July 5, 2004
2PLM

John Stark Associates


Volume 6
Number 24




Page 1
- Welcome
Page 2
- Update
Page 3
- News
Page 4
- Brief lines

* Welcome *
Welcome to this issue of 2PLM, an e-zine distributed every two weeks on a free subscription basis.

* Research into PLM *
The concept of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) - managing products across their lifecycles, from cradle to grave - is relatively new. Many people still have difficulty in understanding it - some thinking it only addresses the beginning of the lifecycle, others thinking it only addresses the end of the lifecycle. Yet in coming years, PLM is expected to become one of the most important business activities of a company. Little is known about how this will happen, what the immediate results will be, or what new discoveries it will lead to. As a result, PLM offers numerous areas and opportunities for research. Potential research questions include :
  • How will companies map their strategic PLM targets to applications and processes?
  • How will PLM, which is a business activity, change the application landscape?
  • How will it change business processes?
  • What new business models will PLM lead to?
  • How can a company get most benefit from PLM?
  • How will PLM evolve?
  • Which new applications and innovative technologies will emerge as a result?
  • How will RFID benefit PLM?
  • What impact will PLM have on Human Resource Management?
  • How will corporate structures change in response to PLM?
  • How will PLM be applied in finance industries?
  • How does PLM support sustainability?
  • How should SMEs address PLM in the extended enterprise environment?
  • What is the next step after AP 239?
  • How will ERP systems change in response to PLM?
PLM Research
PLM opens up many new areas of research. However, it is not easy to carry out PLM research. PLM is complex, holistic, cross-functional and often cross-border. Many PLM activities have lifetimes longer than that of a typical research project. In addition, PLM research calls for a collaborative approach, based on broad-ranging knowledge, experience and practice. It needs partnerships between industry and academia that may be difficult to achieve - there is often a lack of industry awareness of academic work in this area, and academics may not have the close industrial contacts needed to set up and follow through their research.

Funding for PLM research may be difficult to obtain. Funding bodies may not see PLM as a high priority. The funding process may be long - with 12 months or more passing between the Call for Proposals and the start of a resulting research project.

The PLMIG's PLM Research SIG
To overcome such difficulties, a stable, focused, long-term approach is needed. To help achieve this, a Research SIG has been created within the PLM Interest Group. It will include participants from around the world, including many from the ICP-35K initiative, first proposed back in 2002. At its peak, the ICP-35K Consortium had 87 participants, including universities, research institutes, vendors, developers, consultants and both large and small industrial companies.

Membership of the PLM Research SIG is not limited to ICP-35K participants, but is open to all organizations.

PLM Research SIG Objectives
The objectives of the Research SIG are:
  • to bring together people and organizations with an interest in PLM research
  • to help members jointly organize and co-ordinate the preparation of PLM research proposals
  • to facilitate contacts and knowledge flow between academia, research institutes and industry
  • to develop a forum for discussion and debate on PLM research ideas
  • to be the high-level organization promoting PLM research to funding bodies as required by its members
  • to be the global leader in PLM research
Initial PLM Research SIG Activities
The European Commission recently announced a Call for Proposals in areas including PLM. One of the first activities of the Research SIG members will be to respond to this Call with appropriate projects and Consortia. This activity will provide an immediate focus for the SIG, but its long-term focus, like that of the PLMIG itself, will be global and not just European.

The Research SIG will develop over time to address PLM research and funding in all PLMIG member countries (currently 13 countries on 4 continents).

Joining the PLM Research SIG
Joining the PLM Research SIG is simple. Just join the PLMIG, and then elect to be a member of the Research SIG. For more information, if you are in the Americas contact John Stark, if elsewhere contact Roger Tempest.





GGI 2004 Product Development Metrics Survey
Now is your last chance to participate in important research on product development and intellectual property management processes, conducted by Goldense Group, Inc. (GGI). Over 100 people have responded, so take advantage of this opportunity to be a part of a sound, statistically valid research effort on some key areas faced by industry. The deadline to complete the Product Development Metrics Survey, described in the April 12, 2004 issue of 2PLM, has now been extended to July 16. GGI has compressed the analysis schedule to hopefully allow you enough time to complete the survey. The final report date - October - has not changed.

Download a free PDF copy of the Product Development Metrics Survey questionnaire here. For more information, please contact Anne Schwartz at +1 781/444-5400 x204 or by mail.


Page 2

 Autovue - from Cimmetry Systems, Inc.

Download AutoVue from Cimmetry Systems



Reference Section

Follow the link for books in the Product Lifecycle Management Library

Configuration Management .. Product Data Management
CATIA .. MicroStation .. Pro/ENGINEER .. Six Sigma .. Unigraphics



The World of Product Lifecycle Management

Follow the links for :

Vendors in the PLM World. Latest additions/modifications : IMS Inc.

PLM service providers. Latest additions/modifications : Entys Technologies, Integware, Siemens Business Services, Digital Documents, LLC, and Design Presentation Associates, Inc.



General Interest

Innovation Management

Engineering Change Management

Managing PDM in a changing environment

Principles of Good Product Development



2PLM Media Sheet

Advertisers of PLM-related systems and solutions. Read the 2PLM Media Sheet. Find out how to reach more than 30,000 customers.



