1. Leveraging PLM Solution to Maximize Enterprise Profit
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is an enterprise software application which
supports in improving the flow, quality and use of engineering information throughout a
company. PLM provides improved management of the engineering process through
better control of engineering data, of engineering activities, of engineering changes and
of product configurations.
Key benefits of a PLM System:
Maximize the enterprise's ability to design and deliver its products and services
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Capture new ideas and requirements
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Maintain a central repository of product-related information
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Ensure regulatory, and environmental health and safety compliance
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Manage all design- and product-related aspects of production
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Optimize process flow to save engineering costs, product costs, time-to-market
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costs, and improve product quality
Improve business and marketing strategies through product development
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collaboration
PLM system does several things. It manages ‘Engineering Data’ - all the data related to a
product and to the processes used to design, manufacture and support the product. Much
of this data will be created with computer-based systems such as CAD, CAM and CAE.
PLM systems also manage the flow of work through those activities that create or use
engineering data.
The term 'Engineering Data' includes all the data related to a product and to the processes
that are used to design, produce and support it. In the past, systems have not been
available to manage all of this data, and so it has either gone unmanaged, or only parts of
it have been managed. This is not to say that companies have not used systems to manage
any data. Typically the EDP Department and the MIS Department, or their successor, the
IT or IS Department, has implemented systems to manage 'business data' such as sales
data, financial results, corporate plans, manufacturing resource plans, and personnel
information. However, the IT Department will rarely have addressed the management of
'technical data'. Technical data will have been managed either on paper, or within the
computer systems, such as CAD, that have produced it.
Engineering data is difficult to manage because:
there is a lot of it (with more being created each day)
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it is on many media (e.g. paper and magnetic disks)
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2. it is used by many people in different functions (often at different sites)
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it is used by many computer programs (often on different computers)
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it often has several (different) definitions
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it exists in many different versions
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it has multiple relationships and meanings
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it may need to be maintained for many years (e.g. fifty years)
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The term 'Engineering Workflow' refers to the flow of work through those activities that
create or use engineering data. Engineering Workflow is not limited to the flow of work
through the Engineering Department. It also includes the flow through the other
organizations that make use of engineering data. Some of these activities are carried out
inside the company, others outside - for example by suppliers and customers.
There is a close link between engineering data and engineering workflow. Each step of
the workflow makes use of data. Individual items or sets of data are often used in many
steps of the workflow. The link between data and workflow implies that it is neither
feasible nor efficient to address them separately, hence the need to address them together
with a PLM system.
At a time when manufacturing success increasingly depends on the speed with which a
company develops new products, PLM systems have an important role to play. PLM
systems treat engineering information as an important resource that is used by many
functions in a company. In the long term, PLM systems will allow companies to get
control of all their engineering information, and manage the overall engineering process..
From the experience of pioneers in the field of PLM, it appears that PLM systems can
help:
reduce engineering costs by at least 10 %
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reduce the product development cycle by at least 20 %
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reduce engineering change handling time by at least 30 %
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reduce the number of engineering changes by at least 40 %
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These are very important benefits. For companies those looking to gain competitive
advantage through their engineering activities, PLM will obviously be a key technology
in coming years.