3DEXPERIENCE Change Manager – Standardize your change processes

3DEXPRIENCE Change Manager

Standardize your change processes

The 3DEXPERIENCE Change Manager capability addresses a common challenge: engineering and product changes are often complex, risky, and difficult to coordinate across multiple teams. It helps organizations manage those changes more effectively by providing:

• A single source of truthfor all change-related product information, so engineering, manufacturing, quality, and other teams stay aligned on the same data throughout the product lifecycle.
• End-to-end traceabilityacross the full change process, allowing teams to track what was changed, why it changed, who approved it, and how it was implemented, while also supporting compliance and audit requirements.
• Faster execution of changes through streamlined workflows, automated review cycles, and real-time notifications that help reduce delays and rework.
• Support for both ad hoc changesand formal engineering change processes such as ECR and ECO, making it suitable for regulated, complex, and cross-functional environments.

To understand this better, let’s look at a simple example. Imagine a company deciding to launch a new smartphone in a signature Sunset Orange colour. Even a seemingly minor design change like this can create ripple effects across multiple departments. The 3DEXPERIENCE change management process helps control those challenges in a structured way.

Step 1: Raising the Change Request

In many organizations, a colour change might begin as an email thread that gets forwarded from one person to another, eventually turning into a confusing mix of interpretations. Was it orange, peach, or something completely different?

With 3DEXPERIENCE platform, the process starts with a Change Request (CR). This captures both the need for the change and the reason behind it and connects that information directly to the 3D product data. Instead of scattered messages or unclear instructions, everyone works from the same validated source.

A smartphone may contain hundreds of individual components, so even a small change can create unexpected issues if it is not formally tracked. Without a clear request, one team might update the body colour while another keeps an old component specification, leading to inconsistent results.

Fun FACT: Did you know a single smartphone can have over 500 individual components? Without a CR, you might end up with an orange body and a black SIM tray because “Dave from Procurement” missed the memo.

Step 2: Running Impact Analysis

This is where the Change Manager plays a critical role. Instead of making assumptions, the platform helps identify the actual scope of the change through Impact Analysis or “Where Used” analysis.

For example:

• The antenna team may need to verify that the new coating does not interfere with signal performance.
• Manufacturing may need to check whether the production line or tooling at a specific plant must be adjusted.
• The costing team may need to evaluate whether the new material increases product cost and affects pricing decisions.

The advantage is that the Change Manager can identify all related objects, from the 3D model to simulation results and assembly instructions, ensuring that no affected team is overlooked.

Step 3: Releasing the Change Order

Once the impact is reviewed, the Change Order (CO) becomes the formal decision point. It acts as the central control mechanism for the change process and ensures that the right stakeholders approve the update before it moves forward.

This is not just a simple approval button. The workflow can be arranged so that one activity depends on another. For example, the factory should not order the orange paint until the antenna-related simulation and other critical checks are approved. This closed-loop approach helps prevent expensive mistakes and keeps the process under control.

Fun FACT: A single surface change on a phone can trigger multiple validation rounds, because a new finish or material may affect antenna behaviour, thermal performance, and assembly tolerances.

Step 4: Assigning Change Actions

The actual work happens through Change Actions (CA). Designers and engineers do not simply edit product data directly; they work under specific approved actions.

This provides several benefits:

• Revision control ensures that a new version is created properly while the previous version is preserved and protected.
• Parallel collaboration allows different teams to work on different parts of the change at the same time without conflict.
• The digital thread records every modification, creating a complete history of the change from start to finish.

This makes the process much easier to manage and review later, because every update is connected to the same change initiative.

Step 5: Implementation and Traceability

Months later, if a batch of orange phones starts showing paint issues near the charging port, the team does not need to guess at the cause. They can go back through the audit trail and review the full history of the change.

The system allows them to track the change maturity from Draft to In Work, then to Frozen, and finally to Released. If the root cause turns out to be a primer change made by a supplier at a specific point in the process, that detail can be identified quickly and accurately.

Instead of reacting blindly, the team can trace the issue back to its source and fix it with much greater confidence.

Why It Matters

Without a structured change management process, even a product launch can become risky and expensive. A small decision may affect manufacturing, supply chain, quality, and customer experience in ways that are not immediately visible.

By using structured governance, cross-functional impact analysis, and automated traceability, the 3DEXPERIENCE Change Manager helps teams stay agile without losing control. It gives organizations the flexibility to respond to change while maintaining the discipline needed for reliable execution.

In simple terms, it helps you move fast, stay accurate, and avoid costly surprises such as discovering too late that 50,000 orange phones won’t connect properly to Wi-Fi.

Reach out to us to learn how we can help implement a change process for your product.

FAQs:

• What is change management?
• What is the difference between a Change Request, Change Action, and Change Order?
• How does 3DEXPERIENCE help with engineering change management?
• What is impact analysis in the change process?
• What is the difference between ECR and ECO?
• Can change management reduce engineering rework and errors?
• What happens after a change is approved?

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