CIMdata Press Releases
“Leveraging Product Knowledge Integration” A CIMdata Review of Proficiency’s Collaboration Gateway Program
ANN ARBOR, Michigan, May 29, 2007 — CIMdata consulting and research firm published a brief program review of Proficiency’s Collaboration Gateway™ approach to addressing product knowledge integration. The report, entitled “Leveraging Product Knowledge Integration: Enabling Product Information Re-Use throughout the Enterprise” is available for downloading on the CIMdata website.
John MacKrell, CIMdata Senior Consultant, explained that Product Knowledge is the accumulation of information that is derived during the design, analysis, testing, and production planning for a product. It includes specifications, design data, test data and results, production process plans, and maintenance, service and repair information. He emphasized that for organizations to be innovative and competitive, they “need to be able to leverage their Product Knowledge and integrate it into the product development process so it can be re-used in a coordinated and organized way.” Mr. MacKrell observed that Product Knowledge is a critical asset that is often ignored because it is difficult to capture and reuse. “Unfortunately the loss of Product Knowledge results in companies having to resort to redesigning parts, which is very costly both in terms of time and money.”
According to Mr. MacKrell, Proficiency’s Collaboration Gateway addresses many of these issues adding that, “The solution makes complete Product Knowledge exchange possible and cost effective and makes product knowledge visible to more decision makers.” He noted “the strength of this solution is in situations where multiple product definition solutions are used in companies or supply chains.” Mr. MacKrell concluded that given that product development innovation, quality, and speed rely on collaboration among all of the people in the extended enterprise having appropriate access to high-value product knowledge, “the Proficiency Collaboration Gateway becomes an important enabler to the success of PLM initiatives and the businesses that employ PLM.”