Select a PLM Solution to Make Better Products

Selecting a best-fit solution requires balancing needs, cost, and incumbent applications.

ANALYST PERSPECTIVE

Product lifecycle management (PLM) is not only for designers and engineers anymore! Navigate the complexity of a vast ecosystem by taking a structured approach to selecting a PLM tool.

PLM systems have grown from simple repositories of engineering and product information to managers of the entire product lifecycle, from product ideation to product retirement. Modern solutions are fostering collaboration among different business units, better integration with the manufacturing/production process, and offering more advanced reporting and analytics.

Likewise, a partner with differentiating features such as CAD change management and automated workflows can act as a powerful extension of an overall product development strategy. It is crucial to make the right decision; missing the mark on a PLM selection will have a direct impact on the business’ bottom line.
Samuel Leese,
Senior Consulting Analyst, Enterprise Applications
Info-Tech Research Group

Phase milestones

Launch the PLM Project and Collect Requirements

Phase 1

• Understand the PLM market space.
• Align organizational use-case fit with market use cases.
• Understand where PLM fits within the enterprise application suite.
• Collect, prioritize, and document PLM requirements.

Shortlist PLM Solutions

Phase 2

• Assess organizational and project readiness for PLM selection.
• Review PLM vendor profiles and capabilities.
• Shortlist PLM vendors based on organizational fit.

Select Vendor & Communicate Decision to Stakeholders

Phase 3

• Invite vendors for product demonstrations.
• Score vendor demonstrations and select the final product.
• Present methodology and outcomes to stakeholders.

Our understanding of the problem

This Research is Designed For:

IT teams tasked with exploring the PLM vendor market and making solution recommendations.

Organizations looking to deploy PLM for the first time, replace their entire PLM, or modify a component of their PLM tool.

This Research Will Help You:

Understand the PLM market of today.

Understand where PLM fits within an application portfolio – specifically, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM).

Follow best practices to prepare for and execute on selection, including requirements gathering and vendor evaluation.

This Research Will Also Assist:

PLM project teams or working groups tasked with managing the requirements gathering process for vendor selection.

Organizations looking to manage computer-aided design (CAD) data.

Manufacturers looking to manage product data and streamline product development.

This Research Will Help Them:

Assess organizational and project readiness for embarking on PLM selection.

Prepare for implementation by following best-practice recommendations.

Executive summary

Situation

• PLM tools need to integrate deeply with an organization’s existing technology stack in order to be effective. Thus, there is actually a limited selection of solutions on the market that will meet all of the business’ specific needs. Moreover, confusion around vendor CRM/ERP integration and feature sets also creates missed opportunities for the business.

Complication

• PLM is such a crucial business process that both the business and IT are hesitant to suggest changes to any existing processes.
• Making a mistake can lead to catastrophic business outcomes. If major mistakes are made during the PLM initiative, IT will face significant rework and the business will lose trust in the department.

Resolution

• Info-Tech’s methodology will address the issues presented using a vendor feature set–based approach to showing the client the “art of the possible” for PLM.
• Drawing on experience from nearly three dozen analyst engagements pertaining to PLM, half of which involved the manufacturing sector, Info-Tech’s methodology enables members to find a structured approach to vendor selection in this complex application category.
• By using Info-Tech’s cursory vendor landscape and executive primer, members and their business stakeholders can be confident that they are taking the right approach to selecting a PLM solution.

Info-Tech Insight

1. PLM and ALM are converging.
   Most physical products are now software enabled. IT needs to manage software releases not just for applications but also for physical products.
2. Expose downstream risk with a view of the entire product lifecycle.
   Gain visibility into the entire product lifecycle with PLM. This view leads not only to increased product quality but also to smarter decision-making with more critical data points being collected.

The PLM movement is upon us

Why care about PLM?

“Companies make PLM investments in many different areas and with many types of solutions, including mechanical CAD, simulation and analysis, visualization and collaboration, building design, and others. This diversity is reflected in the many different solution providers to the PLM market and in the fact that no single type of provider dominates the industry.”
– CIMdata, 2016

$43.5B

The PLM software market was valued at US$43.5 billion in 2017, registering a compound annual growth rate of 9.93% going forward.
Source: Business Wire, 2017

What are PLM’s measurable benefits and KPIs?

The following are baseline metrics and measurable key performance indicators (KPIs) that illustrate the value of PLM at your organization.

The baseline measurements enable you to determine how your organization has been operating thus far and the degree to which it has been transformed following a PLM selection.

The aim of examining the KPIs is to help you build a better business case for PLM by articulating the software’s benefits, such as accelerated new product creation, reduced time to market, and decreased waste.

Baseline Metrics

1. Time it takes to access data
2. Sales figures and successful contracts
3. Inventory waste
4. Returns
5. Cost of lost user productivity
6. Number of data entry errors and their associated costs

Quantitative KPIs

1. Number of workflows implemented
2. Time to find information
3. Design time, including travel time and collaboration
4. Number of design errors
5. Design review process time
6. Product development cost
7. Response time to clients and partner companies
8. Time-to-manufacturing and other relevant product development milestones

Qualitative KPIs

1. Abided by industry environmental and health and safety regulations
2. Reduced opportunities for human error and reduced administrative tasks
3. Maintained a traceable record system
4. Improved enterprise communication and sped up response times to issues
5. Product artifact reuse

Info-Tech Insight

No two organizations will have the same objectives for a PLM system. When selecting an application, the vendor should help set benchmarks that match your company’s goals.

Major retailer kicks off a PLM initiative to improve product quality

CASE STUDY

Industry - Retail
Source - Parker Avery Group

Challenge

A global $3-billion multichannel retailer and wholesaler of clothing and accessories was using multiple systems and spreadsheets to handle all product design and development processes.

The disparate systems caused a lack of visibility into the coordination of these processes, inhibiting the company’s ability to foresee issues causing production problems.

The retailer needed relevant information to be consolidated into one system, providing visibility into the entire process for those involved in product development.

Solution

After project leads met several stakeholders, PLM requirements were developed and weighted. An RFP was then created from these requirements.

Following a market scan, the retailer selected vendors to complete its RFP. Demonstration scripts were developed as the RFPs were completed by vendors.

Shortlisted vendors progressed to the demonstration phase.

Results

The retailer selected a shortlisted solution, and as a result of the project it now develops all items in a single integrated system. All applicable hierarchy and supplemental item information is entered in the PLM system and shared seamlessly throughout the retailer’s technological footprint.

Additionally, the retailer gained visibility into any tasks tracking late during the product design and development process.

What is a PLM tool?

Our Definition

Product lifecycle management (PLM) is an information management system that facilitates the definition, design, testing, and marketing of a product throughout its entire lifecycle. It is used by internal product development teams as well as customers and suppliers. PLM suites supplant more basic applications that manage product lifecycle, such as the procure-to-pay module of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform or an office productivity suite.

What It Does and How It Works

A PLM tool provides several key capabilities, including but not limited to:

• Requirements management
• Bill of materials (BOM) tracking
• Change management
• CAD integration
• Compliance checks
• Quality assurance
• ERP data integration

Many organizations elect to tightly integrate their PLM solution with other parts of their ERP to provide a 360-degree view of any given product.

