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* Welcome * Welcome to 2PLM, an e-zine distributed about every two weeks. This issue includes :
by Roger Tempest PDM has faded from the limelight. Overshadowed by PLM, its more glamorous and high-profile offspring, plain old Product Data Management has become something of a 'Cinderella' subject. To reach PDM on the major PLM vendors' web sites you will have to search through to the back pages, where you may find it presented as an entry point for smaller and medium-sized businesses. The smaller vendors that do focus on PDM are regarded as more specialised, almost to the point of selling a niche product. And at even at work, it sounds much better if you are a 'PLM Manager' than if you are a 'PDM Manager'. It's time that PDM received some more attention, because it is an immensely complex subject that has a huge impact on a company's costs and product development performance. Furthermore, unlike PLM, the issues and practicalities of PDM are very specific, and can be quantified and formalised if enough industry thought is applied. The problems with PDM are often unseen by anyone except the PDM support "backroom boys", and are always wrapped in unforgiving detail. In PLM you can blithely ask: "What is your product?" and add nonchalantly: "A product can be a service, you know." In PDM the whole complicated mix of products, parts, variants, alternatives, systems, project work and associated services must be defined precisely enough for you to place serial numbers on them. In PLM you can consider the product as it evolves through the phases of the lifecycle. In PDM, the product explodes into a detailed structure with many configuration options that must be embodied within the data management system. There are structures for 'As-Designed', 'As-Manufactured', 'As-Built (or Delivered)', 'As-Supported' and 'As-Maintained', and in most companies these are all different. In PLM you can set an implementation target of "Q2 next year". In PDM you have a go-live weekend of 17-18 April, and absolutely everything has to work on Monday 19th. (A corollary of this is that, in PLM, you can have an Easter holiday. In PDM, all holiday leave is cancelled for 2 months before the launch date.) The challenge, therefore, is to focus attention back onto PDM, and to do something about formalising the vast amount of technical expertise that PDM specialists have gained over the years. It will be to everyone's benefit if we can do this. This will not be easy, because of another difference between PLM and PDM. With PLM, you can go to a conference and have an interesting high-level exchange of ideas over a coffee or in a short discussion. With PDM, you can't even explain the problem in that short a time - so a longer timeframe and a deeper level of detail are needed. Over the next 6 months, the PLMIG aims to help formalise many of the essential principles of PDM, and produce guideline information that everyone can understand and agree. The first step will be to understand which PDM issues we should concentrate on, and you can add your views via the PLMIG web site. The results of this initial discussion will be covered in forthcoming issues of 2PLM. Roger Tempest is co-founder of the PLMIG. You can send your comments or input via pdm_formalisation@plmig.com 
* To BPM or not to BPM? * by Scott Cleveland Ever wondered whether your company should address their business processes? Many of you believe that managing business processes is a good idea, but it is too expensive. So, let's look at some reasons to address your business processes. My Thoughts.... -> Looking to contain costs? The 'ax man' approach is likely to leave gaping holes in your business processes. BPM provides the management disciplines and the tools to surgically target problem processes and put them on the path to recovery. Improve your business processes and cut costs at the same time. -> Looking to improve customer relationships? Everyday we interact with companies - we give them the opportunity to meet or exceed expectations. Our experience with a company determines whether we will buy from them again or whether this will be a one-time sale. Customer expectations management is a process that BPM is well suited to manage. -> Looking for more visibility into your company processes? Do your managers complain about the lack of visibility into their processes and projects? Do you have trouble identifying who or what is impeding your processes? Does it take hours to determine the status of a process? Have you hired a program manager to solve this problem? BPM software provides visibility. -> Looking for more control of your business processes? Are the cycle times of some of your high value processes too long? Are the people involved in the process spending too much time looking for information; looking for the descriptions of their next activity; determining the next person in the process; etc? BPM software brings control to your business processes. -> Looking for improved agility? Do you fear that your processes are not adapting to changing business requirements because 'this is the way they have always been done'? Using BPM, a company is better equipped to switch gears and respond to its changing business environment - faster than its competitors. -> Do you need to prove Compliance? Facing regulatory requirements like PCI DSS, 21 CFR Part 11, OMB A-123, etc.? Facing audits from ISO, the DoD, etc.? Implementing internal practices like Lean Six Sigma? BPM software provides discipline and an audit trail. Your Thoughts.... What would you change or add to the list? Scott Cleveland is VP Sales & Marketing, Ingenuus Software. 
* Yes, PLM Life really is too short * by Antti Saaksvuori David Potter described how "Life's too short!" in the July 6 2009 issue of 2PLM. Yes, life really is too short in the current PLM software solutions! I have been thinking the same thing for a long time. To my understanding, there are a couple of reasons for this limited or shortened view of product life. First of all, when looking from a historical perspective, PLM, in many ways, is still trying to grow out of the product data management (PDM) framework. In the PDM framework, the focus has been solely on product data. However, the second, and at least to me, the most significant reason, is that any product on a conceptual level has two sides:
How to broaden the PLM view then? There is no question that there wouldn't be demand for broader PLM system support in companies trying to manage their products. My suggestion, based on experience of the product lifecycle management bottlenecks in businesses in general, is that all businesses should first of all create a comprehensive PLM concept and deepen their understanding and definitions of what kind of processes and products they have, what kind of lifecycles the products have, etc. Surely, the solution is not even larger IT system suites than already exist today. Companies are stuck with their one size fits all business system suite implementations. To have a holistic view over of a large range of products and product lifecycles does not require any new IT systems. The basic requirement is to have a product lifecycle management concept with all relevant definitions in it. It is a foundation for successful product lifecycle management. The operative management work can be done utilising the functionality of current PLM systems better, and integrating the Product definition and product realisation sides better through information models, information content and product management methodology. Antti Saaksvuori is a management consultant operating in the field of PLM. He is currently a partner in Talent Partners Ltd. |
