development processes without the heavy IT infrastructure typically associated with traditional PLM systems. For businesses at the forefront of innovation and in need of a flexible, user-friendly PLM solution, Propel emerges as a compelling choice.

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