As a highly respected car designers, Lutz, vice president of General Motors (Bob Lutz), in a Detroit auto show, made some comments, said that the session participants car fully reflected the concept of manufacturing excellence.
Lutz passage appears to colleagues participating in the compliment, but he also hinted at the end of yet another competitive advantage. As the exhibitors are in some aspects of automobile manufacturing to achieve superior manufacturing, for example, the operation of the factory floor, shift the focus of competitive differentiation to new factors.
In fact, the product lifecycle management (PLM) strategy has been to car manufacturers to improve the competitive threshold again. Automotive manufacturers and suppliers with PLM set goals, integrate all business activities related to the product. Ahead of the industry's PLM solutions provider UGS executive vice president of Neeleman (Bob Nierman) said: "In today's business environment, competitive differentiation the maximum return from the best PLM strategy."
He pointed out that as a coordinated strategy with the overall integration, PLM software tools is not just only with the enterprise CAD (computer aided design), CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) and CAE (computer aided engineering) systems integration, ERP, and it can integrated supply chain management system to bring more value. Neeleman said, PLM is more important feature is that the data can be accessible to an entire enterprise. General Motors, Ford, Daimler - Chrysler and Nissan, these enterprises have implemented UGS's PLM software tools.
Neeleman said, PLM stress the importance of coordination and optimize the product's life cycle, a higher product return on investment. It can help companies to shorten time to profitability, reduce production costs and product life cycle to achieve continuous innovation.
PLM software vendors are facing a special challenge is how close to the decision makers. As an enterprise solution, PLM implementation of the strategy need to be communicated to all of the top business leaders - they often come from different departments.
The need for PLM implementation of the strategy must be communicated to the engineering, manufacturing, procurement, and even the maintenance department's senior management. Neeleman said, "The challenge here is that these leaders may feel that their primary responsibility is to the functions of the host department. It is necessary to awaken the global consciousness of the department leader or business sense." Another problem is that over the past decade China, ERP in large scale, but it gives a lot of commitment to end up frustrated, and this has left a deep impression on customers. Customers in this depressed environment, recommend to the clients of PLM success stories and difficult.
PLM applications market prospects
Neeleman said the implementation of PLM for the most critical problem is to re-examine the design of the positioning, not only to what it regarded as a department, but should raise it up to enterprise level. "From the business point of view, the problems are most evident in, among Manufacturing and Engineering has been a wall of obstruction of effective communication both the 'wall'. And PLM's mission is to enable enterprises from top to bottom are involved in the product life cycle to the entire process. "
But do not therefore conclude that PLM solutions can only be in the automotive or aviation industry giants such highly complex enterprise product data play a role. Lockheed Martin Corporation (Lockheed Martin Corp.) And Boeing have implemented UGS's PLM software, General Electric and Procter & Gamble is no exception.
Neeleman is in the small and medium enterprises who have seen the profit space? His answer is yes, but he acknowledged that large companies are UGS initial marketing objectives. "We hope that our PLM solutions and large companies in implementing it after the link to obtain huge returns, then, let the good reputation of the companies in a wide range of supply chain networks to spread slowly."
Neeleman said that even so, it should not therefore be classified as high-end PLM, the solution for large enterprises. "Just think, a retailer may have four 50 suppliers, but PLM can allow them to coordinate the value chain was the same as a business. Outsourced the design of small companies can also PLM strategy for collaboration change more simply, make information more transparent, and benefit from. "
Neeleman also believe that the birth of the PLM in the manufacturing sector can also take root in other industries. "PLM in consumer goods, government, pharmaceutical, retail and medical equipment industries play a role. Experience tells us that as long as the product of the industry involved in the battlefield have PLM." Such as the Procter & Gamble, is involved in product packaging.
Market research firm Daratech expects, in 2007, PLM software and services to the global market growth rate of 8% compound interest, will total more than 9.2 billion U.S. dollars. At the same time, PLM market data management and collaborative product management component, that is, by virtue of its UGS Teamcenter portfolio of market leading position in the segment, will be 16% compounded annual growth rate of development.
The combination of PLM and VPD
PLM strategy for a product-oriented businesses how to achieve success important? After all, PLM one of the goals - integrating islands of automation, the factories for the future is already outdated objective. PLM's advocates, the University of Cincinnati Meredith (Jack R. Meredith) that encourage enterprises to improve the factors are often derived from the decision of adopting new technologies.