Info-Tech Insight

PLM tools improve overall product quality by allowing manufacturers to take notes given to them by product designers and ensure all details and procedures surrounding the manufacturing of the product are of sufficient quality. This is especially helpful if there are teams in multiple locations working on different phases of the product lifecycle.

PLM provides a 360-degree view of the four phases of the product lifecycle

DEVELOPMENT/ INTRODUCTION: PLM houses the data associated with development and bringing the product to market such as CAD files, BOM, requirements documentation, and marketing collateral. GROWTH: PLM enables production efficiencies by feeding product data (i.e. defects) back to engineering teams who then refine the product and production processes. MATURITY: PLM is leveraged to maintain profitability. For example, the organization views the product BOM to determine which components can be found for a lower cost. DECLINE: PLM surfaces artifacts from the product in decline during the development of a new edition of the product or an entirely new product in order to improve time to market and efficiency.

PLM process framework for product development and introduction

Where does PLM fit within the enterprise application ecosystem?

CRM

• Customer interactions
• Brand capital
• CRM is the system of record for your customer interactions

PLM

• Intellectual property
• Product recipe
• PLM is the system of record for your product

ERP

• Fixed assets
• Inventory Suppliers
• ERP is the system of record for your financials

PLM as the middleman

• PLM sits at the intersection of CRM and ERP.
• PLM leverages the customer needs articulated by the CRM and outputs product needs (BOM) that can be serviced by ERP.

PLM and CRM

• CRM brings the voice of the customer into product development.
• PLM enables better customer service with versioned product information easily accessible.

PLM and ERP

• PLM supports the procure-to-pay and idea-to-offering ERP metaprocesses.
• Specifically, PLM supports these processes with both supply chain and R&D data.

Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

DIY Toolkit

“Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful.”

Guided Implementation

“Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track.”

Workshop

“We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place.”

Consulting

“Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project.”

Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

Select a PLM Solution to Make Better Products – project overview

Workshop overview

Contact your account representative or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

The light blue slides at the end of each section highlight the key activities and exercises that will be completed during the engagement with our analyst team.

PHASE 1

Launch the PLM Project and Collect Requirements

Select a PLM Solution to Make Better Products

Phase 1 outline

Call 1-888-670-8889 or email GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com for more information.

Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of 2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.

Launch the PLM Project and Collect Requirements

Phase 1

• Understand the PLM market space.
• Align organizational use-case fit with market use cases.
• Understand where PLM fits within the enterprise application suite.
• Collect, prioritize, and document PLM requirements.

Step 1.1: Process Overview

This step will walk you through the following tools:

• PLM overview
• PLM Glossary
• PLM Process Framework

This step involves the following participants:

• Core IT team
• Engineering team

Outcomes of this step

• Understanding of what a PLM tool is and how it can help both IT and the business
• Understanding of the convergence of product lifecycle management and application lifecycle management (ALM)
• Review of where PLM fits in the context of your enterprise application suite
• Confirmation that a dedicated PLM platform is a strong fit for your organization

What is a PLM tool?

Our Definition

Product lifecycle management (PLM) is an information management system that facilitates the definition, design, testing, and marketing of a product throughout its entire lifecycle. It is used by internal product development teams as well as customers and suppliers. PLM suites supplant more basic applications that manage product lifecycle, such as the procure-to-pay module of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform or an office productivity suite.

What It Does and How It Works

PLM tools provide several key capabilities, including but not limited to:

• Requirements management
• Bill of materials (BOM) tracking
• Change management
• CAD integration
• Compliance checks
• Quality assurance
• ERP data integration

Many organizations elect to tightly integrate their PLM solution with other parts of their ERP to provide a 360-degree view of any given product.

Info-Tech Insight

PLM tools improve overall product quality by allowing manufacturers to take notes given to them by product designers and ensure all details and procedures surrounding the manufacturing of the product are of sufficient quality. This is especially helpful if there are teams in multiple locations working on different phases of the product lifecycle.

Speak the same language as the design department to deliver the most business value

PLM Glossary

PLM provides a 360-degree view of the four phases of the product lifecycle

DEVELOPMENT/ INTRODUCTION: PLM houses the data associated with development and bringing the product to market such as CAD files, BOM, requirements documentation, and marketing collateral. PLM houses the data associated with product development, including CAD files, BOM, requirements documentation, and marketing collateral. GROWTH: PLM enables production efficiencies by feeding product data (i.e. defects) back to engineering teams who then refine the product and production processes. PLM enables production efficiencies by feeding product data (i.e. defects) back to engineering teams who then refine the product and production processes. MATURITY: PLM is leveraged to maintain profitability. For example, the organization views the product BOM to determine which components can be found for a lower cost. PLM is leveraged to maintain profitability. For example, the organization views the product BOM to determine which components can be found at a lower cost. DECLINE: PLM surfaces artifacts from the product in decline during the development of a new edition of the product or an entirely new product in order to improve time to market and efficiency. PLM surfaces artifacts from the product in decline during the development of a new edition of the product or an entirely new product in order to improve time to market and efficiency.

Info-Tech Insight

PLM serves as a centralized data repository for the entire product lifecycle. As a result, data-driven planning decisions can be made consistently.

Revenue and profit are critical identifiers of lifecycle stage

Development/Introduction

• Profit: When the product is introduced, engineering and development costs are high, decreasing profitability.
• Revenue: Marketing has yet to ramp up, so revenue is low.

Growth

• Profit: Economies of scale have reduced costs and increased profitability.
• Revenue: Marketing has ramped up. Public awareness of the product has grown, leading to increased sales revenue.

Maturity

• Profit: Increased competition has led to a reduction in prices, lowering the overall profit margin.
• Revenue: Market saturation is reached. Sales volume is spread among additional players in the market.

Decline

• Profit: Product demand has decreased, and the price of aging components may increase, driving profitability down.
• Revenue: Consumers are seeking alternative products. Demand for the product declines along with revenue.

Info-Tech’s PLM Process Framework for the Development/Introduction stage of the product lifecycle

PLM processes fit within the context of Info-Tech’s Manufacturing Reference Architecture. Leverage the Reference Architectures for industry best practices so you don’t waste time and money reinventing the wheel.

Understanding Info-Tech’s PLM Process Framework for the Development/Introduction stage of the product lifecycle

1. Requirements Gathering
   • The goal of gathering requirements for an upcoming product should be to understand approximate unit prices, how much the product will be offered for, and what materials are needed.
   • To ensure a high degree of rigor for product requirements, go through cost estimation exercises, capturing, calculating, and analyzing product pricing data such as volumes.
   • Next, create a preliminary business case and store it in the PLM tool for future revision.
   • Lastly, analyze sourcing data in order to supply the right materials on time.
2. Design
   • The design process in PLM centers around the creation, tracking, and storing of high-level design documents such as concept designs.
   • Managing CAD files is also a crucial element of the design process. The PLM tool functions as a platform for the request, creation, revision, approval, and storage of CAD artifacts. Thus, organizations that already use CAD applications must ensure compatibility with any PLM tool.
3. Engineering
   • The aim of the engineering process in PLM is to create, revise, approve, and store engineering specs for products.
   • Additionally this process involves tracking and storing the different components of process steps such as spec cards and recipes.
   • The outcome of the engineering process includes the creation, revision, and approval of the BOM.

