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2PLM Newsletter

John Stark Associates                                                                                                                                          April 29, 2013 - Vol15 #21

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Coverage of PLM Initiatives
by John Stark
 
In a recently completed survey, we investigated the type of PLM components that companies include in their PLM Initiative. The range of components included, in alphabetical order:
  • business processes
  • facilities & equipment
  • organisational structure
  • PDM applications
  • people
  • performance metrics
  • PLM applications apart from PDM
  • PLM strategy
  • product structure
  • product data
  • working methods

We always advise clients that the many components of PLM should be addressed together. If some components are ignored, then the PLM initiative becomes unbalanced and is unlikely to achieve its objectives.

For example, if PDM applications are the only component of PLM that is addressed, the initiative will soon run into trouble. Questions will be raised about the definition, structure and status of the product data that the application will manage. However, as product data is out of scope, and not in the project plan, no time will have been planned to look at these questions, and there will be no resources available to answer them.

And, questions will arise about the processes and activities that create and change product data. Again, as processes are out of project scope, and not in the project plan, no time will have been planned to look at them, and there will be no resources available to answer the questions. And perhaps the Business Process Department wouldn't help anyway as it wasn't included in the initial project.

And there will be other questions concerning changes to the organisational structure to enable the most effective application of the processes and the best use of product data - "available when it's needed, where it's needed". Again, though, there won't be the time or resources to answer these questions.

Not surprising that management might feel that the Initiative is out of control and should be stopped.

We found the following percentage of the PLM Initiatives we surveyed addressing particular components:

  • PDM applications were addressed by more than 80% of the PLM Initiatives
  • Product data, business processes and PLM applications other than PDM were all addressed by 25-40% of the Initiatives
  • PLM strategy, product structure and performance metrics were all addressed by 10-20% of Initiatives
  • Working methods, people, organisational structure and facilities & equipment were all addressed by 5-10% of Initiatives

In a follow-on survey, we aim to find out why so many projects:

  • don't address organisational issues (isn't it obvious that organisational change is necessary to achieve more effective PLM?)
  • don't address human resource issues (isn't it obvious that its far from easy to get people to work in new ways?)


(background reading in Product Lifecycle Management: Paradigm for 21st Century Product Realisation.)

  

PLM Financial Framework Launch
by Roger Tempest
 
PLM has always been seen as a subject that is difficult to quantify in financial terms. The PLMIG aims to change this.

Obviously, (and particularly for companies in the USA), there needs to be a thorough, neutral definition of the costs and value of implementing PLM. This is important, but we aim to go further.

PLM is an enterprise-wide activity, extending along the Customer and Supply chains. There needs to be a comprehensive framework that integrates all of the PLM-related operations under proactive financial management. This is important, but we aim to go further.

Once we have established what the structure and metrics are, we need a toolset that enables the PLM Team to implement the new environment. The end goal is for PLM to be fully integrated into the financial and accounting mechanism of the company.

If this can be achieved then the current "bid and hope" method of justifying PLM projects will become obsolete.

  
 
The PLM Team and their financial colleagues will be able to input the 'what if?' parameters, and the financial model will show the impact on the company accounts.

This will be a major challenge, but the recent PLMuERP initiative showed how it can be done. Facing a similarly difficult problem, that initiative progressed from 'How to Fix PLM-ERP' (Jul. 30 2012) to 'The Resolution of PLM-ERP' (Apr. 01 2013) via a series of linked workshops.

The new PLM Financial Framework initiative launches in June with parallel workshops in Manchester and Toulouse that will be combined to produce a Version 1.0 PLM Financial Handbook. Registration is now open, and we are gathering feedback about where the series should continue.

 

 

Roger Tempest is co-founder of the PLMIG. Membership of the PLMIG is available via membership@plmig.com.
 


The PLM Journey
by Scott Cleveland
 
PLM implementation is an on-going journey, not a destination. You can't just install PLM and stop, you have to walk on.

Once implemented in a company, a PLM solution should function as intended. However, over time, the company will change. That means its requirements for PLM will change. And implementation will continue.

