CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive

4 May 2009

CIMdata News

“Economic Benefits of PLM-Enabled Collaboration” A New White Paper from CIMdata

CIMdata, the leading global Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) consulting and research firm released a new White Paper entitled “Economic Benefits of PLM-Enabled Collaboration”. This paper presents CIMdata’s perspectives on the economic benefits related to better managing internal and external collaboration, and the important and enabling role that PLM solutions play. It also offers insights into how PLM-enabled collaboration provides savings and supports the requirements for multiple industry verticals including aerospace and defense, automotive, electronics/high-tech, and fabrication and assembly. Additionally, the paper presents the results of CIMdata’s interviews with a number of PTC’s customers to illustrate why companies should, and in fact need to invest in PLM-enabling collaborative solutions during stressful as well as prosperous economic times.

According to Mr. Peter Bilello, CIMdata Vice President, methods of working collaboratively have existed as long as humans have come together to accomplish tasks that could be better done by a team than an individual. “However,” he explained, “the ways in which the collaboration happens are usually restricted by the available techniques that allow for flexible and timely sharing of information, feedback, and actions taken on shared data.” Mr. Bilello added that in the past, business-support technologies have allowed real-time, synchronous collaboration only when people could work face-to-face or, in some simple endeavors, by telephone or audiovisual conferences. “Today, for the most part, PLM-enabled work environments support both synchronous and asynchronous collaboration by managing data and information access via a single logical shared workspace.” said Mr. Bilello.

Many of today’s PLM-enabling technologies allow dispersed teams of people to share and work with complex information. Mr. Bilello explained that Product Data Management (PDM) technology is used to organize and provide broad access to a company’s intellectual assets within the context of an enterprise’s complete PLM environment. “However,” he cautioned, “simply organizing data better produces important, but limited value.” Mr. Bilello added that the concept of PLM and its collaborative Product Definition management (cPDm) capabilities embraces the collaborative use of the managed information in an organization’s critical product lifecycle related decision-making processes. “Today’s PLM-enabled collaborative solutions go beyond asynchronous data sharing to include real-time viewing, discussion, annotation, and modification of all kinds of product information including 3D design models, analysis results, manufacturing processes, documents of all kinds, audio, video, and many, many others.”

Furthermore, Mr. Bilello emphasized that companies of all industries and sizes should never lose sight of PLM and other high-priority strategies and tactics that are required to position the company for future success. According to Mr. Bilello, “effective PLM strategies are often more critical during uncertain economic times then they are during prosperous times. Ultimately, the key to long-term business survival is often based on what companies prioritize and establish during stressful times to both survive and effectively position themselves for the market growth that will follow.”

The paper provides a definition for collaboration, and a brief perspective on the sate of maturity related to the implementation and use of collaborative-enabling technologies within targeted industries. It also presents industry examples based on discussions conducted by CIMdata with a number of PTC’s customers in those targeted industries, and finally a description of the benefits that have and can result from the implementation of collaborative enabling solutions.

Copies of the “Economic Benefits of PLM-Enabled Collaboration” CIMdata review are available here at no cost.

About PLM

CIMdata defines PLM as a strategic business approach that applies a consistent set of business solutions in support of the collaborative creation, management, dissemination, and use of product definition information across the extended enterprise from concept to end of life—integrating people, processes, business systems, and information. PLM forms the product information backbone for a company and its extended enterprise.

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