PLM

Can not be overstressed, PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) is not software. It is foremost a strategy implemented by the company to capitalize and manage information related to its business, products, services. The software solutions are to allow this strategy. They can be very different from each other along the perimeter of the PLM business and the type and format of the information processed.

Des objectifs Divers

Companies are conducting a PLM for various reasons, time savings, increased quality and typically it starts from a search of a gain control on information about their products and / or services.key factors external to the firms that tend to increase the amounts of data and complexity of their management are:

• Intensifying competition / budget cuts
• Market that is becoming international
• Company merger
• Necessity to reduce the time of arrival on the market (Time to Market)
• Required quality of becoming more selective
• Need to comply with industry standards
• New legislation

Side factors internal to the company:

• Increased automation of manufacturing steps
• Extended product range
• Growing awareness of customer returns
• Co-design, subcontracting
• Organizational changes

A "PLM", a tool to support a strategy

There is not a valid PLM solution for everyone.The goal is that every technical solution can support once defined the PLM strategy to implement. So when choosing its technical solution must primarily rely on the following factors:

• Ability of the tool to perform any functions defined.
• Ability of the tool to interface with the rest of the information system that can handle information about your products.
• Flexibility of the tool.The change is the leitmotif of PLM is the parameter to consider when selecting a solution. A non-flexible solution can not be regarded as a PLM solution.

It is therefore important to use a PLM solution in the long term. Do not jump on a solution that achieves the X features you need today. A PLM strategy is not a specification adopted, it will evolve over the developments of the factors cited previously. The main consideration when integrating a tool to support this strategy should be: what solution will be able to make my X features short term and will be able to add new and modify existing, and this while remaining affordable and stable?

A strategy that encourages innovation

The point of innovation is one of the most important to us.Engineers of origin, we could suffer from lack of tools for collaboration and data management that could make us spend more time searching and ordering information instead of actually bringing our value-added engineering at the company.

We find here against a 1994 study on time use of an engineer. Periods of sharing information and research are the phases that we want to decrease.

Principaux point de gain de temps:

• The definition of income takes less time considering the reuse of information
• This reduces the work redone due to the capitalization of information into one system.
• The list of items is available to everyone and up to date with the latest changes applied
• Less correction of information is necessary.
• The historical information can be retrieved quickly and effortlessly
• ...

distinguish PLM & ERP 

We go often in discussions about "what are the boundaries between PLM and ERP?"and the answers presented are often quite clearly suggested by our interlocutors, we suggest that such activity will be managed by the ERP and another will be managed by PLM. In a short term and given current technology is indeed the type of approach that we can have. We define distributed modules to ERP or PLM according to needs (basic need to capitalize information or to draw a balance sheet). However in absolute terms, and this image is in future solutions, it should no longer be any border between ERP and PLM. The information system will be made of modules, CAM, CAD, CRM, SCM, etc. ...and there will be one side by the LES interoperability with its modules retrieve the information necessary in order to maintain a balance sheet of the company while on another axis (but in connection with the same modules) PLM will intended to maintain a balance of intellectual enterprise.