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* Welcome * Welcome to this issue of 2PLM, an e-zine distributed every two weeks on a free subscription basis. Dick Bourke, a frequent past contributor, wrote our feature article, "Configurability Strategy: A Competitive Advantage", in which he presents a review of the elements of product development for configurability. We acknowledge permission of Access Commerce to use the original publication as a source. We've included some feedback from Don Frank about the two articles (PLM Definition, PLM and ERP) in the previous issue of 2PLM. In this issue of 2PLM we also provide an update on "Progress in PLM", and more details about the "PLM Benefits Reference Model" project, aimed at making life easier for everyone in the world of PLM. * PLM Benefits Reference Model * In a recent survey, the need for an industry-standard, industry-agreed PLM Benefits Reference Model was seen as the highest priority by both PLM vendors and users. As a result, the PLM Interest Group (PLMIG) is launching a project to develop such a model. The Model will answer the question "what would be the benefits of PLM for a particular organization in a particular industry in a particular situation?". And the answer would be "according to the generally-agreed, industry-standard PLM Benefits Reference Model, the benefits would be A, B, C, D ....". And it wouldn't take 6 months to work it out, or get into company politics - just come up with useful results the CFO can understand so that PLM can be deployed rapidly and used to achieve business benefits. Initial response has been that this is a 'win-win' project that will benefit everyone in PLM. Companies of all sizes - Fortune 10, mid-sized, small - have expressed interest. A PLM user said, "We need this to show our managers why we need PLM, and what the benefits will be. They'll appreciate figures validated by industry organizations and standards bodies". Another user wrote, "Our management is requiring application of standard data models and process models. This benefits model will be a perfect complement". Several vendors said it would reduce the sales cycle. Consultants said it would grow the market for them. A PLM Professor wrote that it could lead to some interesting research. The main project is expected to be launched in early 2006, with a first phase starting in October this year. For more information about the 'PLM Benefits Reference Model' project and possible participation, contact John Stark or Roger Tempest of the PLMIG. * Configurability Strategy: A Competitive Advantage * by Dick Bourke For companies selling complex products with many options and variations, developing unique product configurations - without a software configurator - is tedious and error prone. Identifying a valid configuration often requires multiple time-consuming iterations. The results are a major drain on the time and use of product knowledgeable personnel - particularly engineers - and a lengthy customer response time. The solution is a configurability strategy - with a goal of optimizing configurability - to provide more options with less resources, or with more efficient use of resources. A configurability strategy addresses two phases: Developing and Delivering. * 1. Developing Configurable Products * A configurability strategy takes advantage of the power of a software configurator in concert with several related elements of product development - a set of activities, tools and methods spanning concept generation, performance planning, design and testing, and the commercialization of new products. All these elements share a common goal. Platform Planning - designing components that are widely shared by product families, and from which numerous derivative products can be designed and produced. The automobile manufacturer's efforts to derive more car models from fewer major components, such as a chassis, are a prime example of this cost reduction thinking. Product Modularization - developing smaller sub-systems to be able to function properly when assembled and tested as an end item. The goals of product modularization are to avoid the unnecessary cost of designing new components for each order, to encourage parts reuse, and to gain higher product quality. Parts Standardization - an initiative to eliminate duplicated parts and dissimilarities between similar parts to avoid duplicated parts costs and excessive inventory. Duplicated parts are common in many manufacturing companies, resulting from a lack of a Preferred Parts and Sources List. Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA) - evaluating product complexity early in the design process by use of analytical software tools. The result is to ensure ease of manufacturing and assembly by eliminating unnecessary parts, thus also reducing direct product costs, and shrinking lead-times. Product Line Rationalization - simplifying the product portfolio by rethinking the marketing and economic factors, including future potential and profit margins, and reassessing true marketplace needs. Product Configurator Software - a configurator's vital role is delineated by its definition - a software tool to create, maintain and use electronic product models that completely define the range of variations and options of a product, without the need to predefine all possible combinations with unique part numbers and bills of material (BOMs), and with a minimum of data entry. A robust configurator is one that automatically and seamlessly facilitates all configuration needs - sales, engineering and manufacturing - across the entire spectrum of "To-Order" products. For creating product models, a configurator provides a full range of functionalities, some simple, some sophisticated. PLM applications that capture, support and use product data over the complete life of the product. PLM capabilities are highly desirable - some say mandatory - to provide the ability to enable configuration management, share product visualization and ensure timely distribution of product information. * 2. Delivering Configured Products * A Lean manufacturing environment is mandatory, providing flexibility to respond quickly to changes in product configurations and volumes, manufacturing processes and short lead times. Using the logic of the configurator, customers can configure unique products - quickly and accurately during the Lead-to-Order (LTO) process. A key output of the LTO process is the unique manufacturing BOMs and routings needed to produce and deliver the customer's special order, with a valid configuration. Benefits of a Configurability Strategy The term "Designing for Lean" speaks volumes about the relevance of product development results for enabling Lean manufacturing: increasing product quality; lowering product cost; reducing number of suppliers; reducing inventories; cutting manufacturing and assembly cycle time. In a Lean manufacturing environment, the benefits of using a configurator include: generating a valid product configuration, quickly and accurately, without the iterative validating of the configuration by engineers; cutting quotation response time and costs to a minimum; eliminating rework and scrap caused by mis-configured products; enabling postponement (PDF) - delaying the point of product differentiation to the latest possible time in the supply network; freeing engineering personnel from non-value added activities, redirecting them to reap strategic benefits, such as accelerating product innovation - critical for growth. The Author Richard W. Bourke has extensive experience in systems planning and implementation. For his other publications, visit www.bourkeconsulting.com. 
* Take PLM out of the engineers' closets * We received a lot of feedback about the two articles (Definition of PLM, PLM and ERP) in the previous issue of 2PLM. Here's some from Don Frank, President of D. N. Frank Associates, "One of the great values of the 2PLM ezine is that it allows differing views and life experiences to be heard and evaluated. I understand that John's audience is primarily in manufacturing industry, thus his focus for 2PLM is correct. It is up to the rest of us to migrate the PLM concept to the insurance, banking, healthcare, government and other areas of opportunity. I'm doing a dinner meeting presentation for an APICS chapter this evening entitled "Six Sigma For Dummies". The theme is that most of the value of reducing product and process variability comes from places other than the shop floor. I do an exercise on the variation in the data elements in bills of material and demonstrate that the levels of data accuracy are much lower than people think and this has a serious impact on customer satisfaction. I then suggest ways to nibble away at the variables. One of the factoids I uncovered in my research for this is that with 99.9% process accuracy, 12 babies will be given to the wrong parents every day! That isn't Six Sigma! There's a vision that only Fortune 10 companies with armies of Black Belts and deep pockets can address Six Sigma. This is an image created by those making megabucks with training and certification programs, but unable to demonstrate the payback for midsized and small organizations. There needs to be a change in the vision. Engineers, yes, but accountants, sales and marketing people, doctors and lawyers all can benefit from the Six Sigma process of reducing the variation without going into Chapter 11. I dwell on this because I don't want to see PLM suffer from similar misconceptions. Managing the configuration of the product throughout its life cannot be accomplished by tool kits or engineers alone, but must result from a change in mindset to view PLM as an enterprise wide process with interoperability among the tool kits. It's time to take PLM out of the engineers' closets and reveal that the real PLM payback comes from unification to reduce the huge NVA that companies create by not integrating the configuration management process. * Making Progress With PLM * We started the "Making Progress With PLM In 2005" activity earlier this year in response to questions from 2PLM readers. After we produced a first version of a "Making Progress in PLM" Manual, other companies became interested, and more questions and requirements arose. We addressed these in new versions, and the Manual is now at Version 1.5 - which is in 3 parts. One part is a 80-page PDF document which includes 60 Questions and Answers about PLM ; a PLM Vision ; a PLM Capability and Maturity Model ; and suggestions for launching a PLM Initiative. Another part is a set of over 150 PowerPoint slides about PLM, PLM Projects and PLM Strategy for management presentations. Feedback from users has been very positive, one saying "it's like an extra member of our project team". We continue to receive new questions and requests, and are preparing new versions, so the Manual will stay topical and up-to-date. Recent requests include simple Excel programs to help position PLM maturity and calculate ROI for PLM. Version 1.6 has been renamed as the PLM Project Support Package. Details |
