PLM Interest Group : PLM User Forum Issues

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PLM User Forum

Issues on the User Forum Agenda

The purpose of the PLM User Forum events is not just so that PLM practitioners can work with each other in a neutral environment and have a pleasant conversation. They are working sessions designed to develop new ideas and material for the participants. There has been a three-month setup phase for these meetings during which around 20 companies input the issues they felt needed to be resolved in PLM, and these will be an integral part of the Agenda.

The most common high-level issue is the lack of clarity of vision at boardroom level, and the difficulty of articulating a business case for the PLM journey. The business case needs to be maintained, and to deal with culture change; relate the PLM objectives and progress to the PDM implementation costs and timescales; deal with the different rates of change of the business and of PLM; and link PLM with downstream processes to achieve measurable improvements in product quality. The PLMIG has a methodology for addressing this, and we will be working on it at the meetings.

Issues of configuration management were high on the list, either because existing tools are not good enough or consultants' expertise may fall short of what is required. More generally, these extend to: how to integrate different disciplines such as mechanical, electronic and software in a PLM environment; how to manage a multiple and complex set of "products"; how to integrate the PLM IT solution with others such as CAD, ERP and document management; and how to deal with multi-CAD and multi-PLM. The list continues: how to manage enterprise collaboration; how to develop a totally virtual product; how to benchmark KPIs; how to manage industry-specific PLM; integration strategies for legacy solutions and next-generation PLM; and many more.

The need to develop ways of retaining data and keeping it live for 20-30 years is a common driver, and it may be that a large enough grouping of users can start to develop methods and standards for this. Finally, there is an underlying demand for a coherent customer domain that has sufficient mass and authority to influence vendors to react in the way it needs.

Well, not quite finally - because everyone who participates in the the User Forum in Reading or Cleveland will add their issues and discussion points into the meeting, so that the combined results published in December will be of direct use in their own organisations. If you have ever wanted to share experiences with other PLM managers then you will have issues of your own, and this is an opportunity to work on some solutions.

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