NEC Corporation announced the company-wide unification of development processes for IT and network products by implementing a product data management (PDM) system that consolidates the management of product technology information, such as design drawings, specification documents and bills of material (BOM).
Until now, each of NEC's business units created and operated their own PDM systems and development processes for hardware products. This new system standardizes procedures throughout the entire NEC Group by unifying the management of product technology information, such as design drawings, specifications documents and BOM. This was accomplished using NEC's "Obbligato III" PLM software, which holds the top market share in Japan (*1).
This is now the largest PDM system of its kind in Japan (*2), being used by approximately 17,000 employees to manage roughly 24 million components and 18 million design drawings and specification documents.
Moreover, this system makes it possible for NEC to produce the same products throughout multiple factories, enabling the company to select the most appropriate site for production based on current market conditions. This also reinforces business continuity planning (BCP) and optimizes global production by strengthening the ability to adapt to changing regional conditions for development and production. Furthermore, the PDM system allows NEC to significantly reduce operational costs.
"This system enables NEC to strengthen the global competitiveness of its products by making efficient use of all of the NEC Group's assets," said Eiken Nishimura, Senior Manager, Supply Chain Management Unit MONOZUKURI Innovation Division, NEC Corporation. "Specifically, the system helps accelerate product development through shared design assets and the creation of common ground between departments and regions all over the world."
In January 2015, NEC launched the system for its Telecom Carrier Business Unit, which provides network equipment, including NEC's PASOLINK series of Ultra-compact microwave communications systems. Going forward, NEC aims to implement the system throughout the entire NEC Group by the end of March 2017.
This new system is a part of NEC's global supply chain management (SCM) strategy, which drives the company's growth through greater global competitiveness and the improvement of profitability.
NEC aims to capitalize on the construction and know-how of this system in order to provide PDM solutions that enable customers throughout the world to optimize their production facilities and standardize business practices.
