Imagine three different companies: a manufacturer of bespoke factory systems, a specialized pump producer that configures standard options to meet customer needs, and an industrial equipment manufacturer that configures products using standard modules and expands the design based on customer specifications. Although their approaches to order processing and manufacturing differ, they all face a common challenge - efficiently managing their product lifecycle. This is where a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system becomes invaluable.
PLM can provide significant benefits to mid-sized Engineer-to-Order (ETO) and Configure-to-Order (CTO) companies by streamlining processes, enhancing information quality, promoting collaboration, and improving change management. It's not only large enterprises that gain from PLM systems; smaller companies can also achieve substantial efficiency improvements and a strong return on investment through targeted use.
In manufacturing companies, engineers often spend a great deal of time on tasks such as:
A PLM system can reduce this non-value-adding time, allowing engineers to focus more on innovation and core design work.
Companies often seek better solutions when they encounter significant operational challenges, which may vary based on their manufacturing approach. Here are some examples:
Additionally, companies face common issues such as data quality concerns, information accessibility, and managing tacit knowledge. When key personnel are unavailable, these challenges can lead to significant operational disruptions.
A PLM system delivers many benefits across the entire company, with each department experiencing unique improvements in their work.
A significant portion of engineers' time traditionally goes toward sharing information and managing changes. A PLM system serves as a single source of truth for product information, ensuring everyone has access to accurate information at the right time, benefiting both people and systems. This frees engineers to engage in more innovative, value-adding work:
A well-designed PLM system transforms design documentation into items and structures for the broader organization, minimizing manual work and errors.
Integrating a PLM system with a sales configuration tool (Configure-Price-Quote, CPQ) allows sales teams to quickly create accurate quotes for complex products. Without a robust CPQ system, configuration often relies on manual choices in Excel, slowing down the sales process and risking errors.
An integrated PLM and CPQ system can revolutionize sales by:
This allows better handling of custom requirements, instant pricing information, and accurate quotations, even for the most demanding customer needs.
PLM provides up-to-date product information for manufacturing, reducing errors and improving efficiency. The Engineering Change Management process in a PLM system ensures thorough impact analysis, stakeholder notifications, and properly planned change implementation. Key benefits include:
A robust PLM system automates the conversion of design data into usable items and structures for production, optimizing inventory and enhancing reuse.
A PLM system maintains product data throughout the entire lifecycle, making maintenance easier and ensuring the service team knows the exact components used in shipped products. Benefits include:
Understanding 'As Delivered' and 'As Maintained' data for each delivery provides companies with unique insights into service potential and opportunities to expand their service offerings.
ERP systems focus on execution and planning, while PLM excels at managing product information. By integrating the two, companies can ensure consistent, high-quality product data flows between systems, maximizing the value of their ERP investment.
Regardless of how your products vary from order to order or the specifics of your process, a PLM system can transform operations. By understanding your needs and tailoring PLM to your unique challenges, you can improve your manufacturing approach, streamline business processes, and deliver better products to your customers more efficiently.
Learn more about Sovelia Core PLM system and how it can enhance your business processes from quotation to fulfillment and beyond. With Sovelia Core, you can streamline your change management process, reduce engineering time, improve data quality and enhance collaboration.
This article explores Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), a strategic approach to managing a product’s lifecycle from inception to disposal. You will learn about PLM software, its uses, and its main goals. We will discuss why PLM is important, what it means in business, and why companies use it.
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