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* Welcome * Welcome to 2PLM, an e-zine distributed about every two weeks. This issue includes :
by John Stark At this time of the year, many companies are reviewing their progress to date in 2008 and preparing plans for 2009. Companies looking to take major steps forward in PLM and related areas such as Product Innovation, Product Development and Product Data Management (PDM) can achieve many benefits from a PLM Status Review. Objective The objective of the PLM Status Review is to provide a quantified description of a company's PLM situation on an industry-standard, vendor-independent scale. Scope At its broadest, the scope of the PLM Status Review is the complete product lifecycle - 'from cradle to grave', 'from sunrise to sunset'. However, in many cases, a company will prefer to focus the review on particular parts of the lifecycle such as Product Innovation and Product Development. Approach The PLM Status Review is based on the PLM-CMM Model. This addresses 8 components of PLM - product, processes, data and documents, human resources, organizational issues, techniques, equipment and applications. The Model defines 8 levels of PLM for each of these components. The PLM Status Review evaluates, for each of these components, the level the company has achieved. It positions the company at one of these 8 levels, with an 'A' ranking being highest. Execution A PLM Status Review is usually carried out on-site. It can also be carried out by phone or by Web, but an on-site review tends to be more thorough and provide more accurate results. Duration The duration of a PLM Status Review depends greatly on the size of a company. For a small company it may be just a few days, for a large company, it may be many weeks. Application Vendor Range The PLM Status Review is application vendor-independent. It has been carried out in companies using applications from vendors such as Autodesk, Dassault Systemes, Oracle, PTC, SAP, Siemens PLM Software and Softech. Benefits of a PLM Status Review A PLM Status Review
PLM Status Reviewers are experienced PLM professionals with more than 20 years experience of defining and implementing PLM strategies and components in companies of various sizes from many industry sectors. For more information about a PLM Status Review, contact John Stark Associates. 
* New Research on Innovation Tools * by Brad Goldense and Ervin Kule In the August 25, 2008 issue of 2PLM we highlighted recent research on product development and innovation processes, tools and top corporate metrics by Goldense Group, Inc. In this issue we present the fifth in a series of six articles, which focuses on results in the area of "Innovation Tools." Next issue we will look at results on "Top Corporate Metrics." The survey investigated "generally available" Innovation Tools, and their penetration and degree of usage in corporations. This research subject contained a list of 67 Innovation Tools that GGI researchers categorized as being generally available out of a list of over 250 tools that we track. Replies to GGI's 2008 Product Development Metrics Survey were received from 209 companies across a range of industries including industrial and medical products, aerospace, defense, electronics, chemicals, and pure software companies. Innovation tools span a wide range of capabilities. An Innovation Tool could be a simple stand-alone enabler, such as Yoga or Meditation, to extremely complex multi-module integrated software suites and on-line web portals. People or groups of people use them, individually or in large groups, in-person or virtually, as tools in the workplace. Most of them help people to get out of the box to mitigate daily distractions that might reduce a creative outcome when an innovative solution is clearly required. Many of them also have applications to writing, and to personal life as well. In 1970 few existed. Yoga, Meditation, and Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats were among the few. As the demand for innovation has increased during the last 3-4 decades so has the number of offerings increased to meet the demands of the market place. GGI researchers have categorized these tools into 5 groups: outliners/sketchpads/text manipulators, self-help/group-help, sharing information, sharing and structuring information, and increasing domain knowledge. All five groups of tools have value. The value depends on the specific environment and needs of the corporation. Without regard to the categories described above, collectively these tools are still in the nascent stage as the market for them grows and matures. Of the 67 tools, excluding the innovative applications features of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Powerpoint, only five tools have exceeded a 15% penetration rate including the tools that are free of charge. The top 5 tools are: USPTO Website, Wikis, Triz, Blue Ocean Strategy, and MindManager. "Penetration" means that they are "internally available and/or owned by" companies. "Usage" is different. GGI researchers investigated two levels of usage, used occasionally versus fully embedded. The free tools get the most usage. But it is interesting that some tools that have only penetrated a small amount rise up when one looks at usage. The outliners/text manipulator/sketchpad tools, "Mindmanager" and "MINDMAP" and "Brainstorm" if owned are used. Self Help/Group Help tools also get used if owned, especially tools that do "storyboarding." Clearly the market is in its early stages. Only five tools have penetrated more than 15% of the market. Only five tools are used occasionally by more than 8% of the market. Only five tools are used frequently and are fully embedded by more than 2% of the market. In summary, proceed cautiously when selecting specific innovation tools. If the tool is free or has a low acquisition cost and a short inexpensive training period, it can't hurt to try it out. If the tool is expensive and/or has a long and possibly expensive training period, make sure you are committed to giving the tool a full exercise to discover its usefulness. In all early markets, many of the initial entrants will not be the long run survivors. For more information about GGI's 2008 Product Development Metrics Survey, the research description and the available reports go to GGI's website. To purchase reports with text and/or graphical analysis of the results, go to http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/cgi/catalog.cgi?display_p355. Bradford L. Goldense is President and CEO, Goldense Group, Inc. Ervin A. Kule is Manager of Market Research, Goldense Group, Inc. 
