Product Data Management (PDM) www.johnstark.com

PDM project start-up (Part 1 of 2) During project start-up, the primary activity is to get the people involved to agree on the objectives of the EDM/PDM project, the way they will approach it, and the deliverables. The people most involved at this stage are top management, the project team leader, and the other project team members. Top management The successful introduction of an EDM/PDM system is a long-term, cross-functional and costly process. These attributes imply that it is not an easy process, and will be much more difficult than the introduction of an individual productivity improvement tool such as a CAD system. It will be hindered by various factors such as: a lack of basic knowledge about EDM/PDM a general lack of understanding of the potential benefits of EDM/PDM interdepartmental disputes difficulties in cost-justification resistance to change on-going projects related in some way to engineering data (their supporters, sponsors and participants will not like 'competition' from EDM/PDM) In view of the difficulty of the EDM/PDM project, and the many obstacles to its success, it is very important to get the project off to a good start. The first thing to do is to get top management support. If you don't get top management support, the EDM/PDM project will fail. Remember, EDM/PDM is cross-functional, it's costly, and it's long-term. Secondly, 'top management' in this context is not as vague as usual. It either means 'CEO' or 'Engineering VP and Manufacturing VP'. Again, remember EDM/PDM is cross-functional. It's not only for the Engineering Department, and the chances are that if you come up with a good solution for the Engineering Department, without involving the other departments, then none of them will be willing to use it or to help you. (Most of the other departments are data customers of the Engineering Department, and they should be treated as Engineering's customers. The Engineering Department should supply its customers according to their requirements, not as a function of its own limitations.) Other top managers, such as the IS VP and the TQ VP can be of help by supporting the project, but because they are not 'line-involved', there is a limit to the support they can offer. Top management defines the objective of the project, gives responsibility and authority to the EDM/PDM project team leader, and informs interested parties throughout the company about the project and its objectives. In particular, top management should inform managers of functions where engineering information is created or used. They should make it clear to these managers that the project team leader has authority to ask questions and to ask for details of documents, systems and activities related to engineering information. In turn, these middle managers can inform their subordinates what is happening, and ask them to provide the necessary information. Top management support is needed at the beginning of the project, and it will also be needed in the long-term. Some people would claim that top management does not know enough about EDM/PDM to be able to define the objectives of an EDM/PDM project. The answer to this is that if top management does not know enough about EDM/PDM to define the objectives, then the project should not be started until top management does know enough to define them. If top management can not define the objectives of the company, who can? The project team leader The project team leader is given the authority and responsibility for the project by top management. As the project will be long and time-consuming, it is unlikely that the project leader will be a top manager. More likely, the project leader will be a middle manager reporting directly to a top management EDM/PDM sponsor and champion. As this project is going to be cross-functional and involve working at many levels in the company, the team leader should be picked with care. Typical characteristics for a good EDM/PDM project team leader include: an ability to work with a wide range of people. The project team itself will include people from many functions and at many levels. People from many levels and functions of the company will need to be consulted and worked with during the project. good communication skills. The project leader will need to be able to communicate effectively with top management, the project team, and people in all functions that use engineering data. The team leader has to communicate goals and targets to the team, and take responsibility for coordinating people from many functions good sales skills. The project leader will have to sell the need for analysis and change to some cynical, inflexible and apathetic functional managers, and to tell the results of the analysis to top managers, functional managers, and users of engineering information good analytical and conceptual skills. The project leader will need to be able to think in a well-structured way to handle all the information that is collected, but also be open to change, and be able to think laterally about the way information will be used in the future, for example after process re-engineering In addition a good project leader should: be interested in the project and the company. The project leader should really want to find out how engineering data is used, and how it could be better used and managed in the future good knowledge of the product development and maintenance activities of the company. Practical experience of the way the company works will make the job much easier for the project leader be thick-skinned. The project leader will probably face hostility from some functional managers who don't want anyone interfering on their turf, from users who just want to be left alone, from top managers who are not prepared to make unpopular, yet necessary, changes, and from many people who are just averse to change be credible. The project leader needs to have a sufficiently wide range of experience, and an action-oriented and relatively unblemished reputation in the company be optimistic, positive and success-oriented. At times the project will seem tedious, never-ending and unlikely to succeed. At such times, the project leader must find the will to keep moving forward, motivate the team, and meet the project's objective be able to stay with the project. The project leader should stay with the project from beginning to end. Changing project leaders in mid-project is even more risky than changing horses in mid-stream. It is highly unlikely a new project leader, taking over during the project will ever be able to make up for lost ground. This is not so much a question of not having time to read all the documentation, but of not being aware of all those apparently unimportant, but actually crucial events that were not documented The team leader has the authority and the responsibility to carry out the project. If however, it appears that the project is not moving forward quickly enough, or is being opposed by particular interest groups, the project leader should be able to go back to top management for guidance.

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Page last modified on March 3, 2000
Copyright 2000 by John Stark