CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
4 January 2005
Company News
RuleStream Research Shows Mass Customization, Faster Product Lifecycles, Shrinking Labor Force Remain Key U.S. Manufacturing Issues for 2005
According to data gathered by Rules-driven Product Management (RPM) solution provider RuleStream, three issues will continue to be priorities for U.S. manufacturers in 2005-the nation's shrinking engineering labor force, faster product lifecycles and more "to-order" manufacturing. RuleStream's research also showed that fewer engineers will be responsible for an increasing number of products.
Shrinking Labor Force
"The data RuleStream has gathered shows that the opportunities for mentorship, apprenticeship and other traditional learning and knowledge transfer tools are dwindling as manufacturers put more responsibility on their engineers," said David Vredenburgh, RuleStream's chief executive officer. "Engineering teams are adapting the way engineers do-they're bringing in new technologies that can translate these traditional tactics to today's demanding manufacturing environment.
"More companies are using software that can capture and reuse intellectual property such as product design rules and can automate routine and repetitive engineering work," said Vredenburgh. "This gives them the opportunity to shorten design time and more flexibility to fully validate the design, evaluate design alternatives, and innovate."
Earlier in 2004, the president's National Science Board found that the number of U.S. citizens qualified for science and engineering jobs is not likely to rise in the near future. At the same time, the board reported that the supply of qualified foreign nationals is down, either because of immigration limits or overseas demand. As senior engineers with years of practical experience look to retirement, manufacturers are looking for ways to transfer their knowledge to the smaller number of new engineers. As engineers become responsible for an increasing variety of designs and products, this transfer becomes more and more difficult.
Mass Customization
While the supply of engineers dwindles, the number of products each engineer is responsible for will continue to grow, RuleStream's research shows.
"U.S.-based manufacturers are responding to the low cost of mass-produced goods overseas with a combination of greater variety and a lot of engineering ingenuity," Vredenburgh said. "For example, in the automotive industry, the number of nameplates has doubled over the last 30 years, despite the dramatically increased competition from foreign automakers. Americans are discovering that they have the engineering skills to grow profits even as market shares decrease or remain flat."
"We are seeing that more and more companies seeking a competitive advantage and higher margins are looking towards the custom products business and simply giving up the standard products business to foreign competition."
One of the tactics employed most successfully is mass customization-the ability to easily produce many different products with the speed and efficiency of mass production," said Vredenburgh.
"Companies were traditionally reluctant to expand beyond their product catalog, but to remain competitive, it's a necessity, and technology has made is significantly easier to do so. We've seen companies get to the point where they can design and build unique products in quantities of one with nearly the same lead time as an overseas supplier of standardized products."
Faster Product Lifecycles
A third trend affecting U.S. manufacturers is the faster product lifecycle.
"Faster product lifecycle doesn't necessarily mean faster time-to-market," explained Vredenburgh. "But it does mean there will be more flexible engineering and manufacturing environments that allow the manufacturer to quickly respond to changing customer and market demands and competitive pressures-whether that's by getting the product on the market sooner or keeping the product schedule on-track as you introduce significant design changes."
Industry's Response
Manufacturing software and services providers have responded to these demands with a variety of solutions, but RPM has emerged as one area that addresses all three issues. RPM - enterprise software that allows discrete manufacturers to respond to customer-specific orders more rapidly, accurately and cost-effectively-is an integral part of a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) environment that supports product development activities.
RuleStream 's patent-pending software technology automates complex decisions for design, quotation and manufacturing processes. This delivers improved sales win rate, shorter lead times, and more precise quotations while lowering costs through increased productivity, reduced engineering times and fewer errors.
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