In my previous posts dedicated to PLM education, I shared my and spoke with Peter Bilello from CIMdata about their education program. This time I am talking with Helena Gutierrez, one of the founders of Share PLM.

They are a young and energetic company with a mission to make PLM implementations successful, not through technology or customization, but through education and training.

Let’s discover their mission.

Share PLM

Helena, let me start with the brilliant name you have chosen for the company: Share PLM. Sharing (information) is the fundamental concept of PLM; if you don’t aim to share from the start, you won’t be able to fix it later. Can you tell us more about Share PLM’s mission and where you fit in the PLM ecosystem? 

Jos, first of all, thank you for the invitation to your blog! That’s a great question. In my previous job, as a young PLM director at the former Outotec, nowadays Metso Outotec, I realized how much I could learn from sharing experiences with other professionals.

I thought that by bringing people together from different companies with different backgrounds, PLM professionals could learn and get prepared for some of their projects.

In the beginning, I envisioned some kind of a marketplace, where people could also sell their own resources. A resource I often missed was some kind of POC template for a new deployment, these kinds of things.

I still remember my boss’s face at that time when I told him, Sami Grönstrand, that I wanted to sell templates. [laugh]

A lot has happened since then and we have evolved into a small niche where we can offer a lot of value.

Software vendors keep their PLM systems generic. And almost every company needs to adapt their systems to their company reality: their processes, their system architecture, and their people.

The key questions are: How can I map my company’s processes and the way we work to the new system? How can I make sense of the new systems and help people understand the big picture behind the system clicks?

That’s where we come in.

Education or Training

With Peter Bilello, we discussed the difference between education and training. Where would you position Share PLM?

This is an interesting differentiation – I must say I hadn’t heard of it before, but it makes sense.

I think we are in the middle of the two: theory and practice. You see, many consulting companies focus on the “WHY”, the business needs. But they don’t touch the systems. So don’t tell them to go into Teamcenter or OpenBOM because they want to stay at a theoretical level.

Some system integrators get into the system details, but they don’t connect the clicks to the “WHY” to the big picture.

The connection between the “WHY” and the “HOW” is really important to get the context, to understand how things work.

So that’s where we are very strong. We help companies connect the “WHY” and the “HOW”. And that’s powerful.

 

The success of training

We are both promoting the importance of adequate training as part of a PLM implementation. Can you share with us a best-in-class example where training really made a difference? Can we talk about ROI in the context of training?

Jos, I think when I look at our success stories, most good examples share some of the following characteristics:
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  • All start with “WHY”, and they have a story. 

In today’s world, people want to understand the “WHY”. So in practical terms, we work with customers to prepare a storyline that helps understand the “WHY” in a practical and entertaining manner.

  • All have a clear, top-down visualization of the process and related use cases.

This is simple, but it’s a game-changer. When people see the big picture, something “clicks,” and they feel “safe” at first sight. They know there is a blueprint for how things work and how they connect.

  • All have quick, online answers to their questions. 

A digital knowledge base where people can find quick answers and educate themselves.

This is one example of a knowledge base from one of our customers, OpenBOM. As you can see from the link below, they have documented how the system should be used in their knowledge base. In addition, they have a set of online eLearning courses that users can take to get started.

  • All involve people in the training and build a “movement”.  

People want to be heard and be a part of something. Engaging people in user communities is a great way to both learn from your users, and make them a part of your program. Bringing people together and putting them at the center of your training. I think this is key to success.

 

Training for all types of companies?

Do you see a difference between large enterprises and small and medium enterprises regarding training? Where would your approach fit best?

Yes, absolutely. And I think the most important difference is speed.

A big company can afford to work on all the elements I described before at the same time because they have the “horse-power” to drive different tracks. They can involve different project managers, and they can finance the effort.

Small companies start small and build their training environment slowly. Some might do some parts by themselves and use our services to guide them through the process.

I enjoy both worlds – the big corporations have big budgets, and you can do cool stuff.

But the small startups have big brains, and they often are very passionate about what they are doing. I enjoy working with startups because they dare to try new things and they are very creative.

Where Is Share PLM Training Different?

I see all system integrators selling PLM training. In my SmarTeam days I also built some “Express” training – Where are you different?

When I started Share PLM, we participated in a startup accelerator. When I was explaining our business model, they asked me the question: “Aren’t the software vendors or the system integrators doing exactly what you do?”

And the answer, incredibly, is that system integrators are often not interested in training and documentation, and they just don’t do it well as they have no didactical background.

Sometimes it’s even the same guy configuring the system who gets the task to create the training. Those people produce boring “technical’ manuals, using thousands of PowerPoint slides with no soul – who wants to read that?

No wonder PLM training has a bad reputation!

We are laser-focused on digital training, and our training is very high quality. We are good at connecting pieces of information and making sense of complex stuff. We also are strong at aesthetics, and our training looks good. The content is nicely presented when you open our courses, and people look forward to reading it!

Digital Transformation and PLM

I always ask when talking with peers in the PLM domain: How do you see the digital transformation happening at your customers, and how can you help them?

An interesting question. I see that boundaries between systems are getting thinner. For example, some time ago, you would have a program to deploy a PLM system.

Now I see a lot of “outcome-based” programs, where you focus on the business value and use adequate systems to get there.

For example, a program to speed up product deliveries or improve quality. That type of program involves many different systems and teams. It relates to your “connected enterprise” concept.

This transformation is happening, and I think we are well-positioned to help companies make sense of the connection between different systems and how they digitize their processes.

 

Want to learn more?

Thanks, Helena, for sharing your insights. Are there any specific links you want to provide to learn more? Perhaps some books to read or conferences to visit?

Thanks so much, Jos, for allowing me to discuss this with you today. Yes, I always recommend reading blogs and books to stay up-to-date.

  • We both have good blogging and reading lists on our websites. See on our blog the post The 12 Best PLM Blogs To Follow or the recommendations on your PLM Bookshelf
  • Conferences are also great for connecting with other people. In general, I think it’s very helpful to see examples from other companies to get inspired.
  • And we have our podcast, to my knowledge the only one when you search for PLM – because the interaction is new.

I’m happy to provide some customer references for people who want to learn more about how good training looks practically. Just get in touch with me on LinkedIn or through our website.

What I learned

I know the founders from Share PLM since they were active in Outotec, eager to discuss and learn new PLM concepts. It is impressive to see how they made the next step to launch their company Share PLM and find the niche place that somehow I try to cover too in a similar manner.

When I started my blog virtualdutchman.com in 2008, I wanted to share PLM experiences and knowledge.

Read my 2008 opening post here. It was a one-way sharing – modern at that time – probably getting outdated in the coming years.

However, Helena and the SharePLM team have picked up my mission in a modern manner. They are making PLM accessible and understandable in your company, using a didactical and modern approach to training.

SharePLM perhaps does not focus on the overall business strategy for PLM yet as their focus is on the execution level with a refreshing and modern approach – focussing on the end-user, didactics and attractiveness.  I expect in ten years from now, with the experience and the professional team, they will pick up this part too, allowing me to retire.

 Conclusion

This was the second post around PLM and Education, mainly focussing on what is happening in the field. Where I see CIMdata’s focus on education on the business strategy level, I see Share PLM’s focus on the execution level, making sure the PLM implementation is fun for the end-user and therefore beneficial for the company. The next post will be again about PLM Education, this time before the s** t hits the fan. Stay tuned.