Jim Brown

The Path to PLM: Defining the PLM Program
September 18, 2007

Past posts have discussed paving the way for PLM (finding an owner) and paying for PLM (justifying the investment). The last post introduced the concept of the "PLM Program" as a strategy that leading companies are using to implement PLM capabilities and take advantage of the top- and bottom-line benefits available.

Defining the "PLM Program"

In short, a program is more than a project. It is a series of coordinated, inter-related projects that accomplish a particular objective. The PLM Program is no different. As opposed to justifying a large, unwieldy project to implement PLM in a business, it addresses the transformation to PLM as a series of smaller steps. Maybe the best way to describe what the PLM Program is, is to describe what it is not.

A PLM Program is:

• A coordinated approach to transforming an enterprise to a new way of innovating, developing, and engineering products that enhances product profitability (with apologies, I realize it’s a bit academic)
• Comprised of a set of smaller projects, each that provides an improvement to the business that delivers a return on investment (ROI)
• A way to accomplish a strategic PLM vision through the execution of more manageable, tactical projects

A PLM Program is not:

• A large, PLM "implementation" project focused on installing new technology
• An excuse to execute a series of disjointed projects that don’t contribute to a larger vision for how the company will operate
• A "big bang" approach

Next time, we will discuss why the PLM Program approach works. In the meantime, feel free to download the Aberdeen Group report on PLM Programs.

I look forward to your comments.

Posted by Jim Brown on September 18, 2007 | Comments (0)