Service PLM
New improved format: More Knowledge in Less Time!
2PLM NewsletterJohn Stark Associates October 12, 2009 - Vol12 #15 |
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Welcome to the 2PLM e-zine This issue includes : NEW!
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2PLM Sponsorship opportunity: your banner or logo here
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PDM Managers' Meeting: Focus and Framework by Roger Tempest |
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| If PDM Managers are to get together for a meeting, then the time spent will need to be productive. The previous issue of 2PLM covered the need for a structured framework, so that the meeting will produce new working material for the participants. This article sets out the outline Agenda. The main features are:-
A 2-day meeting allows for a half-day session on each of 4 main subjects:-
The Outline Agenda is therefore:- |
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| Day 1: 09:00 - 09:30 Introductions and Format 09:30 - 10:45
10:45 - 11:00 11:00 - 12:30 12:30 - 13:30 13:30 - 15:00
15:00 - 17:00
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Day 2:
08:30 - 09:00 09:00 - 10:45
10:45 - 11:00
Coffee 11:00 - 12:30
12:30 - 13:30
Lunch 13:30 - 15:30
15:30 - 15:45
Summary and Close |
| It should be possible to hold a sequence of these meetings in different regions, using this common format, so that the results of each meeting build on the previous ones, and the participants receive a growing body of knowledge about PDM. The meetings can be open to everyone in the industry who works with the detailed management of PDM, to maximise the input and dissemination of PDM knowledge.
Your views on the proposed Agenda are welcome. Roger Tempest is co-founder of the PLMIG. You can send your comments or input via pdm_meeting@plmig.com Top
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| Service PLM by Antti Saaksvuori |
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| In today's globalised markets, pure volume manufacturing is moving more and more towards the East - to China, India and other Asian countries. The trend in the Western world has already been, for a number of years, towards high value-adding services. Capital goods manufacturers have been looking for new business opportunities in the services business area. And the leading "soft or high touch" services companies have also outsourced business to the East in order to cut costs through the lower price of labour. This is not the only way to go. Service efficiency and quality can be increased dramatically through re-thinking the service and making it more "product-like". In this approach, the traditional and proven methods of the manufacturing business serve as good benchmarks.
Re-thinking the "product" means starting to build carefully defined, modular, configurable and easily repeatable service products, i.e. productising and modularising services further, making them more product-like or "tangible". This is absolutely necessary in order to get closer to the efficiency, quality and volume levels seen in the tangible product industry. In practice, this means that the service industry must start adopting the well-thought information model definitions, processes, practices and product definition tools that have been used for some time in the industries that make tangible products. The telecommunications industry has already made their first initiatives in this area to define their services better in order to increase the efficiency of their business. The eTOM framework by Telemanagement forum gives an excellent framework for all service industries. The fundamental idea behind the eTOM concept is to make a clear distinction between the definition of the service and its fulfilment. First of all, the product (service) and its delivery are defined in the definition domain, possibly using modular product definitions and PLM systems. Then it is implemented into the fulfilment domain to be able to deliver the product (service) to customers.
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In order to start utilising the possibilities offered by information technology and automation, a standard definition of a service-product is needed. This is the first thing that could be directly adapted from the manufacturing business. Manufacturing industry has used product models and product information models to define their products carefully in all respects and in all the required views needed to be able to modularise, configure and repeat the production of one single product or one certain part of a product. Manufacturing industry realised ages ago that efficient and IT-enabled management of products across the entire product portfolio is not possible without a common and standard definition of what is a product and from what entities it is built.
On the services business side, there are definitely a number of well-functioning service delivery support systems. What many service industry companies are clearly missing is a standardised definition of a service product and a standardised way to document a product. This is vital in order to be able to modularise the service products, define the service levels, manage the products in the complete product portfolio in the same way, compare the performance of various processes, integrate processes end-to-end, standardise the delivery of service products, bundle a number of products together easily, use standard IT-systems to support the delivery of the entire service portfolio, and so on.
Antti Saaksvuori is a management consultant operating in the field of PLM. Currently he is a partner in Talent Partners Ltd. (A Finland-based Management Consulting company) Top |
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