Understanding Info-Tech’s PLM Process Framework for the Development/Introduction stage of the product lifecycle (cont’d)

4. Research and Development
   • In PLM, the research and development (R&D) process includes the identification of vetted artwork and creation and storage of final artboards.
   • This process also includes building out the production tooling and production line.
   • Quality assurance (QA) is an important element of the R&D process. Product designs, engineering designs, and production line layouts are reviewed to ensure that they comply with regulatory standards.
5. Production
   • The production process revolves around the knowledge management of product specifications for the production floor and pressroom, including how production workers access manufacturing instructions.
   • Many organizations run through a simulation of the product creation process before executing this process.
6. Ongoing
   • Ongoing PLM processes are the ones that occur throughout a product’s lifecycle. These processes do not start and stop at a singe point. Sometimes they are carried out across multiple projects in the production portfolio.
   • Workflow management includes creating, managing, and monitoring custom or configurable workflows to govern and streamline PLM work.
   • Product data management includes document management, version control, and product data classification (e.g. parts).
   • Change management includes the impact analysis, traceability, and visibility of changes.
   • This process includes data aggregation, standard and configurable reporting, data visualization, and data analysis.
   • Product marketing is how an organization deals with information required to market and sell products.

PLM processes based on complexity

RED: High-complexity PLM processes often rely on established relationships (e.g. suppliers). These processes also rely on the completion of less complex processes. For example, production planning and simulation cannot be completed before the products’ high-level designs are generated.

YELLOW: Moderate-complexity PLM processes occasionally require specific skill sets in order to be executed, but more often they are critical for setting the stage for more complex processes.

GREEN: Low-complexity PLM processes pertain either to estimation or to already documented industry knowledge. If building from scratch, the processes do not require a significant runway.

Info-Tech Insight

If your organization has established some of these PLM processes already, revisit the low-complexity processes first for quick-win improvements before tackling the higher-complexity initiatives.

Are you ready to proceed? Determine if PLM is right for your organization

The value proposition of acquiring a PLM is not the same for all organizations. In some cases, it is more cost effective to forgo a PLM and stick with ad hoc product artifact and data management.

Follow these guidelines to determine if a PLM is a natural fit for your organization.

Info-Tech Insight

Once your data is in any modern PLM database, shifting to another PLM solution is not a rigorous process, as many major solutions use well-known database servers (SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, etc.) and vendor-managed data can be extracted easily. Your SLA will articulate this capability, and the vendor should demonstrate it upon request.

Activity: Go/no-go PLM assessment

1.1.1

Identify whether a PLM suite will help you achieve your goals in sales, marketing, and customer service.

1. Meet with key stakeholders and subject matter experts to understand the current state of the organization’s PLM capabilities.
2. Based on the PLM readiness criteria on the previous slide, evaluate the results to better understand whether you are likely to benefit from investing in a unified solution. Does your organization have the opportunity to achieve each established goals in product, engineering, design, manufacturing, marketing, and procurement with a PLM suite?

INPUT

• PLM readiness criteria

OUTPUT

• PLM go/no-go decision

Materials

• Whiteboard

Participants

• Digital strategy executive
• Business stakeholders

Where is the business value for PLM?

Where does PLM fit within the enterprise application ecosystem?

CRM

• Customer interactions
• Brand capital
• CRM is the system of record for your customer interactions

PLM

• Intellectual property
• Product recipe
• PLM is the system of record for your product

ERP

• Fixed assets
• Inventory Suppliers
• ERP is the system of record for your financials

PLM as the middleman

• PLM sits at the intersection of CRM and ERP.
• PLM leverages the customer needs articulated by the CRM and outputs product needs (BOM) that can be serviced by ERP.

PLM and CRM

• CRM brings the voice of the customer into product development.
• PLM enables better customer service with versioned product information easily accessible.

PLM and ERP

• PLM supports the procure-to-pay and idea-to-offering ERP metaprocesses.
• Specifically, PLM supports these processes with both supply chain and R&D data.

Some ERP systems have PLM functionality. Why select a standalone PLM tool?

PLM and ERP Are Complementary Systems

• PLM is designed to manage a product from initial conceptualization to production release.
• ERP uses the product truth (product data that has been determined in a PLM system) to manage production resources and financials, among other business activities.

The Business Case

• Establishing a manufacturing process with a PLM before integrating with a compatible ERP system will drive organizational efficiencies and integration costs.
• Leverage a PLM to organize and manage product data.
• Leverage an ERP integration once there are sufficient fully developed product designs that need managed resources for production.

The Challenge of Using ERP in the Place of PLM

• ERP lacks three key PLM features: change management, design collaboration tools, and product version.
• Forgoing these features in a product-centric organization can lead to mismanaged product changes and inaccurate financial planning.
• ERP’s strong suit is interpreting the BOM for transactional purposes only.

Info-Tech Insight

Feed downstream data into upstream processes for constant product improvement. Organizations need to figure out not only where PLM fits in their application process (e.g. PLM – MRP – ERP) but also what data feedback loops are necessary. For example, if a design change needs to occur during the production process, interoperability between ERP, CAD, and then PLM results in faster turnaround and better data hygiene.

Subscribe to the process-focused school of thought for PLM

CAD-Focused

• Used by organizations who prioritize CAD data management above all else.
• Doing so improves data hygiene, improves efficiency, and is cost effective in the short term.

Process-Focused

• Centers on analyzing PLM processes as a whole and how the application can better service the business. This approach takes more time but pays greater dividends downstream, ultimately accelerating the product time to market.
• Applies to organizations that do not deal with large volumes of CAD data as well as those that already have systems in place to address some phases of PLM.

Info-Tech Insight

Organizations that generate large quantities of CAD data often approach PLM selection with a narrow focus on CAD data management, leaving other areas of PLM as an afterthought. Get the most out of a PLM selection by taking a step back to examine how broader processes can be improved.

ALM and PLM are converging. What does this mean for your selection?

If you have software-enabled products, you must consider how PLM relates to ALM.

• Software products and physical products are not two separate things anymore.
• Both ALM and PLM have common textural artifacts (i.e. requirements).
• Physical products have code that needs to be managed (i.e. computer-controlled machines). The physical product and the software should be managed in concert.

Vendors have not embraced this shift in the market yet (i.e. ALM and PLM are still separate).

• For now IT is forced to manage the gap between ALM and PLM through manual processes.

Functional differences in ALM and PLM:

• Only PLM can manage CAD/drawings.
• Only ALM can manage software design.
• ALM is better suited for managing software development workflows, but PLM has the baseline functionality to manage a rudimentary software development cycle.
• ALM and PLM are equally good at managing textural artifacts.

See the Glossary to define terms such as ALM.

Present

The Past

PLM is a flexible tool. Consider use cases beyond manufacturing.

PLM & Service Industries

View the entire new service lifecycle

• With PLM, decision makers are able to monitor the evolution and health of new offerings as they transition through the service/product lifecycle.
• Changes are logged as ideas are translated into requirements, concepts, and business case.
• Role-based dashboards and analytics enable deeper insights into the evolution of new offerings.

Earlier go and hold decisions

• Go vs. hold decisions can happen earlier in the new service lifecycle.
• Having a single source of truth for new initiatives enables projects to progress through stage gates at a more rapid pace.
• Monitor what-if scenarios for new services to determine the corrective impact.

