A concept is presented for facilitating design, planning, communication, and production management on the forging factories. The integration of product data management (PDM) software tools into the forging factories requires both technical and organizational considerations. Using an information processing paradigm, the impact of PDM on the design process and group activities are assessed. Using ongoing work with a forging company in Taiwan as an example, the steps of constructing a product data management system and effects for the forging factories is examined.