October 26 2009 |
2PLM
John Stark Associates |
Volume 12 Number 16 |
Page 1 - Welcome Page 2 - News Page 3 - Brief lines |
* Welcome * Welcome to 2PLM, an e-zine distributed about every two weeks. This issue includes :
by Roger Tempest While the ideas for a PDM meeting are still simmering, let's continue the theme of "working on PDM". Moving PDM forward requires project management, on a large scale and with hundreds of inter-relationships. It is not just a matter of scaling 'project management' up to become 'programme management' - there are complexities to PDM that almost need a brand new discipline. Conventional project management is based around setting logical milestones, achieving them, and then being ready to move towards the next. There should be "stages" and "gates" and review panels and project boards and checklists. The aim is to make everything as clear and well-defined as possible. For PDM, this is a remarkably inefficient way of working. There are so many technical issues that depend on each other, in many different areas, that to wait for each area to complete before all its dependents can start builds up a massive time delay. With this conventional approach, two things are possible. You either take shortcuts to produce "finished" documentation early (which means glossing over some significant issues "until later" - which usually means "until never"). Or you accept the inevitable over-run. What PDM really needs is a kind of "project soup", which cooks all of its ingredients together in draft form for as long as possible, maturing them in synergy, until it is ready to be served and the true finished documentation can be produced. The problem with an integrated, synergistic, practical approach to such as this is that it is counter-intuitive. Its working material stays in rough format (diagrams, notes, flip chart pages and draft documents) for a very long time. This makes it difficult for those who are monitoring the project, such as a steering committee, to understand what progress is being made. It also makes it difficult for people within the project team to understand what they should do next. A large PDM project will include many people who are involved part-time, or in a particular technical or geographic area. If they sit and wait until they are given a clearly-defined specification of what they should do next, their part of the project will stall. They need to be given guidance and motivation to start those parts of their sub-project that can be done with the information they know. They need to get used to working with "ugly" documentation until the later stages of the project; and the project team in turn needs a draft documentation framework that makes the ugly documentation as informative and integrated as possible. The need for this kind of project management methodology is very real if PDM projects are to run efficiently, and everyone within and above the project is to understand what is happening. A PDM Project Management approach needs to be formalised that minimises the inherent problems, and captures best practices that have been learned in the field. The PLMIG will cover this in more detail in the next issue of the PLM Journal which is due for publication in the next fortnight. Roger Tempest is co-founder of the PLMIG. You can send your comments or input via pdm_management@plmig.com * More on Efficiency * by Scott Cleveland On a lighter note .... In a meeting today, someone shared some business advice. They said there were 4 steps to success. I will share them with you:
We all laughed at this, but .... Let's apply this to your business processes. When I look to improve a business process, I go through these 5 steps.
To improve the process you will stop doing the Stuff that doesn't work. You will eliminate non-value added tasks and you could outright eliminate some activities. To improve the process you will do more of the Stuff that does work like automating some activities and redesigning some activities. All resulting in decreased costs and improve productivity. You could build a sustainable competitive advantage by increasing productivity and finding ways to deliver new value to your customers .. Your Thoughts.... Is your company still doing Stuff that doesn't work? Scott Cleveland is VP Sales & Marketing, Ingenuus Software. |
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Page 2 News |
