PLM Interest Group

The twin drives towards Professional PLM and the PLM Body of Knowledge have enormous synergy, and need a well-structured approach to achieve them.

			The PLM 2025-35 Project provides the over-arching framework that maximises the cross-over benefits while minimising the input required from participants.

By integrating the two programmes, everyone who participates learns from both streams and can make use of the combined knowledge set.

An article on LinkedIn proposing a discussion about Advanced PLM drew a comment that presentations at trade shows are on the same subjects as ten years ago.

When this is explored further (Forgetting What You Never Knew) it becomes clear that:-

Way back in 2010 a 10-Year PLM Vision was published, entitled '2020 PLM'.  It set out some reasonable aspirations as to how the PLM industry could progress over the forthcoming decade, and how things would be better at the end of it.  Needless to say, when 2020 arrived absolutely none of this had been achieved. The PLM scenario was completely unchanged.

If this is true (and there are no case histories to show that it isn't) then this is a lost opportunity for everybody.  Repeating mistakes costs money, so every implementation that does it is overspending. Learning takes time, and learning the hard way takes longer.

Global corporations have high-level business and geographical requirements for PLM that need very complex, structured solutions. Over the years, the complexity of that effort leads each company to generate its own methodologies based on what is found to work best.

This effort embodies many man-years of experience and learning that have never been shared or re-used. Thousands of different implementations around the world with locked-in knowledge - possibly because the advanced aspects of PLM are so difficult to explain and compare.

The solution is very simple.  Take a number of user implementations that have each developed in their own random way, in response to their different business drivers and technical competences.  Array them in parallel, and we find that their strengths and weaknesses are in different areas.  Where one implementation has a weakness, others will have strengths - so the 'weaker' implementation gets a problem solution for free, immediately.  And that same implementation will have strengths that the others will use.

Not only does this resolve a wide range of specific problems and issues for the direct participants, but it builds the kernel of an industry-wide Body of Knowledge that can be used worldwide, for right-first-time adoption and as the basis for a future PLM Profession.

The PLM 2025-35 Project will run for a year initially, aligned with the natural pace of actual PLM implementations and consisting of two streams:-

PLMIG experience with user groups shows that users come up with much more detailed and practical ideas when working amongst themselves than they do when vendors or advisors are present.  Keeping the separation provides a double benefit, because in order to derive common, neutral conclusions from the Users' work, the findings must be distilled and rationalised - which is exactly what is needed for a Body of Knowledge.

There is obviously an overhead in setting the project up, and for each participant to apply the comparison tools, but this is a fraction of the time and effort it would take to chase through each problem in isolation. The project activity as a whole helps improve governance and adds a layer of discipline, and the overall pace matches the ongoing implementations.  The solutions come holistically and can be applied immediately.

Current AI is woefully inadequate for PLM, and will stay that way unless we reconsider how it should work.
If you are interested in this, there is an opportunity for you to define the new, productive AI environment that we all need.

PLM 2025-35 will generate the core Body of Knowledge over the forthcoming twelve months.  Somehow, AI will be a necessary part of it - not in creating the Knowledge, but as a sort of "tour guide" or instructor that shows practitioners where to find the material they need and how to apply it in their live, day-to-day environment.

We need to develop the answer to this, and so the Project includes a Working Group to produce a definitive AI tool for PLM - if such a thing is possible.

There are two streams in PLM 2025-35 (User Collaboration and Knowledge Development) and members of the AI Working Group can come from either of them.  Anyone who is part of the Project can opt in.  This allows participants to learn about serious AI as the Project unfolds, and also enables the advanced AI practitioners to build the model using the structured framework as a testbed.

A Round Table discussion is now starting.  If you would like to be part of the AI Working Group, the Proposal explains how to join in with this.

The Proposal explains everything.  It shows how the User Collaboration stream passes expertise and solutions between PLM Teams, and how the Knowledge Development stream refines the new material into the Body of Knowledge structure. The 12-month Gantt chart is straightforward, structured around the central Solution Generation activity in which PLMIG workshops address the priority issues of the participants.

The role of the AI Working Group is also covered, explaining how it integrates with the two working streams as they become the testbed for the new PLM AI Solution.

Before the Project launches we need to give everyone a clear picture of the collaboration group, and the 'Wish List' that we aim to resolve.  12 months of combining experience with other PLM Teams is very beneficial, if the solutions include ones that are relevant and useful to you.

We are therefore holding some Round Table discussions, and you can join in by Pre-Registering.  There is absolutely no cost, obligation or commitment involved, but we need the views of people who may want to shape the Project. Pre-Registration keeps you in the loop as the Project comes together, allows potential participants to get to know each other, and should also show an interesting picture of where practitioners think PLM improvements should be made.

It is worth remembering that user companies are not the only organisations with important opinions about PLM improvement.  Vendors, integrators, consultancies, service providers and educators have all been working in PLM since the outset, and have views that need to be heard.

Pre-Registration is therefore open to both the User Collaboration and the Knowledge Development streams. Over the next few weeks it will create a window into the sharp end of PLM - showing where people want PLM to go in the real world.  If this looks interesting, download the Proposal and send an email with the details on the last page.

Download the Proposal [Word] >>>                              Download the Proposal [PDF] >>>

This is an international project - you can take part no matter where in the world you are based.  It may even be a way of learning about concepts of PLM that are outside your organisational or national boundaries.

These initial discussions will cover three areas: User Collaboration; Knowledge Development; and a specific Round Table for AI.

The reason for a specific AI Round Table at this point is that some people may want to focus exclusively on this topic, and we would like to enable this without distracting the two main PLM themes.

We are working entirely to the Proposal, and will update it as required by the discussion feedback.  You can Pre-Register for any of the three areas by following the instructions on the last page.

If you would like any other information about the Initiative, you can request it via
plm2025-35@plmig.com.

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