Page 1 - Welcome Page 2 - Update Page 3 - News Page 4 - Brief lines |
* Welcome * Welcome to 2PLM, an e-zine distributed about every two weeks. This issue includes :
by Roger Tempest Every PLM implementation has a PLM team to manage it - the task is far too great for one individual. The intellectual power applied to the task is equal to the collective mental capability of the team. This can be augmented by the addition of external input from vendors or consultancies (increasing the intellectual resource); facilitated by proven tools and methods (increasing its effectiveness); and enhanced by contact with peers from other companies (reducing its weaknesses). The body of experience within any given PLM implementation is a kind of summation, or aggregate, of the expertise of its contributors. But what if experience could be multiplied, rather than added? Some of the most difficult issues of PLM might finally be resolved. To achieve this, there must be some sort of mechanism that leverages many bodies of implementation experience and constructs something more advanced from them. It needs:-
The next level is achieved because, with many experienced users working together, new tools and methods will arise which standardise much of the experience that PLM managers currently retain in their minds as expertise. This will create a common vocabulary and best practice approach that will streamline the implementation process for those who use it. More multiplication, and more payback. The level after that is when the PLM industry as a whole changes. When a significant number of major user companies have implicitly standardised their views on best practice, and formalised such issues as PLM metrics and PLM maturity assessment, then vendors, consultancies, research organisations and other user companies can use this as a common reference point. This does not mean that everyone needs to agree with the new knowledge - just that players in the PLM marketplace can use it as a reference point. Currently, no such neutral PLM reference point exists, so debate is either impossible or becomes polarised around specific features or vested interests. A comprehensive body of commonly-supported PLM material would allow vendors, for example, to say: "we don't agree with this because..."; or "our solutions are better than this because..."; just as well as they might say (preferably): "we agree with this and support it wholeheartedly". And when the vendors and service providers finally have access to some safe common ground, it will allow them to do what they have been wanting to do for quite some time - to provide neutral and generic support that will help the PLM industry as a whole. This could range from support for targeted academic research to the launch of multi-company working groups to resolve complex issues that are currently re-invented within every implementation. This whole chain of events starts with two PLM User Forum meetings that will be held in consecutive weeks in Europe and the USA during November. Roger Tempest is co-founder of the PLMIG. You can find out more information about the User Forum events at userforum@plmig.com. 
* BPM, as much about Organizational Discipline as about Technology * by Scott Cleveland Last week, I had coffee with Terry Schurter, a thought leader in business process/performance management. He runs an international not-for-profit professional community dedicated to the improvement of process for personal, organizational and customer success. His organization provides training and certification for business process management. Our Thoughts... As you might imagine, we talked at length about managing business processes. Without giving away the 'plot', he identified a couple of business process hot spots. When reviewing your business processes (a collection of related, structured activities that produce a service or product) he sees several key areas to analyze.
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 User Forum Meetings * The PLMIG has set up two PLM User Forum meetings that will take place in consecutive weeks in November:- European Forum
USA Forum
The two meetings will build on each other, so that delegates at either will receive the results of both. This represents an unparalleled opportunity to generate combined knowledge about how best to move forward with PLM. Participants will be able to present their own views and issues as part of the discussions. If you have ever wanted to share experiences and best practice with other users on some of the more intractable issues of PLM, then these Forum meetings will help you do so. They begin with a PLMIG introduction to set the scene, after which they are 2 days of pure working time. You can download the Overview and Agenda from the PLMIG web site, and input your own issues or register via userforum@plmig.com. |