The only constant is change. A few examples:

  • The widgets that you manufacture will change from time to time. This may impact information attributes and processes.
  • Compliance regulations are subject to change. This could also impact information attributes and processes.
  • Employees come and go. You will need to manage their access to the system. You may need to change a process to insert or delete their activity.
  • If you have integrated your PLM with other enterprise software like ERP, updates could impact your PLM implementation. If you add other enterprise software and want that integrated, you will need to modify your implementation.
  • You may change suppliers, and the way you communicate with them. This can impact things like part numbers, integrations with ERP and how you involve them in your processes.

   

And people will see how beneficial it is for others to manage their information, and the processes that govern them, in PLM. So they'll also want to manage their information and processes in the PLM environment. This will result in more changes/modifications. Not surprising that many companies have at least one full-time person who is altering and maintaining their PLM solution.

The Take Away....
Don't think that implementing PLM is a one-time activity. You'll be continually modifying and improving your implementation. The fact that PLM is a journey means you will have ongoing costs. But the rewards are there - I've often performed ROI analysis and the resulting ROI was always greater than 100%.

 

Your Thoughts....
Where has your PLM journey taken your company? And how much further will it go?

 

Scott Cleveland can be contacted on +1 408-464-6387

 


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PLM News

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Corporate

ANSYS, Inc. announced that ANSYS has acquired EVEN. Details

Dassault Systemes announced the acquisition of FE-DESIGN Group. Details

Infor announced it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent to acquire TDCI Inc. Details

 

Financial

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. reported, for the first quarter of fiscal year 2013, revenue of $354 million. Details

Cameleon Software announced provisional revenue for Q1 2013 of Euro 2.56M. Details

CENIT announced that, in the fiscal year 2012, the CENIT Group achieved revenues of EUR 118,854 k. Details

Dassault Systemes reported IFRS unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013. Total revenue was Euro 485.3M. Details

EMC Corp. reported first-quarter 2013 financial results. First-quarter revenue was $5.39 billion. Details

ESI Group announced consolidated annual 2012/13 revenue of Euro 109.0 million. Details

The IGE+XAO Group announced consolidated turnover of 11,812,132 euros for the first half of the 2012/2013 financial period. Details

PTC reported results for its second fiscal quarter ended March 30, 2013. Non-GAAP revenue was $315 million. Details

SAP AG announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013. IFRS total revenue was 3.60 billion euros. Details

SofTech, Inc. announced its third quarter fiscal 2013 operating results. Revenue for the three months ended February 28, 2013 was $1.459 million. Details

  

People

ANSYS, Inc. announced that Walid Abu-Hadba has joined the Company as chief product officer. Details

Centric Software, Inc. announced that it named Fabrice Canonge vice president and general manager for European operations. Details

  

Implementations

aPriori announced that Tofas has selected the aPriori platform to help accelerate its cost engineering efforts and identify new product cost savings opportunities earlier in the product lifecycle. Details

AVEVA announced that CSC Jinling Shipyard has signed a contract for AVEVA NET software. Details

AVEVA announced that HSHI completed its upgrade from Tribon M3 software to AVEVA Marine. Details

AVEVA announced that JSC NIIK has implemented solutions within the AVEVA Plant software portfolio. Details   

Centric Software, Inc. announced that AMG Group Ltd. has selected Centric Software, Inc. as its product lifecycle management (PLM) system provider. Details

Centric Software, Inc. announced that MANGO has selected Centric Software as its strategic partner for its product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions. Details

ESI Group announced that Herrenknecht uses ESI's collaborative Virtual Reality solution IC.IDO. Details

Intergraph announced that Nynas AB signed an agreement with Intergraph for the use of the SmartPlant Enterprise suite. Details

Intergraph announced that SmartPlant Enterprise has been selected by Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group, Inc. Details

Lectra announced that Zhejiang Nali Apparel is adopting Lectra Fashion PLM to streamline collection development. Details

Visual 2000 International Inc. announced that Ren-Wil Inc. is implementing the Visual PLM.net solution. Details  

Developments

Anark Corp. announced the addition of native support for CATIA V5 & V6 with 3D Product and Manufacturing Information (PMI) data to the Anark Core Platform. Details