Use resources efficiently

• Compare concept services to benchmarks while using fewer resources.
• PLM enables service-based organizations to reuse or transform existing items and to model alternative approaches to delivering a new service.
• Leads to improved time to market while meeting the business and technical requirements.

Info-Tech Insight

Remember that the PLM solution will continue to share data with your CRM and ERP solutions, reducing the need for manual data transfer and improving data hygiene across the enterprise application suite.

Step 1.2: Gather Requirements

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• Capture business requirements for the PLM selection.
• Prioritize and validate business requirements with the right stakeholder groups.

This step involves the following participants:

• Core IT team
• Business stakeholders (i.e. Engineering, Design, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Marketing)

Outcomes of this step

• Use-case fit assessment for a CRM platform
• Metrics for the PLM selection project
• Prioritized list of requirements for PLM

Leverage Info-Tech’s PLM architecture model to guide you through the selection and implementation process

Info-Tech’s requirements-driven PLM architecture model should be used as a grounding point for your selection and implementation teams to determine what needs to be done based on different aspects of your target PLM architecture (deployment model, feature set, and customization level).

Info-Tech’s approach begins with defining your PLM requirements: thoroughly engaging with Engineering, Design, Production, and Finance to distill functional requirements, user interface needs, and points of integration. These requirements are then funneled into building your PLM architecture (defining deployment model, feature focus, and customization level). In turn, this architecture drives decisions on vendor selection and the PLM implementation roadmap. Following Info-Tech’s approach saves time and money and helps align the PLM solution with the needs of the business.

Leverage Info-Tech’s requirements gathering framework to serve as the basis for capturing your PLM requirements

Info-Tech’s Build a Strong Approach to Business Requirements Gathering blueprint is a comprehensive approach to requirements management that can be scaled to any size of project or organization. This framework ensures that the application created will capture the needs of all stakeholders and deliver business value. Don’t treat elicitation, analysis, and validation in isolation: planning, monitoring, communicating, and managing must permeate all three stages in order to avoid makeshift solutions.

Working with the core project team, elicit and capture PLM suite business requirements

Requirements Traceability Matrix

Activity 1.2.1

In a focus group format, invite stakeholders from Design, Procurement, Finance, and Production to brainstorm requirements for the new PLM suite. Start with broad objectives and work into more granular requirements. At this point, cast a broad net – you can prioritize later.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Identify stakeholders for the requirements gathering exercise. While you may consider holding one-on-one sessions with key stakeholders or project sponsors (for example, the chief marketing officer), a focus group of about 10 to 20 individuals is the best way to ensure complete coverage of business requirements for PLM. This focus group team should be cross-functional, with director- or manager-level representation from the departments that have a vested interest in the web presence. The core team of business analysts should be present throughout.
2. Conduct the elicitation focus group for PLM. The session should be led by an experienced facilitator (such as a senior business analyst). Requirements for PLM should be focused on the future state rather than paving the cow path. The facilitator should also steer the team towards requirements that are solution agnostic (not couched in terms of a particular vendor or product).
3. The elicitation focus group sessions should last for a minimum of four hours. Focus on customer and internal personas to help drive requirements. Refer to the Build a Strong Approach to Business Requirements Gathering blueprint to further plan and execute your PLM elicitation sessions.

INPUT

• Stakeholder list
• Business case

OUTPUT

• Requirements list for PLM

Materials

• Whiteboard and markers
• Requirements Traceability Matrix

Participants

• Core project team or project manager
• Key manufacturing stakeholders
• Key design stakeholders

Establish baseline metrics that you intend to improve via deployment of a PLM platform

Create measurable SMART goals for the project

1. Increased efficiency for IT and Sales through improved self-service by sales personnel in leveraging customer data
2. Increased number of leads – and better quality leads – generated and tracked via lead automation tools
3. Better customer satisfaction through a shorter average resolution time for cases
4. Superior customer insights driven by advanced analytics and amalgamation of data from multiple channels

PHASE 2

Shortlist PLM solutions

Select a PLM Solution to Make Better Products

Phase 2 outline

Call 1-888-670-8889 or email GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com for more information.

Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of
2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.

Phase milestones

Shortlist PLM Solutions
Phase 2

• Assess organizational and project readiness for PLM selection.
• Review PLM vendor profiles and capabilities.
• Shortlist PLM vendors based on organizational fit.

ANALYST PERSPECTIVE

Software adoption is the willing intention to continue to use software for its intended purpose rather than any alternative means.
- Cole Cioran,
Senior Research Director,
Application Development and Portfolio Management
Info-Tech Research Group

Step 2.1: Analyze and shortlist PLM vendors

Analyze and Shortlist PLM Vendors

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• Review the PLM vendor landscape.
• Take note of relevant point solutions.
• Shortlist vendors.

This step involves the following participants:

• Core project team

Outcomes of this step

• Familiarity with the PLM vendor landscape
• Shortlist of PLM vendors for selection process

Familiarize yourself with the PLM market

How it got here

• Workflows were static but product lifecycles became increasingly rapid.
• Organizations began adding complex custom extensions to both CAD and ERP.
• There was a high degree of manual data transfer.
• A need emerged for more flexible and automated workflows with direct integration between enterprise applications.

Where it’s going

• ERP-PLM consolidation: Large-scale ERP vendors will expand their PLM capabilities, such as deeper BOM and CAD integration. The uptake will initially begin with products targeted towards mid-size manufacturing firms.
• PLM-ALM: A new class of PLM-ALM hybrid applications will make their way onto the marketplace.

If the goal is to tie together all the pieces in the production process … one needs to share data so that every participant in the design, production, distribution, and selling process is operating off one integrated data model, what product life-cycle management (PLM) professionals call a ‘single source of truth.’
– Harvard Business Review

Info-Tech Insight

As the market evolves, capabilities that were once cutting edge become default and new functionality becomes differentiating. Some features, like basic ERP integration, have become table stakes capabilities. Focus on advanced workflows and product version traceability to get the best fit for your requirements.

VENDOR PROFILES

Review the PLM Vendor Evaluation

Review Info-Tech’s PLM vendor profiles to identify vendors that meet your requirements

Aras Innovator by Aras Corp

VENDOR OVERVIEW

Aras Corporation, a popular American developer of PLM software, has been offering Innovator as open-source software since 2007. While the source code is available at no cost, technical support, software updates, and consulting are provided as paid subscription services.

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Innovator is a complete PLM platform that is configured to support a variety of industries and markets while still retaining upgradability. Innovator’s functional coverage spans the full PLM value chain, with design tool and ERP integrations.

FEATURE SPOTLIGHT

• The fact that the software is open source means there are no up-front licensing costs.
• There is a growing user community for sharing best practices. Aras leverages this community to prioritize upgrades to the product suite.
• Innovator does not require complex version-to-version upgrades or reimplementations.
• Aras Innovator is tightly integrated with Microsoft’s platform.
• Collaboration tools within the PLM suite keep engineers and manufacturers aligned.

Arena PLM by Arena Solutions

VENDOR OVERVIEW

Arena was early to adopt a cloud-only strategy with its core PLM solution, which now has over 80,000 global users. Arena emphasizes delivering updates to its PLM platform at a rapid pace.

