2PLM Newsletter

John Stark Associates

 Welcome to 2PLM, an e-zine distributed about every two weeks.  16 Feb 2009 this issue includes:

• What we need to know
• Two Products in the News
• Understanding PLM
• Product Lifecycle Management Library
• The World of Product Lifecycle Management
• General Interest
• News

What we need to know
by Roger Tempest

So much has been written about PLM that it may seem strange to suggest that we do not know much about it. However, if you step back and ask: "What exactly do we know?", then some surprising gaps in our knowledge are revealed.

PLM knowledge currently falls under three headings: generic, proprietary, and unformalised. None of these types is as useful as it could be. Generic knowledge is the background level of understanding that has been evolved simply through everyday work in the PLM area. It is what "everyone knows" about PLM, and is general and imprecise. Proprietary knowledge is often excellent, but has as many variations as there are vendors and consultancies that purvey it. The third, 'Unformalised' category is what the user implementors and their teams know amongst themselves, but has never been captured or built upon.

This is a bad situation for users, because it can be difficult (or impossible) to find the information or tools that they need from the mixed array of options available to them. It is also bad for the vendors and service providers, because without industry-agreed reference points, users take much longer in the decision process before moving forward.

What we need is formalised PLM knowledge that is out in the open, where everyone can refer to and use it. It does not need to be encyclopaedic, nor to supersede anything that already exists. Rather, it needs to be concise, neutral, well-written, and to cross-reference easily with other sources.

The PLMIG aims to achieve this through the PLM User Initiative (see 2PLM December 15 2008), concentrating on tools and standards called for by users themselves, including such themes as:-

• Commercial Value of PLM
• Organisation and Culture Change Toolset
• CPD and the Extended Enterprise
• Process and Cost Reduction
• PLM in the Lean Environment
• PLM-ERP
• Long-term Data Retention
• PDM Data Interoperability
• PLM Definition Standardisation
• PLM Best Practice

By working internationally, involving companies with many types of PLM implementation, the User Initiative will unlock the 'Unformalised' body of knowledge - the vast but untapped body of expertise distributed amongst the user community - and turn it into material that the whole industry can relate to.

The themes listed above were generated by the PLM User Forum launch in November (2PLM February 02 2009). The PLMIG would be interested in feedback to endorse these or to suggest other areas that should be covered.

The scope of the User Initiative will cover Europe and the USA, and may be ported to other regions. If you feel your company might participate in the PLM User Initiative then write to userinitiative@plmig.com for a copy of the 8-page User Forum Overview document, which outlines the User Forum results.

You can keep informed about, and interact with, the User Initiative through PLMIG membership via membership@plmig.com.

Roger Tempest is co-founder of the PLMIG.
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Two products have been in the news in recent days Q790 and CERN's LHC.

Both have a PLM story to tell.

Q790 is an end-of-lfe story. Q790 was previously known as the Clemenceau, a French aircraft carrier taken out of service in 1997. Dismantling the hull for scrap was never going to be easy. It was known that there was a large amount of asbestos on board - variously estimated at between 50 and 250 tons. A failed attempt to dismantle Q790 in Turkey was followed by a decision to dismantle it in India. Q790 left Toulon, France at the end of 2005 to be broken up at Alang in India. Several weeks later it was refused entry to India. Q790 was then towed 10,000 miles back to France. It berthed in Brest in May 2006, awaiting a decision about its future. The BBC reported on February 8, 2009 that Q790 had arrived from Brest at its final resting place - Teesside, North England - where it is to be dismantled and recycled at Graythorp, Hartlepool. The vessel was said to contain 700 tonnes of asbestos-contaminated materials.

CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a beginning-of-lfe story. According to a February 9, 2009 BBC report, the LHC could be switched back on in September 2009. That would be about a year after it shut down on 19 September 2008, 9 days after it was turned on. The cause of the shutdown was an electrical fault in one of the connectors linking one of the 1200 superconducting magnets that accelerate sub-atomic particles around the LHC. Apparently this triggered the release of helium gas within one of the magnets. Valves that should have released the gas pressure couldn't cope with the sudden build-up of helium. That led to an uncontrolled release which knocked one of the magnets forward, pushing it onto the magnet in front, dislodging it. In total, 53 superconducting magnets were damaged. Details

CERN had previouly said they expected the $5.4bn machine to be repaired by November 2008, but then pushed the date back to June 2009, before the latest delay. The BBC also reported that Cern underestimated equipment and engineering costs when it set out its original budget. Expenditure on the machine and experimental areas has risen by more than half since 1996.

