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* Welcome * Welcome to 2PLM, an e-zine distributed about every two weeks. This issue includes :
by Roger Tempest What do you call an event at which PLM managers from different user companies meet for 2 days to share their views and experiences in implementing PLM? This is a serious question, because the PLMIG is arranging one and it needs a title. There are not many titles for a gathering of people, and 'Forum', 'Workshop', 'Symposium' and 'Conference' have all been used and have their own connotations. It has been clear for some time that there is no neutral platform for users to share ideas and experience with each other in any kind of detail. Somewhere between the 20-minute contact time of a PLM Summit and the year-long collaboration of the User Initiative there should be a working event of 2 or 3 days at which PLM practitioners can discuss their current issues and develop practical solutions to them. The PLMIG intends to run such a meeting in Europe followed by a similar event in the USA. They will have a 2-day format at which the PLMIG provides the structure and the documentation, and the participants do all the discussion. Day 1 will cover the current status of PLM and delegate presentations about PLM implementation issues. Day 2 will formalise a structured approach to resolving them, which will be written up and published to delegates after the event. The events will be for users only, to capture and build on their particular body of knowledge. Coming back to the title, therefore, the event might be called a 'Workshop', but a workshop normally has a fixed subject. (The PLMIG has held workshops on PLM Benchmarking and PLM Maturity, for example, both of which produced pre-determined deliverables.) 'Symposium' is too vague, and 'Conference' suggests one of the massive events that vendors host for their users or that were referred to in the 2PLM article of July 14, 2008. This PLMIG event is aimed at that time when you are in your own company, dealing with some of the issues that have been intractable for a long time, and would like to spend some time on them with the shared input of other PLM managers. The PLM User Forum is likely to be 10 - 15 people, in a single working room with a couple of flip charts and an LCD projector, working interactively for 2 days - and the PLMIG writing up the proceedings for reference. The dates and locations are being set in consultation with those who wish to attend. There is already sufficient backing for the European event, which is likely to be held at the end of October. The US event has good support but needs to avoid conflict with the North American PLM Summit. Roger Tempest is co-founder of the PLMIG. You can find out more information about the User Forum events at userforum@plmig.com. 
* New Research on Metrics Used By Corporate R&D Organizations * by Brad Goldense and Ervin Kule In the September 8, 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 final article in a series of six articles, which focuses on results in the area of "Top Corporate Metrics Used by Industry for R&D." The survey investigated "Corporate R&D Metrics" in corporations in order to explore management's measurement practices at the top level of R&D. Respondents were asked to report which metrics were "in use" in their company by choosing from a list of 88 commonly used R&D metrics. 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. "Corporate Metrics" measure R&D as a whole, across all activities combined. Project metrics, functional metrics and others are lower level activity measures. Some corporate metrics are "pure" overall measures like, "R&D Spending as a Percentage of Sales." The other type of Corporate Metrics are "rolled-up" measures. Rolled-up measures are mathematical aggregations of lower level metrics that occur in a number of places. A good example is the averaging of time-to-market across all projects, resulting in a composite measure like "Average Time To Market." The number of Corporate Metrics in general use in R&D continues to rise over the decade GGI has researched it. In GGI's 2008 metrics survey the number of metrics surveyed was 88 compared to 33 in our first survey of Corporate Metrics in 1998. Our 2004 survey investigated 75 metrics. This steady increase over the years is only indicative of increased experimentation with metrics in the R&D sector. It is not indicative of the top metrics in use. Those have remained almost unchanged for a decade. In the 2008 Survey, five metrics were used by more than 50 percent of respondents. "Total R&D Spending as a % of Sales" remains at the top of the list for the past decade with 79% of companies using it in 2008. The other Top 5 Corporate Metrics are "Total Patents Fixed/Pending/Awarded/Rejected," "Total R&D Headcount," "Current Percent of Sales Due To New Products," and "Number of New Products Released." Notable is that the metric that tracks new product sales is the "newest" R&D metric. It was first popularized by 3M in 1988 and has now risen to be used by 56% of companies, surpassing many of their metrics that have been around for decades. Based on GGI's consulting practice findings, it is not yet benchmarkable though. Every company calculates it differently, few with the best practice method. The number of companies trying to get a better handle on lower level activities appears to be increasing. Seven metrics that are aggregated averages of lower-level activities have now risen above 15 percent industry penetration. Finally, a good number of metrics that had received "zero" scores in prior research we performed are now registering single digit percentages of usage. Industry appears to be experimenting with measures in search of ones that have more direct correlation with true outcomes. In summary, the 2008 GGI Product Development Metrics Survey showed increased activity in Corporate Metrics usage and experimentation. The top metrics remained essentially unchanged, with a few more companies now measuring new product sales. Companies also appear to be increasing their tracking of lower level activities by making the investments to collect and mathematically analyze common metrics that most projects and functions track. 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. 
* 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 * PLM North America 2008 : Only a few more delegate places remain!. There are only 4 weeks for you to join us at PLM North America 2008; the continent's only independent event focusing on product lifecycle management. The need to harmonize your manufacturing, IT and supply chain processes has never been more business critical as the global economic climate dictates the need to streamline costs and bring the right products to the right markets faster. Join over 60 of your industry peers to find out why PLM is the answer to your organizational needs throughout the remainder of this year into 2009. View the full program. Over 60 delegates have now confirmed their place at PLM North America 2008 and now is the time to be joining the likes of BAE Systems, Bio Rad, Black & Decker, Cummins, General Motors, Kraft Foods, Rolls Royce and Tyco Electronics. Your delegate package will entitle you to:
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