PLM for SMB: Ready... or Not?

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Full article is available for a fee.

John MacKrell of CIMdata
February 15, 2007

Are you part of a smaller manufacturing company (less than $1 billion annual revenue) and wondering if it is time to invest in a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution? If so, you aren't alone. We all know PLM has been pioneered in larger enterprises with the resources available to spend whatever it takes to work though all the implementation issues until they realize PLM's benefits. However, today enterprises of all sizes want to reap the benefits of PLM -- just not at any price.

Small and mid-sized businesses (and divisions of larger organizations) need the same types of support for global collaboration and innovative approaches to product development problems as those enjoyed by larger companies. This is because small- and medium-sized businesses (SMB's) also compete in global markets and develop complex products, and are burdened with the same requirements facing larger companies. Companies of all sizes struggle to compete more effectively; sometimes to survive, but more often to thrive. Many SMB's want better ways to utilize information technologies and product information to support the processes that allow them to compete more successfully. It is the pursuit of these goals that has made PLM one of the most significant initiatives to be introduced into industrial companies in recent years.

PLM is composed of multiple elements that incorporate best practices and methods including:

• Foundation technologies and standards (XML, visualization, collaboration, enterprise application integration, etc.)
• Information authoring and analysis tools (mechanical design, electronics design, software engineering, manufacturing process design, technical publishing, finite element analysis, etc.)
• Core functions (data vaults, document and content management, workflow, product structuring, program management, etc.)
• Functional applications (configuration management, engineering change control, simulation, etc.)
• Business solutions (new product introduction, supply chain collaboration, maintenance repair and overhaul, etc.)

Configuration management support is not always critical for SMB manufacturing companies that design and engineer simple parts or components. These companies’ requirements tend to focus on data vault management, workflow automation, and applications that support specific needs in the engineering and manufacturing processes.

The full article is available for a fee at CADCAMNet.

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