Page 3
News
* Corporate *
TIBCO Software Inc. announced results for its second fiscal quarter ended May 30, 2004. Total revenues for the second quarter were $81.2 million. During the quarter, Staffware became part of TIBCO. Details

* Financial *
ePlus inc. announced net earnings of $10.2 million for its fiscal year ended March 31, 2004. Revenues increased 10.3% to $331 million from $300 million the prior year. Details

Manugistics Group, Inc. reported results for its fiscal 2005 first quarter ended May 31, 2004. For the first quarter, total revenue was $51.6 million, down 21 percent from $65.6 million in the prior year quarter. Details

Verity Inc. reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended May 31, 2004. Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2004 were $38.3 million, an increase of 31 percent compared to $29.2 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2003 and an increase of 25 percent compared to $30.5 million reported in the third quarter of 2004. Details

* People *
Actify Inc. announced that Steve Ciesinski has been appointed to the Actify Board of Directors. Details

Affinnova, Inc. announced the appointment of Mark F. Schar to its Executive Board. Details

Avatech Solutions, Inc. announced Scott Harris as its new President and COO. Details

 
 Visit Federation Inc. for PDM and Data Synchronization services.

Visit Federation or ask for more information

Sun Microsystems, Inc. announced that Stephen Bennett has been elected to Sun's board of directors. Details

Verity Inc. announced the promotion to vice president of four individuals who have all been with the company for several years. The executives are Michael A. Kietzman, Gary G. Szukalski, Derek C. van Bronkhorst, and Eric M. Weenink. Details

* Implementation *
Access Commerce announced that ThyssenKrupp Elevator Manufacturing France has implemented Cameleon Advanced Selling Solutions for both direct sales and reseller channels. Details

Agile Software Corporation announced its expanded presence at Siemens Automation and Drives with the adoption of Agile Product Portfolio Management. Details

Agile Software Corporation announced that MAGNA STEYR has deployed the Agile solution across locations in the U.S., Austria and India. Details

Cyco Software announced that Chugach Electric Association has selected Cyco AutoManager Meridian for all its engineering data management needs. Details

Dassault Systemes announced that SsangYong Motor Company's new Rodius automobile was designed and manufactured using a virtual platform based on its Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Solutions. Details

Documentum announced that SIG Holding has extended its use of the Documentum Enterprise Content Management platform company wide and deployed Documentum Digital Asset Manager for marketing content management and Documentum eRoom for collaboration. Details

Global Trading Systems, Inc. announced implementation of three new modules of their PLM application for the home textiles industry, TradeIT, at American Pacific Enterprises, Inc. Details

Invention Machine Corp. announced Hexcel's purchase of Invention Machine's Goldfire Innovator software. Details

Moldflow Corporation announced its first delivery of a 210 zone Altanium hot runner process control system to Kortec. Details

Omnify Software announced that Pannaway Technologies is leveraging the Omnify PLM Suite. Details

Rand Worldwide announced a software and services deal with Jordan Grand Prix. Details

Realization Technologies announced that its software will be implemented by HP's digital camera engineering unit. Details

Silicon Graphics announced that an SGI Reality Center facility has been installed at the University of Wales Swansea, as part of the Digital Technium project. Details

SolidWorks Corp. announced that Malardalen University has standardized on SolidWorks 3D mechanical design and COSMOSWorks analysis software. Details

Solidworks Corp. announced that Acumen Technical Associates, Inc. is using SolidWorks' 3D PartStream.NET service. Details

Tecnomatix Technologies Ltd. announced that Bertone Group has signed a contract for the implementation of eMPower software. Details

* Developments *
Actify Inc. announced the availability of SpinFire 2004 Service Pack One with support for Macrovision's FLEXNet universal software licensing technologies (FLEXlm) which permits license borrowing. Details

ALGOR, Inc. announced that ALGOR V15, scheduled for release on July 6, features all-new Superdraw sketching and modeling tools for 2-D design and analysis directly within FEMPRO. Details

Autodesk announced a major upgrade to Design Web Format (DWF). Details

Bentley Systems announced it has unveiled ProjectWise V8 2004 Edition, the latest release of its collaboration server. Details

Datastay announced enhanced functionality of the Datastay DMS Bill-of-Materials (BOM) module to facilitate design efficiency and collaboration effectiveness. Details

Digital Immersion Software Corp. announced its plans to develop a new product for AutoCAD users - Presenter 3D for AutoCAD. The Company also announced the launch of its Presenter 3D for AutoCAD 2005 Beta Program. Details

Documentum announced the latest version of Documentum eRoom.net, a hosted, subscription-based collaborative workspace. Details

Dr. DWG solution Center announced the launch of its PDA based solution - Mobilite. Targeted at field level engineers, it offers features like viewing, redlining and zooming. Details

D-Cubed Ltd. announced the latest release of the PGM, version 2.0. Details

Engineous Software announced that it is currently shipping FIPER 1.5 to customers worldwide. Details

Formtek announced the release of Version 5.1 of Formtek Orion Desktop Documents. Details