* Corporate * Mentor Graphics Corp. and Valor Computerized Systems, Ltd. announced an agreement for Mentor Graphics to acquire Valor. Details Metris announced it has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nikon Corporation. Details Symphony Technology Group announced it has completed its acquisition of MSC.Software Corporation. Details * Financial * Altair Engineering, Inc. announced that ATR INGENIERIE has selected HyperWorks. Details AVEVA Group plc announced a trading update. Details * People * Avatech Solutions, Inc. announced that Lawrence Rychlak has been promoted to President of Avatech Solutions. Details MSC.Software announced the appointment of Dominic Gallello as CEO. Details * Implementations * Altair Engineering, Inc. announced that ATR INGENIERIE has selected HyperWorks. Details ANSYS, Inc. announced VSE Volumentechnik GmbH uses tools from ANSYS. Details Cadence Design Systems, Inc. announced that SHHIC has adopted a range of Cadence solutions. Details Catalog Data Solutions announced that E.Drive Inc. selected its online CAD download solution. Details Dassault Systemes announced that Anadolu Cam Sanayii A.S. uses CATIA software. Details Dassault Systemes announced that CHIDI has implemented Dassault Systemes' PLM solutions. Details Mentor Graphics Corp. announced Fujitsu Kyushu Network Technologies Limited chose the Catapult C Synthesis tool. Details Verisurf Software, Inc. announced an agreement with Space Exploration Technologies. Details WFX announced that Edge Accessories UK has signed on to use WFX Web PLM. Details Zuken announced Norbit signed an agreement to transition their PCB layout and system level design environment to CR-5000. Details Z Corp. announced that M7 purchased a Z Corporation ZScanner 700 PX. Details * Developments * Adlib Software announced its new product, PDF for SharePoint. Details CNC Software, Inc. announced the release of Mastercam X4 Wire. Details Delcam announced the first version of its PowerSHAPE CAD system to incorporate the Parasolid kernel. Details Elmo Solutions announced a Windows 7-compatible version of its Agni Link CAD-ERP data integration solution. Details Fishbowl Solutions, Inc. announced HPGL Compare as an add-on to linkTuner. Details Flowmaster announced Flowmaster V7.7. Details Flow Science announced the release of FLOW-3D Version 9.4. Details Informative Graphics Corp. announced launch of both Brava! Enterprise and Redact-It Enterprise for Microsoft SharePoint 2007. Details Kubotek announced new features for KeyCreator Version 9. Details Lectra announced the launch of Lectra Fashion PLM V2R1. Details PTC announced the launch of CoCreate 16.5. Details Rasterex Software announced the release of RxAutoImage R10. Details Shapespace announced the development of PartBrowser Enterprise. Details Zuken announced CR-5000 Lightning 12.0. Details Z Corp. unveiled the ZPrinter 350. Details * Relationships * Flowmaster announced a distribution agreement for Flowmaster V7 software for the Russian and CIS market. Details Informative Graphics Corp. announced a partnership with Clearwell Systems. Details Mentor Graphics Corp. announced a partnership with Aeroconseil. Details NEi Software and Firehole Technologies announced a software integration and distribution partnership. Details NEi Software announced a partnership with DRS. Details SAP AG and Open Text announced expansion of their strategic relationship. Details Sescoi announced it appointed two new resellers in India for WorkNC. Details ShapeSpace and AESSiS announced a collaboration agreement to enhance 3D shape and attribute search capability. Details Siemens PLM Software and TCS launched software for SH&F manufacturers and retailers based on Teamcenter software. Details SIMPOE SAS announced that SIMPOE has signed a partner agreement with Siemens PLM Software. Details SolidProfessor announced four years of partnership with Geometric Technologies, Inc. Details Spatial Corp. announced that PowerDELTA uses Spatial's 3D InterOp. Details Think3 announced an alliance with EniT. Details * Other * ANSYS, Inc. announced it has been named to the 2009 Technology Fast 500. Details Autodesk, Inc. announced support for Windows 7. Details Barry-Wehmiller International Resources announced an agreement with think3, S.r.l. for the transition of its India-based engineering services division serving the European market. Details CD-adapco announced it is providing software and services as part of Dassault Systemes' "Passion for Innovation". Details Dassault Systemes announced it will continue its support for CATIA Version 4 Release 2.5 until December 31st, 2011 for all customers current with their standard support charges. Details DSM Somos announced that two of their materials meet ISO 10933 standards for use in medical device applications. Details Nemetschek North America announced its first Service Pack for the Vectorworks 2010 product line. Details PARTsolutions, LLC and Hamilton Caster announced an expansion to their 3 year partnership. Details SensAble Technologies, Inc. announced that Cork University Hospital is leading clinical trials using a haptically-enabled computer simulation system for testing physician competency in administering spinal anesthesia. Details Siemens PLM Software announced the document describing the JT data format has been accepted by the ISO body responsible for Industrial Data through a global ballot process. Details |
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Page 3 Brief lines |
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