This decision, in particular the timing of a decision may be deciding to profit from the PLM key size.
If the first implementation of the PLM, whether an enterprise can not obtain a competitive advantage, or at least be able to sustain market position? Industry market research firm Gartner analyst Holborn (Marc Halpern) concluded: "Now in the market-leading manufacturers, if not implemented PLM software to support the strategy, then to 2007, they will lose competitive advantage."
For enterprises, the implementation of PLM's value is that, regardless of where product information is stored, its employees can obtain and use them. MSC.Software Corporation's executive vice president of Ryan (Bob Ryan) said, PLM strategy to support virtual product development (VPD) of the simulation software is a good example. VPD's mission is to promote the innovation process - the appearance of the product design, assembly, function, and can meet the requirements in terms of manufacturing. "VPD is the best part of a PLM strategy that can simply and effectively with other aspects of the product life cycle, such as inventory, maintenance and some other combination." Ryan said, PLM and VPD changed with the product life cycle model, acceleration innovation and reduce costs.
However, Ryan cautioned that sectarianism will be difficult cultural barriers to the implementation of the PLM challenges. "For example, know how to create and test entity who will know how to use computers to those who design and test barriers, distrust between the two sides. To do physical tests do not believe the results of simulation tests, and vice versa." Ryan said, the worst situation is to split the two sides will lead to internal competition.
In order to maximize the effectiveness of VPD, Ryan proposed to create and test entity as virtual manufacturing and testing of complement. "These two technologies does not in itself a conflict."
Another challenge is the standard by checking the system implementation process automation. Ryan, for example, the first Boeing aircraft in the design of digital electronic devices using Boeing 777 aircraft, their initial work a step further than the CAD and Advanced. Boeing 777 of the structure and assembly are tested using digital simulation and by simulating test, landing gear, and other test system performance.
Many top companies are all in this direction. In the automotive industry, Ryan also cited the impact of the BMW analog automation, automation of noise and vibration simulation examples. BMW with MSC's SimManager tool to import from the CAD model of the supply chain, assembled vehicle model, and then enter the virtual crash test simulation program to accept. This includes 40 to 50 automated test procedures, it is touched, anterior lateral angle collision, side collision, and after the collision and so on. After completion of testing, BMW automobile design engineers will share test results. Analyzed by repeated assumptions, constantly tuning the design parameters to improve the performance of the car crash.
Web-based PLM service
Market forces continue to drive business advantages of mining PLM business processes. Think about it, the twentieth century the nineties, 80% of Boeing aircraft parts are manufactured within the company, today this ratio is basically reversed, IBM Websphere software, the company's vice president of business development Reddy (William Reedy) says. In addition, enterprises (including competitors) collaboration and data integration, the increasing demand. Ford and GM models in 2006 to develop the new six-speed automatic transmission is a ready example.
Web-based applications and hosted applications have emerged. For example, IBM announced the semiconductor equipment supplier Lam Research Corporation is the first choice of its new Web-based PLM service customers. IBM plans to provide this comprehensive Web-based solutions for product design documents and process management and archiving, including knowledge management and collaborative management.
IBM new on-demand PLM service to promote standardization of the design process, and promote the company's entire value chain Lam synergy to help it improve the product quality, accelerate the speed of market response, and reduce production costs. Lam will choose according to their specific needs IBM's services, and only need to pay the costs of resources used. IBM as it provides the service so that it can reduce the initial capital expenditures and deployment time (that is, the company installed its own infrastructure and management applications, the cost and time).
For IBM it, PLM on-demand service is the marketing of its extension. "On-demand on the premise that we must accelerate the market, supply chain and responsiveness to customer needs." Reddy said, "This will avoid wasting money to produce products that do not meet the demand, as well as missed opportunities."
IBM is not the only one to start the company from a service perspective. A few years ago, 托普洛瓦克 (Michael Topolovac) product information management during a number of problems encountered, he therefore inspiration, decided to develop a hosted PLM solution. His company was originally a manufacturer of underwater camera housing for small businesses, as product information management issues had to design their own PLM solutions. The solution in the company great success, and then gave birth to Arena Solutions Inc., 托普洛瓦克 currently the company CEO.