PLM BLOG Holiday

This time a short blog post to assure you all the virtualdutchman is still alive, but too busy to sit down and focus a post on one topic. There are enough topics to share:

Data or Process first ?

This Tech4PD session deserves some special attention as it is indeed a Chicken or Egg discussion and I would like to extend this discussion by making a differentiation between the small and mid-sized companies and the larger enterprises.

Watch this session as warming up.

DATA instead of DOCUMENTS

Somewhat related to the previous topic is the trend from documents towards data is visible. Companies are struggling with data stored in documents. How do you find the right information ? And when information changes you need to change the document version. This makes PDM or PLM difficult when the focus is on storing documents and files. Managing information in database records opens new opportunities.

Innovation

One of my favorite topics is innovation and one of my hobbies is race cycling. As it is a hobby, I suffer several times from wearing cycling shoes at parties or during stops at a restaurant. Can you imagine the innovation I saw in this movie ?  (thanks to my growing interest for Apparel – see my blog post on PI Apparel). This innovation is targeting mountain bikers, and I am looking forward to discovering the first hybrid race shoe. It is a typical example of innovation: combining and integrating needs for two different world into a single person´s experience.

The value of PLM for all industries

How do you explain to your management the value of PLM? Who should do this ? PLM Vendors and implementers often have a focus on their unique functions and features or skills, trying to generalize customer needs. Management thinks in costs and benefits and competitive advantages. This does not come from just a product. What to do ? This discussion is less valid for the classical PLM minded industries where companies learned from peers that PLM has a value. Other industries, like EPC contractors and Owner/Operators can benefit too – why are they slow to adapt ?

       BOOKS

And then there is always the human side and books. Remember these posts:

• Our brain blocks PLM acceptance – virtual dutchman
• The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and PLM – Zero Wait-State

I hope to get inspiration from my holiday books.

Besides some fiction books, there are two books I plan to read:

Conclusion (as usual)

I hope you enjoyed your holiday (or still enjoy your holiday) and will be back in touch in September. If there are topics related to PLM you fancy. Let me know. Meanwhile, I will be in an area with no wifi and occasional phone reception looking to sceneries as below