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 John Stark It is now only a few weeks to the PLMIG's PLM User Forums in Reading, England (Thursday November 13, Friday November 14) and Cleveland, OH (Tuesday November 18, Wednesday November 19). These Forums have a special position in the world of PLM events. Their objective is to help PLM Managers build a common view of how to approach and implement PLM. These are unique PLM events in that the only participants are PLM Managers and users. There are no vendors present. There are no demonstrations of applications. The resulting focused environment allows PLM Managers to work together, in depth, on issues of common interest. The intention is to collaboratively generate results and conclusions that can be applied by the participants when they return to their companies after the event. Previous PLM User Forums have enabled participants to move forward on subjects as diverse as PLM Best Practices, PLM Self-Assessment and Benchmarking, Planning for PLM, PLM and Software Configuration Management, PLM Reference Models, and "Getting the PLM Message to the CEO". Although many PLM Managers face similar issues, it is unusual that they can work together with their peers from other companies to find best practices and solutions. Usually, although they have many problems and questions, PLM Managers have nobody in a similar position with whom they can sit down and exchange ideas and discuss different approaches. A PLM User Forum offers them the opportunity to get together with people with similar interests who they would probably never meet otherwise, to share experience, to learn how other managers are addressing PLM, and to look for ways and methods to move forward. Each Forum brings together a group of participants that will work together for 2 days. As the Agenda for the event is set by the participants, they can be sure to discuss the subjects that matter most to them. The managers present have typically made progress with PLM, and identified some of the benefits that they have achieved. However, they are also well aware of the problems that they face, and they are looking for ways to achieve further improvement. If you are a PLM Manager or user, have you considered the benefits of attending a PLM User Forum? 
* Dealing with PLM Complexity * by Roger Tempest You have seen the "PLM Benefits" spreadsheets. Simply plug in your estimated benefit or return from each of the attributes of the software application, and the spreadsheet will automatically produce an ROI for implementing the package across your whole organisation. The trouble is that your enterprise is a multi-national corporation that will not fit into any two-dimensional spreadsheet. It operates in trucks, buses, construction equipment, nautical and aerospace, and in one of those industries it operates as three different companies. The markets themselves are sub-divided into areas such as powertrain, parts and logistics. Combined sales are over $30bn, and there is a growing presence in Asia. Your enterprise is active in 5 continents, and employs over 5000 people. Within this scenario the product information for these many products needs to be generated, owned, shared and used by Design, Manufacturing, Project Management, Purchasing, Sales, Field Support - and also with Suppliers and Customers. The environment too is constantly changing, as technology develops and PLM and PDM advance with time. Your PLM team must establish an extremely complex process and technical architecture simply in order to make PLM work, and is then required to troubleshoot problems, quantify the implementation benefits, measure progress and show best practice. As every implementation has its strengths and weaknesses, a natural step would be to compare methods and material with teams from other companies, but this has become very difficult to do. A recent PLMIG survey of PLM-related user groups revealed that 39% had become defunct and fewer than 10% of the remainder had any activities planned. This suggests that only around 6% of potential user cooperation is actually taking place. This represents a major lost opportunity for PLM implementors, and the PLM Interest Group aims to redress it. The PLM User Forum meetings in November will provide a proven 2-day format for PLM managers and directors to work on the real PLM issues in all their complexity. Roger Tempest is co-founder of the PLMIG. You can find out more information about the User Forum events at userforum@plmig.com. 
* Managing Business Processes * by Scott Cleveland At coffee this week, Terry Schurter, Chris Williams and I were talking about business process management. We acknowledged that BPM software is designed to manage 'business' processes, but that most of the processes that are being managed by BPM software are not what you would call critical. Typical processes that are managed include things like new hires, termination, salary adjustments, purchase order requests, capital acquisitions, claims processing, customer service, etc. What is a critical process, you ask? Before today, I would have said that ingredients for a critical process include: A process that spans departments; A process that takes a good deal of time (too long); A process that is expensive to manage; and/or A process that is very expensive if a mistake is made. After this week's conversation, I would acknowledge that the customer process (experience) is likely the real key process because without customers, you have no business. Our Thoughts.... Today, as companies begin to manage their business processes, they will likely run through a process similar to this: Identify the process; Document the process; Repeat the process to make sure that it is 'real'; Measure it; Improve it; and Measure again to make sure they have improved it. As I mentioned last week, Terry pointed out a different way to look at processes: Moments of truth (places where your business processes touch the customer or the customer touches your business process), Break points (hand-offs) and Business rules (how your company does business). I think that companies looking to improve their processes tend to look only at their business rules. I think that they should also analyze the Break points. And, I think that they should not only analyze their Moments of truth, but realize that the customer process (experience) should be a key driver of improvements that will be made. With your customer process in mind, you can make better process decisions: If it improves the customer experience, it is a good choice - If it doesn't improve the customer experience, it is a bad choice. Your Thoughts.... Scott Cleveland is VP Sales & Marketing, Ingenuus Software. |