Some resources to help increase understanding of PLM:

• Product Lifecycle Management: Paradigm for 21st Century Product Realization (Book)
• Top 10 Business Reasons for Implementing PLM (White Paper)
• 10 Critical PLM Facts Every Executive Should Know (White Paper)
• Top Ten PLM Pitfalls to Avoid (White Paper)
• The Promise of Increasing Business Value with PLM and Smart Products (White Paper)
• PLM: Understanding, Justifying and Realizing (Web Series)
• PLM State of the Art 2006 (Report)
• Making Progress With PLM (Manual)
• Next Steps For Your PLM Initiative (Workshop)

Follow the link for books in the Product Lifecycle Management Library

• Configuration Management .
• Product Data Management .
• Product Lifecycle Management
  
• Autodesk
• CATIA
• Lean
• MicroStation
• Pro/ENGINEER
• Six Sigma
• UGS

The World of Product Lifecycle Management

Follow the links for :

• Vendors in the PLM World.
  
• PLM service providers.

General Interest

• Innovation Management
  
• Engineering Change Management
  
• Managing PDM in a changing environment
  
• Principles of Good Product Development

* Financial *
Cadence Design Systems, Inc. announced results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2008. Cadence reported fourth quarter 2008 revenue of $227 million and revenue for fiscal year 2008 of $1.04 billion. Details

Lectra announced Q4 and Full Year 2008 financial results. Details <!--{12355744759581}-->

Mentor Graphics Corp. announced preliminary fiscal fourth quarter 2009 results. For the quarter ended January 31, 2009, the company expects revenues of approximately $243 million. Details

Planisware announced it closed out 2008 with significant growth worldwide. Details

* People *
Geometric Limited announced the appointment of Mr. Ravishankar G. as the MD & CEO of the company. Details

Lattice Technology announced it has appointed Chris Vodanovich as its National Account Manager. Details

McLaren Software announced the appointment of Tony Heywood as a non executive board director. Details

* Implementations *
ASCON Group announced usage of KOMPAS-3D at PERMATECH Inc. Details

AVEVA announced a USD300,000 contract for more AVEVA PDMS with Shinsei Giken. Details

Catalog Data Solutions announced that Northwestern Tools, Inc. has selected its Online Catalog and CAD Download solution. Details

Datastay Corp announced that the Hydraulic Brake Group has chosen to use Datastay PLM to manage its new product introduction and product catalogue processes. Details

Gerber Technology announced that Finn-Flare has implemented Gerber's webPDM as part of their Product Lifecycle Management initiatives. Details
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<!--{12355744759583}-->Mentor Graphics announced Encore Bits LLC used Mentor Graphics Mechanical Analysis. Details

MSC.Software announced that Frontier Wind, LLC has selected several MSC.Software solutions. Details

Omnify Software announced that Solta Medical, Inc. has completed their Software Validation of the Omnify Empower PLM system. The validation supports the meeting of FDA Part 11 of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR Part 11) compliance requirements for electronic product data management for the Thermage solution. The Thermage product is a Class II medical device. Details

PTC announced that ARRI used CoCreate Modeling to design a 16 mm film camera. Details

PTC announced that Process S.P.A. has standardized on PTC CoCreate. Details

PTC announced that Schaeffler Group selected Windchill. Details

Siemens PLM Software announced that Spijkstaal Elektro BV has selected Solid Edge and Teamcenter Express software. Details

TransMagic Inc. announced that ZEMAX Development Corporation utilizes TransMagic as its 3D mechanical CAD data repair and translation solution. Details

VISTAGY, Inc. announced that General Motors has purchased VISTAGY Seat Design Environment. Details

3D Systems Corp. announced it installed an iPro SLA Precision Center at Kemo B.V. Details

* Developments *
Alibre, Inc. announced Alibre Translate. Details

Arena Solutions announced the Winter '09 release of Arena with new Arena-SolidWorks integration. Details

