In recent weeks it has been cited in:

Model Driven Engineering (MDE) offers a solution to avoiding testing costs without affecting the execution quality of the applied test. Tests Management in CALIPSOneo: A MDE Solution presents a practical overview of a Model Driven Testing (MDT)-based methodology and its impact on the CALIPSOneo project, which was carried out in liaison with Airbus Defense and Space and, particularly, with the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) department.

This issue was highlighted within the PLM Financial Framework towards the end of last year (see 2PLM November 25), and the new PLM Financial Handbook provides an explanation.

The Handbook sets out 8 Stages to achieve Basic Financial Management, in which the PLM implementation is managed via a structured set of financial metrics. These are:-

To achieve Advanced Financial Management, the whole long-term direction of PLM needs be reshaped so that it is 100% enterprise-wide and no longer piecemeal; and there needs to be a realignment of the company's accounting and reporting structure to adapt to the new PLM impact. Only then can the Board see what PLM is achieving, and what more it can do.

PLM Reconstruction therefore enables Business Transformation.

This is not an easy task, and the PLM Team will need to work proactively with managers and VPs from around the whole organisation. The new PLM Financial Management Toolset provides the methodology and the working material.

The methodology and tools will be reviewed at the upcoming workshop that will be hosted by the PLM Institute in Geneva on 01-03 July. The Agenda includes sessions on how to reach Board level; how to establish the planning framework; and group discussions on how to overcome barriers in the delegates' own companies. This will give participants a chance to see how the new material works and to input their own requirements for the finished toolset.

Registration for Geneva is now open, and there is more information on the PLMIG web site.

Here we are, decades later, and still probably less than half of manufacturers have either PDM or PLM software installed. There are all sorts of reasons.

Most often the reason was 'why change what's working?'

The engineering manager would introduce me to their document control person and I would discuss how they are currently managing their CAD files and bills of materials.

If they had a problem like missing files, using the wrong file, sending the wrong bill of materials [BoM] to manufacturing, manufacturing the wrong version of their widget - they would move quickly to find a solution.

If they didn't have a problem, I pressed to learn more. The more I learned, the more I realized that these companies had an exceptional person managing their documentation.

When I spoke again with the engineering manager, I would point out that he had an exceptional employee managing their documentation. Then I would ask, what happens when he/she goes on vacation? What happens if he/she gets sick? What happens if he/she finds a better-paying job? What happens when he/she retires?

The engineering managers understood what I was saying, but they were in no hurry to 'change what's working'.

I'm not sure that companies give enough thought about business continuity. What will you do if a key person goes absent for some reason? What if more than one can't do their job? The best time to get your engineering documentation under control is when you don't have an immediate need.

Contact me to learn more ....

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) was defined in Product Lifecycle Management: Paradigm for 21st Century Product Realisation as the business activity of managing, in the most effective way, a company's products all the way across their lifecycles; from the very first idea for a product all the way through until it's retired and disposed of.

IoT and M2M are technologies. They're made up of many things - intelligent devices, software, networks, protocols, etc.

Companies can improve their products by integrating IoT and M2M components - but they'll still do PLM to manage them.

On June 5, General Motors CEO Mary Barra said that GM has received the findings of an investigation by former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas into the Cobalt ignition switch recall and plans to act on all of its recommendations. She described the Valukas findings as "extremely thorough, brutally tough, and deeply troubling." She said that 15 individuals who were determined to have acted inappropriately are no longer with the company. Disciplinary actions have been taken against five other employees.

Among other actions taken by GM to date: Restructuring the recall decision making process to raise it to the highest levels of the company.

Barra also said "if we think that cleaning up this problem and making a few process changes will be enough, we are badly mistaken." Details

Product Recalls and PLM
According to Product Lifecycle Management: Paradigm for 21st Century Product Realisation, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is the business activity of managing, in the most effective way, a company's products all the way across their lifecycles; from the very first idea for a product all the way through until it's retired and disposed of. From that definition, product recalls are part of PLM.

The Vulakas Report
The Vulakas report can be downloaded from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website here. (119 MB PDF download. Apparently a scan of a paper document.)

A quick review of the 315-page report found no instances of "PLM". One instance of "Product Lifecycle Management" was found - on Page 17, footnote 15, See John Stark, Product Lifecycle Management: 21st Century Paradigm for Product Realisation (Springer 2006), at 23 ("There are over 20,000 parts in a car.").

The report includes Recommendations lettered from A to O. Another recommendation could be Investigate the possibility of using PLM as the joined-up, holistic management system for products (such as cars and ignition switches) across their lifecycles.