GlobalSpec announced the launch of SpecSearch, a new parametric parts search engine for engineers, managers and procurement professionals. Details

GTX Corporation announced the new release of its GTXRaster CAD Series for the recently released AutoCAD 2005. Details

INCAT announced the completion of a major upgrade of its software that allows access to VPM, the product data management system of a major automotive OEM. Details

Lattice3D, OmniTrust and NRI announced a Web-Based Application to prevent unauthorized copying and publishing of design information. Details

LMS International announced the availability of Rev 4 of LMS Virtual.Lab. Details

Proficiency announced the availability of Version 3.5 of its Collaboration Gateway feature-based CAD interoperability solution. Details

Selectica, Inc. announced the expansion of its new line of "out-of-box" solutions with the release of Selectica Deal Optimization. Details

Spicer Corporation announced the release of DocuJet 3.0, a multi-purpose tool that generates raster image files from any Windows application. Details

UGS announced Version 16 of Solid Edge has been expanded to add capabilities to ease the design of complex process equipment. Details

UGS announced the company will deliver the newly-launched Version 16 of Solid Edge with expanded capabilities for Systems Design. Details

UGS announced the integration of systems engineering capabilities within Teamcenter. Details

* Relationships *
Aras Corporation announced the addition of Lumen Technology Group, the van der Roest (vdR) Group and Neoris as strategic alliance implementation partners. Details

Cyco Software announced it has inked a deal with Canon System Solutions Japan to become their primary software distributor in Japan. Details

Dassault Systemes announced that it has awarded CENIT AG Systemhaus its Certified Education Partner (CEP) designation for Germany. Details

Eurostep Commercial Solutions announced it has signed a partnership agreement with Coensys. The companies will jointly offer solutions based on Eurostep's Share-A-space in the PLM and engineering supply chain area. Details

Eurostep Group and Det Norske Veritas (DNV) announced a partnership. Eurostep and DNV's division for Information Quality Management are to work together to provide services and solutions in the areas of exchanging and sharing product life cycle data. Details

Formtek, Inc. announced that NS Solutions Corporation extended its seven-year relationship with Formtek in Japan. Details

Informative Graphics Corporation announced that the company's free ModelPress Reader now supports IronCAD's native 3D file format, and will be distributed by IronCAD as part of its new version 7 release. Details

Invention Machine Corp. announced its partnership with Pune-based Neilsoft. Details

LightWork Design announced that its LightWorks Sketch product has been licensed by Nemetschek and integrated into the latest release of RenderWorks. Details

 
 Seal Systems : The Digital Paper Factory.

Seal Systems : The Digital Paper Factory

ProSTEP iViP Association announced that smartCable Harness Solutions has joined the ProSTEP iViP Association. Details

Silicon Graphics announced that more than 20 software providers have recently joined the ranks of the Technical Computing Enabling Program (TCEP). Details

think3, Inc. announced an agreement with Design Intent Engineering, Inc., a technological leader in transportation design and engineering services. Details

TTF and multi-CAD collaborative Engineering Solutions announced an agreement enabling TTF to appoint DIAPSYS as Project Reviewer's line of business representative for the North American market. Details

3D Systems Corporation and DSM Desotech Inc. announced that the companies have entered into a worldwide non-exclusive distribution agreement for stereolithography (SL) resin. Details

* Other *
Agile Software Corporation announced it has donated Agile PLM software and services to the University of Texas at Dallas School of Management for use in its Center for Intelligent Supply Chain Networks and Center for Information Technology Management. Details

Ashlar-Vellum congratulated Burt Rutan and his team at Scaled Composites for the successful launch and completion of the world's first private space mission. Ashlar is proud to confirm the use of Ashlar-Vellum Cobalt software for the design of this revolutionary spacecraft. Details

Exostar announced that the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense recently announced that EXOSTAR has been selected for the integration of its High Technology, Aerospace and Defense industries. Details

InnovMetric Software announced results of its 2004 International PolyWorks User Meeting. Details

Intergraph Corporation announced an educational program grant for software, installation and training valued at more than US$ 375,000 to Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria, Chile. Details

KollabNet announced that Cadalyst named KollabNet for the "Editors' WOW!" award. Details

Product Sight announced it recently received honors from editors at Cadalyst magazine by receiving its biannual, "Wow!" award. Details

ProSTEP announced results of its ProSTEP iViP Symposium 2004. Details

Seal Systems announced results of its Customer Day 2004. Details

SolidWorks Corp. announced that the Infinity Climber, a wide, twisting playground climber designed in SolidWorks software has won the Gold Prize for the 2004 Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA) competition. Details

UGS announced support for the new Intel Xeon processor-based platform designed for workstations. Details

The CAD Guidebook is now available. Details

The Illustrated AutoCAD 2005 Quick Reference is now available. Details

PLM and Six Sigma
As its name implies, Product Lifecycle Management allows companies to manage their products across their lifecycles - from the earliest idea for a product all the way through to the end of its life - so it's not surprising that there's a link between Six Sigma and PLM. Yet, on June 29, 2004 Google only showed 6 results for "PLM and Six Sigma". Details

Page 4
Brief lines


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