Autodesk, Inc. announced the release of AutoCAD 2010 software. Details

Autodesk announced Autodesk Inventor Fusion Technology. Details

BlueCielo ECM Solutions announced that it has released InnoCielo ImandrA version 3. Details

Browzwear International unveiled the V-Stitcher 4.4. Details

Bunkspeed announced the availability of the HyperShot for SolidWorks plugin. Details

Centric Software announced it has updated its Centric 8 solutions to integrate U.S. Customs & Border Protection's Importer Security Filing and Additional Carrier Requirements, commonly known as "10+2." Details

Delcam announced NC-Checker, a new program to undertake in-process verification of the performance of a wide range of commonly-used machine tools. Details

Fishbowl Solutions, Inc. announced their Bounding Box Application for Pro/ENGINEER. Details

IMSI/Design announced DoubleCAD XT. Details

Informative Graphics announced it introduced Redact-It Desktop. Details

Kineo CAM announced the release of its collision detector KCD 2.04.6 software library. Details
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LightWork Design announced the release of its first Service Pack for LightWorks 7.9. Details

LMS announced LMS Test.Lab Rev 9. Details

MachineWorks Ltd announced it released MachineWorks v6.6. Details

Okino Computer Graphics announced that its SolidWorks CAD conversion system has been updated for SolidWorks 2009. Details

Roland DGA Corp. announced new Pixform Pro II reverse engineering software for its LPX DS series of 3D laser scanners. Details

SensAble Technologies announced a new version of its FreeForm 3D modeling software. Details

Siemens PLM Software announced Version 4.1 of Teamcenter Express software, including BMIDE (Business Modeler Integrated Development Environment) Express. Details

Sopheon announced availability of an enhanced version of its Accolade product portfolio and innovation process management solution. Details

think3 announced MoldDesign. Details

Zuken announced a global preview of E3.WireWorks 2009. Details

Z Corp. unveiled two handheld laser scanners. Details

* Relationships *
Actify Inc. announced a partnership with Nintex. Details

Actify Inc. announced a partnership with Aras. Details

Dimensional Control Systems Inc. announced a software development partnership agreement with SIMULIA. Details

Fishbowl Solutions, Inc. announced it expands its membership in the Microsoft Partner Program by offering SharePoint support. Details

INUS Technology, Inc. announced a new OEM agreement with Roland DG Corporation. Details

Siemens PLM Software and Cimatron Limited announced that Cimatron has renewed its agreement to use three of Siemens PLM Software's D-Cubed component software products inside CimatronE. Details

Siemens PLM Software announced the launch of an Authorized Training Partner program in India. Details

SpaceClaim Corporation announced a Master Reseller agreement with Cybernet Systems Co., LTD. Details

Tacton Systems announced a relationship with Barry-Wehmiller International Resources. Details

Valor Computerized Systems Ltd. announced it signed a cooperative agreement with American Tec. Details

* Other *
Altair Engineering, Inc. announced that L&L Products Europe SAS has expanded their use of HyperWorks. Details

ANSYS, Inc. announced that it has been included on the Forbes Fast 15 list for the second consecutive year. Details

Aras announced search capabilities from GlobalSpec and Microsoft Live Search. Details

BigMachines announced the opening of an office location in London, UK. Details

CD-adapco announced the launch of their new Vehicle Simulation Resource Center. Details

Delcam announced it established a new division of its Professional Services Group in Singapore. Details

Eurostep Limited announced it received a contract from the UK Ministry of Defence to prepare a new edition of ISO 10303-239 PLCS, the Product Life Cycle Support part of STEP. Details

Eurostep announced that it was selected as a new member of the InPro project. Details
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<!--{12355744759587}-->Mentor Graphics Corp. announced that the company's Olympus-SoC place-and-route system has won the 2009 DesignVision Award. Details

Open Text announced that it has extended its new eDiscovery solution to its Open Text eDOCS customers. Details

Symmetry Solutions announced that Dassault Systemes SolidWorks Corp. awarded them entry into the 2009 SolidWorks Elite 190 Club. Details

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Foundation announced a joint in-kind software grant with Siemens PLM Software awarded to the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Details