PLM Interest Group

The PLM Self-Assessment Toolkit deals with one of the most basic and yet most difficult problems facing those working in PLM - "How do we understand and discuss our own PLM situation?"

For those who are starting out on the road to PLM, there sometimes seems to be too much information. There is so much to read, and so much advice, and yet none of it actually relates directly to your company.

You need something that describes your own situation, in your own context, with your own colleagues' names on it.  And you want to have a clearer understanding of PLM before deciding whether to go for outside assistance.

Experienced PLM managers in multinational organisations have the opposite problem. After months or perhaps years of using external advisors on major projects, how can you step back and do an internal cross-check to see how things are going?

The PLM Self-Assessment Toolkit is a straightforward instruction book that enables you to carry out the same kind of independent review that you would expect from an external appraisal.  Carrying out the assessment yourself saves money, directs you quickly to the problem areas, and ultimately uncovers more detail that is specific to your company.

The Self-Assessment follows the thought processes of PLM and leads you to discover, or cross-check, what your current position is in these areas.   It points you towards the people in your organisation who should be involved in PLM, and gives you material with which to hold a productive discussion with them.   The straightforward structure builds the points raised in the discussions into a formal agenda to present to stakeholders.

There are no detailed spreadsheets with lots of numbers and a numerical rating.  You are not aiming for a "magic quadrant" score of 'A' or 'B+'. However, you are aiming to proceed beyond the Pass/Fail checklists at the end of each step, and as you do so you will learn which are the most important issues affecting your implementation.

The Version 3.0 Toolkit is divided into Stages, to allow the option of choosing which parts of the process to apply; includes a new Overview flowchart to illustrate the Pass/End decisions; and is now formatted for double-sided printing, so that diagrams and text are on facing pages.

See the Table of Contents >>>

You can't do a Self-Assessment by filling in all of the answers yourself.  If you want to have a meaningful picture of your PLM status then you (or you and your PLM team) will have to go out and talk to people about the issues that the Self-Assessment covers.

You can be completely honest about what you find, because no-one outside your company will ever see the information (unless you choose to show them).  Results are generated in a format that can be used for discussion in any part of your organisation, and one of the main goals of the Self-Assessment is to enable these discussions to take place.

When you have held these discussions, you will be in a much better position to decide whether the use of outside resources should begin or continue.

The PLM Self-Assessment Toolkit is an important tool if you are intending to establish Class A PLM.

It is applied during the opening Groundwork step of the Class A PLM process in order to cross-check that the basics of good PLM are in place, and to generate the starting documentation.

Applying Stage 1 of the Toolkit confirms that the basics of Class A PLM are in place, or highlights any omissions that need to be corrected.  Stakeholder involvement, feedback and ideas are captured during Stage 2 and Stage 3; and the Review and Planning in Stage 4 feeds into the rest of the Class A programme.

The PLM Self-Assessment Toolkit is provided with Q&A support to PLMIG Members, so you will receive a copy if you join with any class of Membership.

Alternatively, you may buy hard copies from Amazon or electronic copies from the Store.

For more information about Self-Assessment, or the Toolkit itself, contact selfassessment@plmig.com.

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