Content area
Full text
Be smart strategically and your product lifecycle management (PLM) software will roll
If you manufacture a product, you're already managing it through its lifecycle. You identify a customer need, design an appropriate product, source components, manufacture and distribute. Your products may need servicing or recycling, but you manage each stage of these processes too.
Product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions are software tools (and business processes) that allow you to transform existing manual lifecycle management processes to automated, digital ones. For example, instead of producing a paper service manual, why not automatically upload information on any specific product configuration to a secured web site that service personnel can access from the road?
WHY PLM IS IMPORTANT
Automating manual processes should save time and money. For example, if a company digitally shares data between manufacturing and engineering, it will ensure design efficiency is maximized for manufacturability. A successful PLM strategy helps companies enjoy all the advantages of being first to market.
DEVELOPING THE OPTIMAL PLM STRATEGY
A wave of technology hype washed over the business world in the late 90s. The wave crashed, causing some manufacturers to question the competitive gain provided by new technology. Phil Taylor, president of EDS PLM Solutions Canada, says as a result, "it's as important as ever to make pragmatic technology investments that allow you to optimize and execute your business strategy." When manufacturing grows again, the big winners will be firms that best respond to "increasingly differentiated consumer tastes."
Taylor recommends building a PLM strategy on three pillars: your customers' needs, your competitors' ability to meet the same need and how much of a competitive advantage you wish to establish.
TWO-STAGE STRATEGY
A PLM journey should be like any trip. "Establish...