From Theory to Practice: Implementing PLM in Your Business
What is PLM or Product Life cycle Management?
PLM is an abbreviation for Product Lifecycle Management. Alternatively, you might manage your products’ life cycles.
Product lifecycle management (PLM) is a process of analyzing a product’s whole journey from concept to disposal, including the finished product, distribution, and its use. To put it another way, PLM is the process of managing a product throughout its lifecycle.
Product lifecycle management has a long history in the manufacturing industry, but today the phrase refers to a software solution with a broader use beyond the production process.
Why do businesses need PLM?
The Product Life Cycle Management (PLM) Market is expected to reach USD 54.42 billion by 2030, owing to increased global competition and product complexity.
Companies or businesses that manufacturers of goods experience issues outside of their scope of design and manufacturing. When adopting PLM, it reduces those issues and helps them align and integrate key resources by quickly making product information available across the organisation.
Initially PLM was designed to help engineers collaborate with latest product development and control information across the lifestyle of a product. However, because their technology stack was on-premise, PLM solutions focused solely on internal personnel. Product lifecycle management has evolved into a framework that encompasses a broader range of functions inside an organization, including customer support, marketing, sales, suppliers, and partner channels.
The Product Lifecycle and the PLM Process
A product’s lifespan usually starts with a concept. Perhaps it happens in an office, on your way home, or in a garage.
When we think of things, we presume that once an idea gains traction, it develops into a design that is then built for the world to see. But we can’t forget about the processes in between: purchase, service, and repair, followed by disposal or retirement.
Broadly there are 4 stages of PLM:
How To Implement PLM for your business?
Adopting a PLM system demands significant time, effort, and financial resources, which is not surprising. Consequently, these initiatives require advanced project management and leadership. Even though it undoubtedly presents challenges and can disrupt the company’s daily operations in both the short and long term, some businesses overly concern themselves with PLM deployment.
By following this simple 5-step plan, you can ensure the implementation process is as effective as possible.
1. Set goals for your PLM
Each PLM implementation should begin with outlining the project’s advantages, as these assist set the course. It is critical to involve stakeholders at this phase since they can play a significant part in the project’s launch by assisting with the identification of goals.The phase is complete when the basic system requirements are specified.
2. Form the Team.
It is critical to take project management seriously while adopting a PLM because it is a comprehensive system that affects the entire company’s day-to-day operations. Furthermore, if an automated system is not properly developed, it may produce more problems than it was designed to address.
This phase should include appointing a senior project manager with extensive leadership experience and establishing the team. It is not recommended to have a homogeneous team because members from various areas and roles might bring unique perspectives to the team. It is critical to assemble an experienced and decision-making team within their respective professions. The team should design the project plan, including the budget, under the leadership and control of the project manager.
3. Map production data and business processes.
As previously stated, a PLM system automates specific business activities and stores product data in a single environment. This means that PLM deployment is only feasible if the present status of available data and processes is known.
Ensure that your data is accurate, up to date, and thorough, and that your procedures are well-mapped. To create need-to-have and nice-to-have criteria for your future PLM system, you must first understand your current processes.
To improve information exchange, you should strike the ideal balance between the frequency of meetings and announcements:
- Having too few meetings can make it difficult for stakeholders to track progress. This can reduce their confidence and raise overall uncertainty.
- Making it too frequently indicates that there is less progress between meetings, which might cause employees to lose interest in the change and instead express concerns. Making more time for meetings means spending less on output.
4. Choose the ideal PLM solution.
This is often the most difficult part of the project because choosing a solution might have long-term consequences for the firm. However, by identifying the best option, this investment can be easily repaid. When looking for a PLM, keep in mind the resources available and the requirements stated for the ideal system.
Odoo’s PLM is the most ideal solution of all the available options. Odoo Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is a collaborative version control system that helps improve bills of materials before, during, and after production.
Odoo is an ideal solution as it is cost effective and easy to maintain, provides support and guidance in the best way and integrates easily.
5. Groom the system and close the project
Once the PLM system is selected, your vendor will have to groom the system as per your business requirements. Jupical can be your vendor to implement the PLM from the start. The system has to be optimized as per the customized requirements of the user.
As everything is set, multiple tests must be performed to validate the system’s correctness and optimisation. This involves step-by-step data migration testing to reduce the risk of data loss or corruption during the final master data migration. In most circumstances, this is the final process of requesting and implementing minor system changes. This is a critical stage that requires complete commitment from both stakeholders and the provider. When all of the test findings have been validated, the master data is safely transferred to the final system, all super users are trained, and after-sales services are clarified. The PLM is now ready for deployment.
Benefits of PLM Implementation
So, what are the advantages of implementing a PLM strategy? The following are the important benefits you should be aware of:
Increased productivity
Implementing a PLM system reduces time-consuming procedures like moving data between systems, double-checking it for errors, and searching for missing data. Another benefit of PLM is that anyone working on product development or operations is less likely to encounter processing errors and the subsequent rework caused by out-of-date information.
Cost Reduction
Product managers can use PLM to track each stage of a product’s lifetime and uncover cost-cutting opportunities. Processes are then streamlined or even deleted, redundancy is removed, and cost-cutting measures without sacrificing quality are applied, resulting in lower expenses and more profits.
Enhanced Product Quality
Manufacturers can utilize PLM to automate processes and procedures that improve product quality and customer satisfaction. This is especially important when teams are spread across various places, as quality cannot be compromised.
Reduced time to market
Did you know that organizations who use a product lifecycle management system experience a 75% decrease in time-to-market? PLM enables greater communication and data sharing, resulting in increased collaboration and faster reaction time. This results in shorter cycles, faster product development, and a shorter time-to-market.
Increased innovation
PLM systems enable firms to increase their innovation while maintaining their flexibility and agility. Product teams can work together to create the best solutions and final product designs, regardless of their physical location. PLM systems also enable firms to protect their intellectual property, ensuring that their desire to develop persists.
Reduced compliance risk
The ability to retain a single source of truth for all product data is a key business
advantage of PLM. This lowers the chance of noncompliance. The primary advantage here is cost avoidance, as businesses recognise the cost of product recalls, lost productivity, and legal fees, among other things, if compliance becomes an issue.
How Jupical can help your business to increase their efficiency with PLM implementation:
The team of Jupical ERP experts offer dedicated services to help manufacturers of various sectors implement specific tailored PLM solutions or all in one solution Odoo for their business processes. This approach helps them to maximize specific business benefits, Increasing the ROI and decreasing the cost of expenditure.
By considering Jupical as your ERP partner you will avail a fully fledged PLM implementation in Odoo that will help you to achieve operational excellence, enhance product quality, and gain a competitive edge in today’s competitive market of manufacturing industry.