* Platform Approach or Complete Solution Approach? * by Scott Cleveland You are looking to solve a business problem. You have determined that there are software alternatives that will reduce or solve the problem. Often, you will discover a couple different approaches to solving that problem - Software Suites/Platforms vs. a Complete Solution. An enterprise Business Process Management (BPM) suite or platform will be sold in modules. The most common modules include: Process modeling, Process (business rule) engine, Process analysis tools, Process simulation and an Integration server (or toolkit, or ...). Each of these modules is sold separately and it may require some integration to get them all to work together. A complete solution is just that - you purchase one piece of software that has some or all of the elements of each of the modules (identified above) built in. The enterprise BPM suite or platform approach The decision to sell the software by modules is a marketing decision. They hope to gather more revenue from their customer by selling the software in pieces. These more expensive suites or platforms may have more features than the alternative - as a matter of fact; they may have features that you will never need to use. Often, getting all of these modules to work together will require some software services. If you haven't noticed, the companies selling modules will also have a large professional services organization. A complete solution Selling a complete solution is also a marketing decision - they target a specific market. They intend to service their specific market particularly well so that they can dominate their space. Their software will include all of the features necessary to create an application that will put them on top. So, you have to decide ... You could go with enterprise suite and spend big bucks now to solve a not so expensive problem. The upside - this may enable you to solve other business problems in the future. The downside - it does lock you into purchasing lots of software services. Or, you can go with a complete solution today that will solve your problems rather inexpensively. The upside - the solution is less expensive and the solution will be implemented sooner. The downside - you may have to buy more software in the future. Your Thoughts ... Since we made a marketing decision to be a complete solution, I am very interested in your thoughts .... Scott Cleveland is VP Sales & Marketing, Ingenuus Software. 
* PLM Strategi & Vision 08, Stockholm * 23 oktober på Tekniska Mässan i Älvsjö. Årets tema: Att möjliggöra globala produkter i Sverige. Att framgångsrikt hantera globala produkter genom produktlivscykeln, från innovation, produktutveckling, produktion till eftermarknad, utfasning och återvinning är en av dagens stora utmaningar för tillverkande företag. Detta är en utmaning som skandinaviska företag, stora som små, står inför. Med små hemmamarknader finns det inget alternativ till att konkurrera, och lyckas, på den globala marknaden. Talarna sätter fokus på detta viktiga tema och vi har ett startfält med några av de främsta industriföretagen i Sverige. Några av talarna:
* PLM North America 2008: Less than 6 weeks to secure your place! * Over 60 delegates have now confirmed their place at PLM North America 2008 and now is the time to be joining them! This three day gathering of cross-industry professionals taking place from 13th - 15th October 2008 at the World Golf Village, St Augustine, Florida, will be made up of keynote conference sessions and interactive workshops run by leading solution providers covering the length and breadth of the PLM spectrum. Benchmark your adoption of the PLM concept against the following cross-industry specialists as they reveal their experiences: Terry Kline, Global Product Development Process Information Officer, General Motors Corporation reveals how GM has implemented a successful worldwide PLM strategy, and offers guidance on how you can improve every aspect of the way you build your products to become best in class. Paul M. Bevilaqua, Chief Engineer, Advanced Development Projects, Lockheed Martin demonstrates why in order to lessen the risk of product failure, that all designs should be managed from the "conceptual phase" in the context of their F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Huw Evans, R&D Information Director, HPC, Unilever advocates PLM as the "path to growth" for your organization, outlining what it has brought to Unilever in terms of sharing information, implementing improved product procedures and workforce unity. Warren Siecke, IT Program Manager, Product and Planning, The Timberland Company, highlights why PLM should be connected with your wider business strategy to manage product design, the product portfolio and the supply chain. He also explains why you can leverage PLM to enhance business processes and mitigate risk. View the full program. Reserve your place for the special price of US$1,995 quoting the booking code STARK2 or call Laurence Allen on +44 207 202 7560. 
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