PLM Interest Group

PLM is a global activity, carried out in every manufacturing country, and by corporations with worldwide operations.  So its practitioners speak many languages,

The generally-accepted working language for PLM is English, and it has become accepted practice for all non-native English speakers to standardise on English for PLM so that everyone can understand each other.

This is a workable solution, but it still represents a tremendous barrier to PLM understanding and adoption in the majority of countries in the world.

			It is much more natural to think and work in your mother tongue, and it is also more effective. Standardising on English for PLM is not only a barrier, it is also a loss in terms of culture, experience and natural thought. We should be aiming for a scenario in which PLM ideas, experience and standards are conveyed seamlessly from one language into another. This does not mean "translating PLM into every language that exists".  There is an optimal working balance, and we aim to find it.

This question is particularly relevant for the PLM Body of Knowledge.  It will be one, single, global reference point for what we all know, and it has to be useable.  Its contents are going to be complex, and as it maps onto thousands of different real-world implementations it will take careful thought to apply.

In whatever language you would like that thought to be.

Once upon a time this was proposed as an academic research project that would find a way of presenting PLM in a fluidity of different languages: but now it is made possible through the entirely practical User Collaboration that happens within the PLM 2025-35 Project.

We are on the verge of an era in which technology might enable automatic translation from one language to another, but the needs of PLM are much deeper than this.

In layman's terms, how much of PLM needs to be translated?  Does the knowledge and experience of the "translatee" affect the outcome?  What is the effect of the business and technical scenario in the receiving country?  Is it necessary always to translate via English, or is any continual sequence possible?  How can it be shown that the meaning is unchanged at all points of the process?

We will find the answers as PLM Teams from multiple companies join the collaboration framework to share their knowledge and expertise about PLM.  Experience, methodologies and best practices can flow across the organisational boundaries so that everyone evolves effortlessly to a more complete level of implementation.

Obviously everything starts in English, because that is the language in which the source material has been written, but not all communication is central.  PLM Teams can talk with each other, and if they are in the same country or region they can use their own language.

In 2020, just before the pandemic, the PLMIG ran a 2-day User workshop in Belgium.  It had been set up by one of the participants, and all of the delegates were from relatively local Dutch-speaking companies.

On the first day everything ran in English, with PLMIG presentations and technical discussions.  On the second day everyone relaxed, started talking in Dutch at the breaks, switching to Dutch at important points in the working discussions, and switching back to English when they were ready.  It worked fine, and showed what a natural balance could be.

This principle can work anywhere, with Italian, Turkish, French, Spanish, Hindi, or whatever language a group of companies happen to use.  The PLM 2025-35 Proposal (Section 4) shows the interaction between companies as they swap ideas and methods, and pass solutions to each other.

The core material will be in English, the user discussions can be in the first language, and the PLMIG will rationalise the findings.

Quite simply, for practitioners whose first language is not English, it is a far more natural and productive way to work with PLM.  It opens up the richness of culture and local knowledge, and enables everyone to approach problems with the same freedom of thought.

It will be particularly helpful in areas such as management of change, and dissemination of PLM concepts around the organisation, where the concepts can be difficult to express and resistance needs to be overcome.

Ultimately, it may have the wider benefit of easing the adoption of PLM in countries that feel remote from the Anglo mainstream, by removing a significant barrier to entry and by making PLM seem like "our own".

The methodology is explained in the PLM 2025-35 Proposal, and you can ask questions either via the email links or by joining one of the Zoom meetings.

For academics who would like to know more about the research background and the possibility of future funding options the link is ownlanguage@plmig.com.

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