Arena acquired Omnify Software in 2018. For now their PLM solutions remain separate, but it is expected that they will merge in the coming quarters.

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

One of the earlier PLM solutions to focus on cloud deployment, Arena PLM is scalable and marketed for both mid-size and large multinational organizations. It is worth noting that Arena emphasizes the effort they have put into streamlining their implementation services.

FEATURE SPOTLIGHT

• The Arena centralized data hub enables businesses to store all product documentation and data in one location.
• What-if scenarios allow the business to manage product supply chain requirements.
• Arena offers integration with CATIA and CAD packages as well as leading ERP solutions.
• Arena’s product support group focuses on short customer response times.

Bluestar PLM by PDM Technology

VENDOR OVERVIEW

Targeted towards organizations running the Microsoft Dynamics 365/AX platform, Bluestar provides a PLM solution with a range of integration points. The verticals that Bluestar targets are industrial equipment and machinery, automotive, high tech and electronics, aerospace and defense, and medical devices.

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Bluestar PLM is a native Microsoft Dynamics PLM solution that is embedded in the Dynamics AX/365 user interface. Since Microsoft does not offer a native PLM solution for Dynamics, Bluestar is an option for merging an organization’s ERP and PLM environments into a single setting. Bluestar PLM is also certified by Microsoft, ensuring that the solution has been tested for seamless integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365/AX, meets industry-specific requirements, has been used and recommended by other companies, is low risk to implement, and is properly supported and protected from intrusions.

FEATURE SPOTLIGHT

• One user interface leverages the familiar look and feel of Microsoft Dynamics 365/AX. The consistent design aesthetic decreases the learning curve for those already using Dynamics.
• Functional releases for either Bluestar or Dynamics AX can be rolled out independently without impacting the other solution.

Empower PLM by Omnify Software

VENDOR OVERVIEW

Omnify Software, which was acquired by Arena Solutions in 2018, emphasizes the role of customer input in its product mix. In the coming quarters Omnify products will be brought into the Arena portfolio. Arena is specifically interested in Omnify’s IoT technology.

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Omnify deploys its web-based Empower PLM either on premises or in the cloud, as one of three distinct suites: Professional, Business, or C3. Empower has primarily been adopted by larger organizations. The application comes with out-of-the-box connectivity with AutoCAD and Dynamics AX. Omnify also offers an optional manufacturing process management module with Empower PLM.

FEATURE SPOTLIGHT

• Item Master, which is Omnify’s artifact management system for Empower PLM, manages an unlimited number of key parameters/attributes. It also offers users revision control and change traceability.
• Integration with Octopart enables users to leverage the electronic parts search engine without leaving the application.
• Out-of-the-box reporting is provided for BOM management, quality management, project management, and environmental and social compliance processes.

ENOVIA 3DEXPERIENCE by Dassault Systèmes

VENDOR OVERVIEW

Based in France, Dassault Systèmes is a 3D design and product management suite vendor. It has recently differentiated its application mix by improving its social data analysis capabilities.

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

ENOVIA 3DS PLM software is geared toward enabling collaboration across product development teams. Deployed on a SaaS model, it requires no additional hardware. In 2017, Dassault made investments into its enterprise cloud services, which have become a focal point of its PLM software strategy. The system facilitates the management of configurable products through change and configuration management protocols and data security and document controls.

FEATURE SPOTLIGHT

• Intelligent product configurations enable real-time collaboration among product and engineering teams. Validation tools enable senior leaders to sign off on product changes while also providing feedback to front-line staff.
• CATIA-ENOVIA integration streamlines the process of sharing CAD models. Dassualt’s aim with this tight integration is to improve collaboration and lower developer costs.
• ENOVIA Quality Improvement Central is Dassault’s system for managing product quality and implementing corrective actions through the PLM.

FusePLM by FusePLM

VENDOR OVERVIEW

A new entrant to the market, FusePLM has positioned itself as a solution for small and mid-size organizations. Its focus has been on affordability and ease of use.

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

FusePLM is positioned as an easy-to-use and easy-to-configure cloud solution that helps design and manufacturing companies manage parts, BOMs, documents, and change processes. FusePLM may be useful for organizations that are trying to get a feel for how PLM fits with their business processes.

FEATURE SPOTLIGHT

• Fuse has developed a chatbot that enables users to use natural language to execute tasks such as locating an engineering change order without pre-existing knowledge of the platform. This shortens the onboarding runway and meshes with existing user permissions and workflows.
• Fuse leveraged Trello-style Kanban cards to make engineering change orders more user friendly. Users can subscribe to cards to get notified of any changes related to its associated order.
• Fuse’s PLM platform is built on Amazon’s AWS platform. Being accessible on any browser eliminates the need for in-house computing resources and reduces operational costs.

Fusion Lifecycle by Autodesk

VENDOR OVERVIEW

Autodesk, developer of AutoCAD, develops a broad range of software beyond its popular design solution. Specifically, Autodesk has expanded into the cloud-based PLM market. Autodesk differentiates itself with tight integration of mobile applications into its software ecosystem.

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Autodesk Fusion Lifecycle (formerly Autodesk PLM 360) is a cloud-based SaaS PLM solution for both small and large organizations. The platform targets the engineering, manufacturing, architecture, and construction verticals. Functional coverage includes PDM, lifecycle control, BOM view, new products, tasks, supplier collaboration, requirements management, change management, project management, and cost tracking.

FEATURE SPOTLIGHT

• Integration with the entire application portfolio enables complex workflows with AutoCAD and Inventor for 2D and 3D design through to CAM, simulation, data management, and visualization solutions.
• Autodesk University is the branded onboarding and training program businesses receive following an implementation. The program includes a training document repository, YouTube instructional channel, and trials of Autodesk applications.
• Autodesk typically offers flexible subscription options (one month, three months, one year, two years, or three years).

Infor PLM Accelerate by Infor

VENDOR OVERVIEW

Infor offers a wide range of enterprise applications. Its strategy has been to take top-level business processes and bring their supporting applications to the cloud. This includes financial systems, supply chain systems, and CRM. Infor, which continues to grow its application portfolio through acquisitions, recently highlighted its investment into business intelligence capabilities. These BI tools will likely be integrated into its PLM offerings in the coming quarters.

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Infor PLM Accelerate focuses on making data available across multiple teams for collaborative environments, both internally and externally. Accelerate has functionality for EBOMs and MBOMs, change management, requirements and configuration management, and technical documents. Accelerate specializes in managing information across electrical, mechanical, and software/firmware product teams.

FEATURE SPOTLIGHT

• Document Manager enables flexibility in managing product and project-related documents such as label artwork and supplier documentation. Accelerate is capable of surfacing documents based on the user context. Document Manager also has natural language search functionality.
• Ming.le social collaboration is integrated into the Accelerate PLM platform. For organizations already leveraging Infor products, the enterprise social networking tool makes quick collaboration easier and more secure.

Oracle Agile by Oracle

VENDOR OVERVIEW

Oracle offers a wide range of enterprise applications and technology for medium and large organizations. In 2007, Oracle acquired PLM developer Agile Software Corp. Since that time, Oracle has made Agile interoperable with the rest of the Oracle application ecosystem.

