Thank you to everyone who joined our recent webinar on “Migrating from 3DEXPERIENCE Designer Central to UPS Data Model.” I appreciate those who followed up afterward with questions and feedback—it’s always great to continue the conversation. If you have additional thoughts or need further clarification, I’d love to hear from you. Missed the webinar and want to catch up? You can watch it on-demand now.

For many companies, moving from Designer Central (DEC) to the Unified Product Structure (UPS) data model is a necessary step to keep up with evolving PLM capabilities. Dassault Systèmes has made it clear that UPS is the future, providing a more streamlined, integrated approach to managing product data. 

Unlike DEC, which maintains separate structures for CAD and items, UPS unifies everything into a single model, making data management more intuitive and reducing complexity. But getting from DEC to UPS isn’t just a flip of a switch—it requires careful planning, data mapping and validation to ensure a smooth transition.

During the webinar, I walked through the key considerations and best practices for a successful migration, including:

• Understanding the UPS Data Model – UPS consolidates CAD and item structures into a single unified tree, eliminating separate engineering items and CAD/Documents structures.
• Migration Planning – Deciding whether to upgrade an existing environment or start fresh with an out-of-the-box UPS setup.
• Data Mapping & Transformations – Aligning CAD, item, and metadata structures for a seamless migration. 
• Migration Tools & Technologies – Exploring Dassault’s EDAT tool, Enterprise Integration Framework (EIF), and xLM’s custom migration solutions. We recently learned that Dassault is planning to release a new migration assist tool to migrate DEC data to UPS in a later FD of 2025X, though no confirmation or release date has been published yet.
• Security & Process Adjustments – Adapting roles, collaborative spaces, and business processes for UPS.
• Testing & Validation – Ensuring data integrity, performance, and usability in the new environment.

One of the biggest questions I get is: How long does a migration take? The answer depends on the scope of your data and complexity of your environment. Smaller projects can take 2-3 months, while larger, more complex migrations can take six months or longer. Careful planning, testing, and user training are key to making the transition as smooth as possible.

If you missed the live session, you can still watch the on-demand recording here.

I welcome any additional questions or feedback—let me know what’s on your mind, and if there are other topics you’d like us to cover in future webinars. Thank you!