Arena announced the Spring 2013 release. Details

Brunson Instrument Company announced their new line of Target Holder Kits. Details

Capvidia announced the release of its FormatWorks product suite for SolidWorks 2013. Details

Creaform introduced the Health Care Partner 3D Scanner. Details

Dassault Systemes announced "HT body." Details

Delcam announced that it has launched the PowerMILL Robot Interface for the programming of robots for multi-axis machining operations. Details

Elysium announced the release of InfiPoints. Details

IMSI/Design announced the release of TurboCAD Mac Pro and TurboCAD Mac Deluxe v7. Details

Intergraph announced that it has released SmartPlant Fusion. Details

Intergraph announced the launch of SmartPlant Cloud. Details

Kubotek USA announced version 11.5.1 of the Kubotek Comparison Suite of products. Details

Lectra announced the release of Lectra Fashion PLM V3R2. Details

Lectra announced Modaris V7R2. Details

Tech Soft 3D announced Version 6.0 of HOOPS Exchange. Details

TransMagic Inc. announced the release of the new R10 product line. Details

VariCAD announced VariCAD 2013-2.04. Details

3D Systems announced Geomagic Design. Details

3D Systems announced Accura Xtreme White-200 plastic for use in 3D Systems' iPro SLA printers. Details

3D Systems announced the Geomagic Designer software packages. Details

3D Systems announced its new ProJet x60 series of full color 3D printers. Details

 

Relationships

CONTACT Software announced that CONTACT Software and TECOSIM Japan have introduced the Fast Concept Modelling toolset (FCM) at several Japanese automobile manufacturers. Details

Elysium Co., Ltd. announced the conclusion of a development partner contract for CATIA V6 with Dassault Systemes. Details

Eurostep announced that Saab and Eurostep have signed a teaming agreement to cooperate in the application of Eurostep's Share-A-space COTS software and to deliver collaborative product life cycle support solutions to aerospace, defence and security markets based on the PLCS standard. Details

IQMS announced the release of its SolidWorks product data management add-in. Details  

 Product                         Lifecycle                         Management: Paradigm for 21st Century Product                         Realisation

JETCAM announced that it has joined the Autodesk Developer Network. Details

LEDAS and OR Laser announced the signing of a service and consulting agreement. Details

MecSoft Corp. announced a partnership with Mechatronic Engineering. Details

PRION Group announced that it signed a global alliance agreement with Siemens PLM Software. Details

Siemens and Bentley announced that they are targeting increased interoperability between Siemens' Comos and Bentley's OpenPlant. Details

Siemens PLM Software announced that MSC Software has licensed Siemens' D-Cubed software components to be used in a new MSC Software solution. Details

Tech Soft 3D and AMC Bridge announced a partnership agreement. Details

Visual 2000 International Inc. announced that K3 Business Technology Group will distribute Visual PLM.net in Europe. Details 

Other

Cimatron Limited announced that Sharon Tuvia (1982) Ltd. uses CimatronE. Details

The Coordinate Metrology Society announced the launch of Level-One Certification for Portable 3D Metrology. Details

Dassault Systemes announced My.SolidWorks. Details

Delcam announced that it has become a member of the flagship Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) in Coventry. Details

DEM Solutions announced that it was selected as a Red Herring Top 100 winner. Details

Intergraph announced that PetroVietnam University has joined the Intergraph Education Grant Program. Details

Lantek announced that Fracino uses Lantek Expert and Lantek Flex3d. Details

MecSoft Corp. announced that their CAM software is compatible with 3D Systems' Geomagic Design 2013. Details

PTC announced that the latest release of Integrity has been certified as Fit for Purpose for functional safety development in alignment with IEC 61508 and ISO 26262. Details

Rand Worldwide announced that its courseware division, ASCENT- Center for Technical Knowledge, released 10 new Autodesk Official Training Guides for Autodesk 2014 software. Details

Rand Worldwide announced that it is rebranding its Training Systems Division to Rand 3D. Details

Siemens PLM Software announced that it was recognized by General Motors as a 2012 Supplier of the Year Winner. Details

Siemens PLM Software announced that Syncrofit 13 reduces airframe design processing time by 40 percent. Details

  

 

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