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www.johnstark.com |
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We'll be able to satisfy customers The EDM/PDM system will allow us to get our product development process under control. From the moment we have the customer specifications all the way through to the moment we deliver the product to the customer, the EDM/PDM system will have all our engineering data under control. It will make sure the Voice of the Customer is heard all the way through the process. EDM/PDM will make sure the product doesn't break down as soon as it gets to the customer We've had all sorts of configuration problems and quality problems because our manual document management systems don't work properly. For example, people have worked with the wrong version of a replacement part and then sent it off to the customer. The customer has tried to use it, and of course it doesn't fit. The customer gets really annoyed and threatens to sue. With EDM/PDM we'll be able to control our data and our configurations, so we won't have this type of problem. EDM/PDM will allow us to reduce product prices With EDM/PDM, product development and maintenance won't take so long, so won't burn so many hours of engineering effort. EDM/PDM will allow us to cut out all the time usually wasted while people wait to get the information they need. With the EDM/PDM system in place we'll no longer have to pay a large group of people to manage information manually and to transport it from one person to another. All these reductions in our costs will be reflected in lower prices for our customers. EDM/PDM will allow us to get products to market faster Once we've cut all the waste out of the process, and the EDM/PDM system is getting the right information to people when they need it, the development cycle will be much shorter. We'll take less time to get products to market. From the moment a design is agreed much less time will pass before the product is in the customer's hands. For our consumer products this means the products will be much more fashionable, their specifications taking in all the latest trends. It means our industrial products will be more 'modern', including all the most recent technologies. EDM/PDM will allow us to increase market share and increase profits EDM/PDM will allow us to reduce costs and prices and get really up-to-date products to the market. Customers will love them. They'll buy our products rather than those of our competitors. Our market share will increase. We won't reduce prices quite as much as we reduce costs, so everyone will be happy - the customer will pay less, and we'll increase our profit margin. We'll increase our market share in what looks like a fairly stable market, so we'll be selling more products. With more profit per product and more products being sold, our profits will leap ahead. EDM/PDM will allow us to customize products profitably In the past, some customers have asked for customized products. Of course we answer 'Yes, we can customize, but it may cost you more, maybe 5 or 10%'. They are happy to pay a little more for something that is exactly what they want, so go ahead on that basis. The problem is that we can't control our costs. Even if the customer doesn't horse around changing the specs we overrun our cost limits. Engineers change things without thinking of all the related parts and interfaces that will change and the downstream activities that will result. We often finish up over-spending by 50%. There's no way the customer will pay that. With EDM/PDM, things will change. People will be able to foresee the consequences of their actions, and we'll make money on customization. EDM/PDM will allow Field Service to provide customers better service Our field personnel don't get on too well with Engineering. They claim the documentation from Engineering is useless - information is missing, and drawings and lists don't correspond to the products on customer sites. Due to the poor service from Engineering, Field Service built a library of all drawings, and developed a set of as-built, as-installed, and as-maintained lists. Because they don't have a maintenance budget for this the end result is chaotic. However, once we have the EDM/PDM system it will take over management of all data, drawings, and other documents, and will make available the information people need when they need it. We'll give our Field Service people a portable PC and a modem, and they'll get up-to-date information as and when they need it. EDM/PDM will help us deliver products on time Our engineering systems aren't integrated. Design work gets done on CAD workstations, but the project planning system runs on a PC - so doesn't know what progress has been made. Our internal mail service isn't computerized, so once a document has been mailed no one knows where it is, or when it will arrive. There are lots of unknowns in the system so people have to do a lot of guesswork. Quite often the project manager will have the feeling the project is behind time so will reorganize the remaining tasks. The resulting pandemonium has to be seen to be believed and the end result is always that we overrun our schedules. With EDM/PDM this won't happen. The system will know the status of each activity and the location of each document. If any slippage is noticed it will carry out the necessary corrective action to bring the project back on time. We'll be able to meet regulatory and standards requirements with EDM/PDM A lot of OSHA and ISO regulations and standards address document management. With a manual system there's the danger that documents get lost, mislaid, sent to the wrong place. There's the danger that someone makes a change without documenting it or documents it incorrectly. An EDM/PDM system can carry out document management tasks automatically and can do them much better than people. It will keep us up to standard. It won't need a vacation, and it won't get sick. EDM/PDM will give us a high-tech image Few companies have implemented EDM/PDM. We'll be one of the first companies in our industry to implement it so our bosses will be able to talk about it on the golf course and show it to our customers. The customers will be impressed. They always like to know they are working with a state-of-the-art company, so they'll buy more of our products and we'll make more money. |