Get Savvy about PLM

All PLM systems are not created equal. When we work with our customers to select a PLM system we evaluate the entire business situation not just the engineering department. Too often PLM is viewed as an engineering system only and yet in every case we’ve seen it put in place successfully, PLM rapidly outgrows the engineering department and becomes an enterprise wide, process changing, paradigm shifting, productivity enhancing system. Manufacturing users of PLM often exceed the engineering users, and Field Service also rapidly jumps on board to get proper information on the products they service.

The irony is that all too often, PLM selections are made in the shadow of a CAD selection, being viewed only as a means to handle CAD vaulting. This is a waste and will result in less than optimal use of the PLM system. In addition, it means that the system selection for PLM is driven by CAD and not by a systematic business benefits, enterprise wide justification, and then executives percieve that they have a “qualified” system and ignore the fact that key process needs are not met by the system.

In my opinion - these types of selections are as poorly advised as selecting your PLM solution based upon your ERP system. In both cases the PLM solution has not been selected to meet your full business needs but has been selected as a “default” decision.

Copyright 2007 - All rights reserved LHirr

I attended a presentation about a successful ERP deployment corporate wide for a global company and was very interested in the various metrics used by the CIO to demonstrate how effective they had been with their deployment.  He threw organizational charts up showing where he had champions and subject matter experts throughout the corpation. His approach was very forward thinking and demonstrated he understood how important his role was at the executive table in bringing IT value to a strategic level. He then showed network diagrams to show how various business systems had been consolidated and integrated.  In a small box off by itself he had ePDM (engineering Product Data Management) as a system of it’s own.  His diagram was all the proof of his lack of understanding of what product information management was and where it was used. 

 To fully understand your business use of product information - I give you a challenge exercise:

 1) Gather a list of all documentation types in your business that contain any aspect of product information - some examples might include:

• Instruction manuals
• Assembly Instructions
• Test Instructions
• Quality worksheets
• Training books
• Marketing collateral
• Field Service Bulletins
• Engineering drawings
• CAD files
• Compiled software releases
• and the list goes on….

2) Take your organizational chart and put a mark on every box that uses product information (note this is not about CAD files or engineering drawings only).

3) Look at your external partners - suppliers and customers - and identify what percentage of them require access to your product information.

Our experiences with implemented PLM systems (which manage multiple document types, change control, version management) show that the typical organization will have no less than 50% of the employee base touching, reading, authoring product related information and often far more. While the typical ERP system is actively leveraged by 10-20% of the employee base. So if you view product information management as an engineering department or quality department issue this exercise should make it clear that your products which are your corporate lifeblood have information to be examined through almost ever facit of your business. 

 Copyright 2006, LR Hirr, All Rights Reserved