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Oracle Agile is useful for organizations that are looking to invest in, or are already invested in, Oracle’s broader enterprise application suite. From a functionality perspective, Agile PLM is on par with other PLM solutions from large vendors. The solution provides 360-degree visibility into product information and real-time, cross-functional collaboration across product catalogues.

FEATURE SPOTLIGHT

• Secure RFQ enables suppliers to use a proprietary secure portal to indicate their ability to meet cost targets and volume requirements.
• Agile allows for product development schedules, resources, deliverables, and gate reviews with dynamic links to other PLM processes.

SAP PLM by SAP

VENDOR OVERVIEW

German-based SAP has a long history of providing enterprise application software for large organizations. SAP is most well known for its ERP products, but it is also known for developing business processes that have been adopted across a wide range of industries.

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

SAP PLM provides 360-degree support for all product-related processes, from ideation through manufacturing and product service. SAP PLM is part of the SAP Modular Business Suite. The modular approach enables organizations and business units to deploy complementarity SAP applications to address specific business challenges on their own timelines.

FEATURE SPOTLIGHT

• Material Master acts as a central source of material-specific data. Materials from this central repository can be added to BOMs for products with all associated information preloaded. When looking to meet specific requirements, Material Master can be sorted to provide a curated list of potential solutions.
• SAP Environment, Health and Safety is a dedicated space within the PLM to store all information related to material and product safety. Being able to natively store all safety metadata and information increases the feasibility of critical safety precautions being enforced.

Teamcenter by Siemens

VENDOR OVERVIEW

Siemens PLM Software (formerly UGS) offers PLM software that works with both 2D and 3D CAD. The PLM Software division is part of Siemens AG, a German conglomerate with experience in a wide range of verticals, including energy, healthcare, and infrastructure.

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Siemens PLM Software’s products include NX, Teamcenter, Tecnomatix, and Velocity Series (including Solid Edge). Siemens Teamcenter is an established cloud-based (SaaS) set of PLM and collaboration (cPDM) tools that focus on quick retrieval of data for business functions such as planning, development, production, and support. Teamcenter includes a portfolio management software component (IaaS).

FEATURE SPOTLIGHT

• Multi-CAD translation automatically converts multi-CAD data into alternative file types, extending access to non-CAD specialists.
• Advanced document management capabilities allow full integration of structured documents within the PLM environment, including digital signatures, multichannel publication, and translations.
• Standardized costing features allow for transparency of product pricing from all of a product’s suppliers. Accurate changes to costing can be simulated quickly using a digital product twin in Teamcenter.

Windchill by PTC

VENDOR OVERVIEW

Based in the United States, PTC differentiates itself by focusing on emerging technologies such as IOT, augmented reality, 3D printing, and digital twins. In January 2018, PTC announced a partnership with Microsoft to align the technology and expertise of both companies to make using PTC Windchill with Creo and Microsoft HoloLens with Azure a more streamlined experience.

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Windchill is a compact web-based platform that offers automation and a single source of data for product lifecycle processes. PTC is focusing its development efforts on its Creo design platform and on ThingWorx for digital twin and IoT solutions. The platform supports collaboration, product requirements, design, and change management for a variety of stakeholders (e.g. internal, external) and file types (e.g. CAD, Word).

FEATURE SPOTLIGHT

• Although Windchill is a web-based platform, PTC offers Windchill Desktop Integration for more streamlined artifacts management.
• ThingWorx Navigate integration enables search capabilities that extend beyond Windchill to connected products (ERP, CRM, MES, etc.).
• Out-of-the-box workflow templates speed up the process of automating PLM activities.
• Defined roles (e.g. reviewers, submitter, approver) can be assigned to manage workflow changes.

PHASE 3

Select Vendor and Communicate Decision to Stakeholders

Select a PLM Solution to Make Better Products

Phase 3 outline

Call 1-888-670-8889 or email GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com for more information.

Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of 2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.

Phase milestones

Select Vendor & Communicate Decision to Stakeholders
Phase 3

• Invite vendors for product demonstrations.
• Score vendor demonstrations and select the final product.
• Present methodology and outcomes to stakeholders.

Step 3.1: Select Your PLM

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• Build out a project roadmap and timeline.
• Understand the application selection framework.
• Establish vendor selection criteria.
• Conduct vendor demonstrations.

This step involves the following participants:

• Core project team
• Procurement SMEs
• Project sponsor
• Business stakeholders
• Relevant management

Outcomes of this step

• Understanding of vendor selection process
• Vendor demonstrations

A PLM initiative roadmap will provide smooth and timely selection of your solution

Creating a comprehensive PLM strategy roadmap reduces the risk of rework, misallocation of resources, and project delays or abandonment.

• People
• Processes
• Technology
• Timeline
• Tasks
• Budget

Benefits of a Roadmap

1. Prioritize execution of initiatives in alignment with business and IT needs.
2. Create clearly defined roles and responsibilities for IT and business stakeholders.
3. Establish clear timelines for rollout of initiatives.
4. Identify key functional areas and processes.
5. Highlight dependencies and prerequisites for successful deployment.
6. Reduce the risk of rework due to poor execution.

Activity: Complete the implementation roadmap

3.1.1 30 minutes

Instructions

1. Establish time frames to highlight enabling projects, quick wins, and long-term initiatives.
2. Assign each initiative to a member of the project team who will be responsible for its execution as planned.
3. Determine realistic timelines to complete each quick win, enabling project, and long-term initiative.
4. Document your outputs in the PLM Selection Stakeholder Presentation Template. (See example on next slide.)

INPUT

• Implementation initiatives
• Dependencies

OUTPUT

• PLM implementation roadmap
• Info-Tech’s PLM Selection Stakeholder Presentation

Materials

• Whiteboard
• Markers

Participants

• Project team

Info-Tech Insight

Pinpoint quick wins: high-importance, low-effort initiatives. Scheduling quick wins up-front builds confidence in the project vision from IT and the business.

Activity: Complete the implementation roadmap (cont’d.)

3.1.1 30 minutes

1. Name the initiatives in the left column accordingly.
2. Click and drag the Gantt arrows to desired length.
3. Paste chart into the PLM Selection Stakeholder Presentation Template.

Consider Info-Tech’s approach to defining a selection framework

Define the framework and process now, before reaching out to vendors. Demonstrate compliance when executing the evaluation process to pass a potential audit.

Use a phase-based approach for shortlisting and evaluation:

• Divide the evaluation into phases and focus your attention on the most important aspects early.
• Define each phase to eliminate clearly unsuitable proposals and advance the most promising ones.
• Do not conflate price and quality; prioritize solution viability vs. price first and consider them separately.

Info-Tech Insight

Build your evaluation process before you receive any vendor responses so you are prepared to evaluate.

Establish vendor evaluation criteria

Vendor demonstrations are an integral part of the selection process. Having clearly defined selection criteria will help with setting up relevant demos as well as inform the vendor scorecards.

EXAMPLE EVALUATION CRITERIA

Functionality (30%)

• Breadth of capability
• Tactical capability
• Operational capability

Ease of Use (25%)

• End-user usability
• Administrative usability
• UI attractiveness
• Self-service options

Cost (15%)

• Maintenance
• Support
• Licensing
• Implementation (internal and external costs)

Vendor (15%)

• Support model
• Customer base
• Sustainability
• Product roadmap
• Proof of concept
• Implementation model

Technology (15%)

• Configurability options
• Customization requirements
• Deployment options
• Security and authentication
• Integration environment
• Ubiquity of access (mobile)

Info-Tech Insight

Base your vendor evaluations not on the capabilities of the solutions but instead on how the solutions align with your organization’s process automation requirements and considerations.

