Exploiting the value of PLM calls for process maturity
By Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 7/1/2006 6:00:00 AM
The value of product life-cycle management (PLM) and digital manufacturing (DM) varies depending on who you talk to.
"While there is general agreement as to the value of PLM between vendors and manufacturers, they don't have the same sense for how well it can meet goals," says Joe Barkai, director of PLM strategies for Framingham, Mass.-based IDC Manufacturing Insights.
"The reduction of ECOs [engineering change orders] is one of the fundamental benefits they agree on, but manufacturers have lower expectations than what is promised by vendors," Barkai continues. Cost reduction, shorter time-to-market, and early awareness of design errors follow just behind reducing ECOs as top value propositions, "but here, manufacturers have somewhat higher expectations than the vendors," he says.
According to an IDC study, collaboration and knowledge management—considered pillars of PLM strategy—appear to be considerably underutilized, in contrast to what PLM and DM vendors believe. On the other hand, tool vendors believe 3D modeling and design for manufacturability are underutilized—a view not shared by manufacturing users, the report states.
Still, manufacturers aren't convinced there are significant functional distinctions between vendor tools.
"They believe they all pretty much do the same thing, just differently," says Barkai. Where users do see important distinctions is in services, and the "ability to provide quality value-add implementation and process-reengineering consulting," says the study.
The PLM/DM market continues to grow year-over-year, Barkai says, but it remains fragmented. "Many manufacturers have not reached the process maturity necessary to exploit the full value of PLM/DM. They're focused on isolated functionalities that have not formed a continuous product life-cycle process," he says.
Areas warranting greater attention include using the technology to improve design collaboration and reuse, and strengthen the link between engineering and manufacturing. Digital manufacturing—or manufacturing process management, which is a part of an overall PLM strategy—is key.
Yet one barrier to exploiting the technology, Barkai asserts, is in the way organizations are structured. "They're still [working in silos] organized around core competencies, not life cycles," he says. "They have a tough time transitioning information across silos."
The objective, says Barkai, should be to define design goals that can be managed through the life cycle to optimize decisions and impact downstream processes.
