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This week was a week full of discussion with customers and VARs (Value Added Resellers) around PLM, PDM and implementation approaches and I will come back on this topic in an upcoming post. First I want to conclude the sequel on reasons why companies believe they should not implement PLM.

The 5 reasons not to implement PLM I heard the most were:

1. The costs for a PLM implementation are too high
2. A PLM implementation takes too long
3. We already have an ERP system
4. Isn’t PLM the same as managing CAD files ?
5. We are so busy, there is no time to have a PLM implementation in our company

And now, we reached #4

4. Isn’t PLM the same as managing CAD files ?

As most of our customers do not have the time to study all the acronyms that exist in our business, it is understandable that it leads to a different interpretation as expected. In non-academic language I will roughly outline the differences.

In the eighties when most of the mid-market companies designed their products in 2D, bigger enterprises were investing in 3D CAD. In parallel these companies were working on concepts to manage all their engineering data in a central place.EDM (Engineering Data Management) was the word in fashion that time. We have to realize that networks were not as affordable as nowadays and that there was no Internet. It was the first concept to centralize and manage engineering data (files – no paper drawings). An EDM system was of course a system purely for the engineering department.

More and more companies started to expand the scope of data managed, it became the central place to store product related information plus being an infrastructure to collaborate on product data. The acronyms PDM (Product Data Management) and cPDM (collaborative Product Data Management) became in fashion in the nineties. A PDM system still focuses on the engineering department but no multi-discipline and if available in dispersed locations.

In 2000 the focus of PDM was again expanded to other departments in the company working on the product in different lifecycle stages. Instead of a static data management environment, it became a target to connect all departments working on the product through its lifecycle. By having all departments connected, the focus could switch to the process. The acronym PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) was introduced and this created a lot more areas of interest:

• connecting the bidding phase and concept phase with feedback from production and the field.
• bringing the sourcing of parts and suppliers forward in the product lifecycle
• testing and planning on a virtual product
• and more

But what should be clear from the scope of PLM compared to PDM and EDM, that it has become a cross-departmental approach and not only a system to enhance the way engineering departments work.

PLM is a strategic approach to enable innovation, better portfolio management and response to the market. The focus is on changing the traditional way of working into an approach where the process is as lean as possible still providing flexibility to adapt to global changes – changing customer demands, changing business situations.

Overview

Conclusion

No, it is not the same, where managing CAD files is mainly an engineering department related activity which can be solved by a product, PLM is a cross organization approach which requires a PLM system as enabler to implement various best practices

This time a short post, I am off to the ECCAP (September 9-10) to meet customers, implementers and peers all around ENOVIA

Adiosu