Use the evaluation framework to be objective and unbiased

Prevent evaluators from exhibiting prejudice by developing an evaluation framework during the selection process.

Phase 1. Mandatory Requirements: Does it meet the minimum?

Determine which proposals comply with the mandatory requirements. Any noncompliant proposals will be rejected and will not continue in the evaluation process.

Phase 2. Technical Proposal: Tell me what you’re going to do.

Written proposals will be evaluated through a series of qualitative and quantitative criteria. You may wish to establish a cut-off date at this point to further reduce the number of bidders.

Phase 3. Presentations and Demonstrations: Show me what you can do.

Often the most important element of the evaluation framework, this phase consists of vendor presentations, site visits, reference checks, and demonstrations. This is the last chance to shorten your shortlist before final selection.

Phase 4. Pricing: How much?

Price is evaluated last because you don’t want price to unduly affect your decisions or let it distract you from other requirements.

• Price can erroneously influence perceptions of quality.
• Keep it out of sight until after all other criteria have been evaluated.

Benefits of developing the evaluation framework alongside the RFx:

• Ensures that vendor selection is not influenced by stakeholder biases.
• Provides vendors with the ability to better target their solution and proposal.
• Ensures that first impressions do not skew the evaluation process.
• Allows you to be objective and focus on how the vendor addresses your needs.

Activity: Invite top-performing vendors for product demonstrations

3.1.2 1-2 hours

Instructions

1. Have your evaluation team (selected at the onset of the project) prepare to evaluate each vendor’s presentation. In some cases you may choose to bring in a subject matter expert (SME) to evaluate a specific area of the tool.
2. Outline the logistics of the demonstration in the introduction section of the template. Be sure to outline the total length of the demo and the amount of time that should be dedicated to the following:
   • Product demonstration in response to the demo script
   • Showcase of unique product elements not covered in the demo script
   • Question and answer session
   • Breaks and other potential interruptions
3. Provide prompts for the vendor to display the capabilities by listing and describing usage scenarios by functional area. For example, when asking a vendor to demo financial and accounting management capabilities, you may break scenarios out by task (e.g. general ledger, accounts payable) or user role (e.g. finance manager, administrator).

Info-Tech Insight

Challenge vendor project teams during product demonstrations. Asking the vendor to make adjustments or customizations on the fly will allow you to get an authentic feel of product capability and flexibility, as well as of the adaptability of the vendor project team. Ask the vendor to demonstrate how to do things not listed in your user scenarios, such as change system visualizations or design, change underlying data, add additional data sets, demonstrate analytics capabilities, or channel specific automation.

INPUT

• Business requirements document
• Logistical considerations
• Usage scenarios by functional area

OUTPUT

• Vendor demo script

Materials

• Info-Tech’s PLM Vendor Demo Script

Participants

• Procurement SMEs
• Core project team

Use Info-Tech’s PLM Vendor Demo Script template to set expectations for vendor product demonstration

PLM Vendor Demo Script

Customize and use Info-Tech’s PLM Vendor Demo Script to help identify how a vendor’s solution will fit your organization’s particular business capability needs.

This tool assists with outlining logistical considerations for the demo itself and the scenarios with which the vendors should script their demonstration.

Sections of the Tool:

1. Introduction
2. Demo scenarios by functional area

Info-Tech Best Practices

Avoid providing vendors with a rigid script for product demonstration; instead, provide user scenarios. Part of the value of a vendor demonstration is the opportunity to assess whether or not the vendor project team has a solid understanding of your organization’s PLM challenges and requirements and can work with your team to determine the best solution possible. A rigid script may leave you unable to assess whether the vendor will adjust for and scale with your project and organization as a technology partner.

INFO-TECH DELIVERABLE

Use the PLM Vendor Demo Script by following the instructions in Activity 3.1.2.

Leverage Info-Tech’s vendor selection and negotiation models as the basis for a streamlined PLM selection process

Design a procurement process that is robust, ruthless, and reasonable. Rooting out bias during negotiation is vital to making unbiased vendor selections.

Vendor Selection

Info-Tech’s approach to vendor selection gets you to design a procurement process that is robust, ruthless, and reasonable. This approach enables you to take control of vendor communications. Implement formal processes with an engaged team to achieve the right price, the right functionality, and the right fit for the organization with Info-Tech's blueprint Implement a Proactive and Consistent Vendor Selection Process.

Vendor Negotiation

Info-Tech’s SaaS negotiation strategy focuses on taking control of implementation from the beginning. The strategy allows you to work with your internal stakeholders to make sure they do not team up with the vendor instead of you. Reach an agreement with your vendor that takes into account both parties’ best interests with Info-Tech’s blueprint Negotiate SaaS Agreements That Are Built to Last.

Step 3.2: Communicate Decision to Stakeholders

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• Collect project rationale documentation.
• Create a presentation to communicate your selection decision to stakeholders.

This step involves the following participants:

• Core project team
• Procurement SMEs
• Project sponsor
• Business stakeholders
• Relevant management

Outcomes of this step

• Completed PLM Selection Stakeholder Presentation Template
• Affirmation of PLM selection process by stakeholders

Inform internal stakeholders of the final decision

Ensure traceability from the selected tool to the needs identified in the first phase. Internal stakeholders must understand the reasoning behind the final selection and see the alignment to their defined requirements and needs.

Document the selection process to show how the selected tool aligns to stakeholder needs:

• Application Benefits
  • PLM stakeholder needs
  • PLM technology needs

Documentation will assist with:

1. Adopting the selected PLM.
2. Demonstrating that proper due diligence was performed during the selection process.
3. Providing direct traceability between the selected applications and internal stakeholder needs.

Activity: Prepare a presentation deck to communicate the selection process and decision to internal stakeholders

3.2.1 1 week

Instructions

1. Download Info-Tech’s PLM Selection Stakeholder Presentation Template.
2. Read the instructions on slide 2 of the template. Then, on slide 3, decide if any portion of the selection process should be removed from the communication. Discuss with the team and make adjustments to slide 3 as necessary.
3. Work with the PLM selection committee to populate the slides that remain after the adjustments. Follow the instructions on each slide to help complete the content.
4. Square brackets within the template (e.g. [X.X]) identify the activity numbers in this storyboard that correspond to the slide in the PLM Selection Stakeholder Presentation Template. Use the outputs produced from the corresponding activities in this deck and populate each slide in the PLM Selection Stakeholder Presentation Template.
5. Use the completed template to present to internal stakeholders.

INPUT

• PLM tool selection committee expertise

OUTPUT

• Decision to invest or not invest in a PLM tool

Materials

• Note-taking materials
• Whiteboard or flip chart
• Markers

Participants

• PLM tool selection committee

Info-Tech Insight

Documenting the process of how the selection decision was made will avoid major headaches down the road. Without a documented process, internal stakeholders and even vendors can challenge and discredit the selection process.

Don’t stall: Continue your forward momentum to limit the project pain as much as possible

The Peaks and Valleys of a PLM Project

1. Project Starts
• Expectations are high
2. Project Workload Increases
   • Expectations are high
3. Pit of Despair
• Why are we doing this?
4. Project Nears Close
   • Benefits are being realized
5. Implementation Is Completed
• Learning curve dip
6. Standardization & Optimization
   • Benefits are high

Info-Tech Insight

Identify high-risk areas and mitigation strategies to guide the organization throughout the implementation. Having these discussions up-front when establishing the PLM foundation will maintain buy-in and manage expectations during the difficult phases.

APPENDIX

Review the following slides for quick tips and best practices for PLM

Select a PLM Solution to Make Better Products

Transform the process

Statement

• Your goal is to transform your end-to-end PLM process, not to implement a PLM tool.

Rationale

• While tools can be a catalyst for process change and produce small benefits, the benefits increase dramatically when your processes are improved as well.
• A tool implementation alone will not change processes and behaviors or align them to strategy.

Implications

• You must understand your processes before you can select a tool.
• You must define how the tool is used for each process step by each role in the organization.
• You must define metrics for each key process to ensure the expected improvement is realized.

Info-Tech recommendation: There is no such thing as an IT project. Engage the business to define a
tool-enabled process.

Fit for purpose

Statement

• Align PLM strategy with business strategy.

Rationale

• Your PLM process exists to deliver business value, not for its own sake.

Implications

• You must explicitly link the process goals to business/IT vision, mission, priorities, goals, or strategic aspirations (strategic themes).
• Ensure those links provide value relevant to the strategy.

Info-Tech recommendation: Don’t rush into an implementation. Take the time to work with the business and link your organizational goals to your PLM strategy.

Work with the tool, not against it

Statement

• Define new processes that make the most of the PLM tool’s capabilities.

Rationale

• It can be tempting to recreate your current processes in the tool, but this will result in poor adoption, reduced benefits, and often costly and difficult-to-maintain customizations.

Implications

• You must perform a hands-on evaluation of the tool as part of selection to truly understand its capabilities.
• You must not define a new process until you have selected a new PLM tool. Instead, define your new processes based on the features and the capabilities of the tool.
• You should consider additional tools if a key process is not well supported.
• You should improve your process as new features and functionality become available.

Info-Tech recommendation: Tool vendors bring market expertise to the tool they develop. Their solutions may have the key to revolutionize your processes – if you let them.

Configure before you customize

Statement

• Only develop custom solutions where it is critical for your business goals.

Rationale

• Customization can increase your cost of ownership dramatically.
• It will limit your ability to upgrade and take advantage of new features and functionality.
• It prevents process innovation and creative problem solving.
• Customizations often result from a poor understanding of the capabilities and features of the tool.

Implications

• This practice extends “Work With the Tool.”
• You should exhaust every option to configure and use tool functionality as is before customization.
• You must loosely couple customizations through integration (particularly through APIs) to ensure you have the flexibility to upgrade and retire them when new features arrive.

Info-Tech recommendation: Engage your vendor to ensure you understand the capabilities of your selected toolchain thoroughly and where new features on the roadmap will support your need.

Educate on the process

Statement

• Develop comprehensive, process-based, role-focused training and adoption support.

Rationale

• Generic tool training does not ensure people understand your changing processes.
• Users will need support beyond initial training to ensure ongoing adoption of existing and new features.
• Tribal knowledge isn’t enough; new users need to be educated when they are onboarded.
• Refresher training will be required when new features are released.

Implications

• Business and IT must work together to develop training and support materials based on how your processes work and use the tools.
• You must develop training that is process and role specific so users understand how they should use the tool to do their job.
• You must maintain and update the materials as new capabilities and features are added.
• You must preserve time for people to build content and provide education and support to do this.

Info-Tech recommendation: Partner with your tool vendor to develop training materials.

Integrated toolchain

Statement

• Eliminate manual work by integrating all of the tools used in the PLM lifecycle.

Rationale

• Manual integrations are labor intensive and prone to error.
• They create stress and less-rewarding jobs.
• They reduce the effectiveness of your team because skilled people are stuck doing rote work.

Implications

• You must integrate the different tools you use in the PLM process to reduce manual work and errors.
• Even an Excel-based import/export can provide significant benefits.
• You must consider the impact of different integration models (e.g. batch, real-time, etc.) on the efficiency and costs of ownership of your toolchain to make the best decision.

Info-Tech recommendation: Don’t replicate data broadly across systems. Only replicate information essential to supporting a process primarily performed in the other tool.

Eliminate shadow PLM

Statement

• Eliminate non-standard and home-built tools that fragment PLM data.

Rationale

• It is difficult to estimate how much effort is invested maintaining non-standard and home-built solutions.
• As processes grow more integrated these costs go up and IT often ends up owning unmanageable solutions.

Implications

• You should ensure that every tool you use fits into your PLM strategy, process, and integrated toolchain.
• You must support teams and people moving off non-standard and home-built solutions to ensure they adopt the right tools.
• You must migrate relevant data from non-standard and home-built solutions to your target tools.

Info-Tech recommendation: Engage stakeholders who have developed tools in defining how to use your PLM toolchain to support their process.

Define a data model

Statement

• Define a logical data model mapped to PLM processes and tools.

Rationale

• Users often struggle with the volume of information in product data management tools.
• This can limit adoption and lead to poor-quality data to drive business decision making.

Implications

• You must clearly define a business-language logical data model linked to each step of the process and the tool.
• You must define how each artifact and property is used and its purpose to ensure people populate them correctly.
• You must include this information in the training and support materials to support adoption.

Info-Tech recommendation: Create visual aids that can be posted where people use the PLM tool to use or input data.

Build quality in

Statement

• Build quality processes into your PLM and product data.

Rationale

• Quality assurance and management data is critical for driving product and process quality and efficiency across the product lifecycle.
• Isolated quality data cannot be readily linked to product data to drive management decision making.

Implications

• You must define and manage quality processes and data in your product lifecycle management toolchain to manage quality effectively.

Info-Tech recommendation: Use your PLM product’s data management capabilities for all quality artifacts.

Manage adoption actively

Statement

• Build the capability to monitor and support successful adoption of the toolchain.

Rationale

• Tool adoption is more challenging than many organizations assume.
• Many organizations adopt only a fraction of the capabilities and features their tools offer.
• Good PLM management reporting is impossible without adoption and good data input.
• Users will need support to ensure that they not only adopt the toolchain but also use it effectively.

Implications

• You must identify artifacts and properties in your data model that will provide a leading indicator of effective use.
• You must develop trend reports to track PLM data and identify adoption and challenges.
• You must reserve time for people to monitor adoption and support users or groups who are struggling.
• You must have business and IT experts involved in adoption activities to provide the capabilities required.

Info-Tech recommendation: Identify a business and IT product owner to lead adoption.

Research contributors and experts

Internal Contributors

• Cole Cioran, Senior Director, Research
• David Piazza, President, Software Reviews
• Dylan Browne, Senior Consultant
• Gleb Lisikh, Director, Enterprise Applications
• Mark Earley, Senior Director, Research

External Contributors

• Antti Sääksvuori, Author, PLM Vision 2021 and Beyond
• Shreyas Bhat, CEO, FusePLM
• Anonymous Contributors

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