Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies - August 2008 - (Page 36) deal and one of fastest-growing areas of PLM,” he says. “It’s the notion of translating ideas to specifications and specs to production and production to a released product -- and measuring success at each stage. That is the ultimate goal—if a product fails, to know if it was because it was the wrong idea, because the specs were not translated correctly, because it wasn’t produced in a quality way or because it wasn’t launched the right way. If a company can do root cause analysis on those factors, think how much more effectively it could invest its dollars. I think we will be seeing some very exciting things over the next couple of years in terms of this technology,” he says. PLM is essential when design and manufacturing are dispersed around the globe, as they are in many companies, out-of-the-box integration of Agile to quality, supply chain, purchasing and compliance systems inside and outside of Oracle. This will get quality and compliance and supply chain information married with product design.” Arena Solutions, a vendor of ondemand PLM solutions based in Foster City, Calif., emphasizes the ability of PLM to enable collaboration around a single version of the truth. “One of the key ways we see Arena PLM being used in the market is around this idea of an integrated product record where all of the inputs to the design process get brought together into a complete and inter-disciplinary product definition, which evolves over time as changes are made or projects completed,” says Eric Larkin, chief technology officer. This is a challenge plays a huge role in facilitating and avoiding misunderstanding and miscommunication which lead to inefficiency,” he says. “It incorporates the work product into a useable definition that can be published to the supply chain or to other parties.” Larkin notes one other benefit of PLM important to today’s environment. “It enables companies to take control of their product records and to manage their product information more tightly. That’s crucial because it’s a simple fact that the enforcement of intellectual property laws across international borders is largely non-existent.” Dassault acquired MatrixOne, a PLM provider, in 2006 to give it entry into markets with less complex needs than the companies that typically use its core computer-aided design and engineering solutions. “We are “The PLM infrastructure allows companies to bridge functional silos easier, at least from a data and process perspective, and enables them to tap into their own knowledge more efficiently. From that perspective, it clearly is an enabler of innovation.” — Alex Blanter of PRTM Consulting says McGary. “Our mantra in terms of what we are trying to do with our solutions is to enable companies to design it, engineer it, build it, sell it or service it anywhere in the world.” QAD has partnered with PTC, a developer of product management solutions based in Needham, Mass., to provide a full Product Development System (PDS) that is integrated with procurement, supply chain and manufacturing, says McGary. Its solution is particularly aimed at the mid-market, which is where QAD specializes. SAP and Oracle, ERP leaders, both provide comprehensive PLM solutions that are integrated with supply chain management and purchasing solutions. Oracle last year upped its game with the acquisition of PLM vendor Agile. “Agile was the PLM for the supply chain,” says Farinacci. “We have adopted a product road map and are now focusing on because all of the different engineering disciplines on the front end are producing highly complex documentation as their output, he says. Moreover, at different points in the design process, companies may well have outside parties that need to be able to deliver their work product as part of the overall product record. “The foundation of PLM is that it provides a unified system of record for the entirety of the design and allows that record to be part of a company’s engagement with its suppliers on both the front and back ends,” Larkin says. Arena is an on-demand solution and Larkin believes that delivery model has particular value in a PLM application because people can sign on separately and selectively share portions of the product record both upstream and downstream and then all that work comes together in a central repository. “This tearing down walls between the engineering community and purchasing departments,” says Fedida. Dassault recently introduced a sourcing solution “that allows companies to leverage suppliers and their capabilities as part of the development process,” he says. Avatech, Baltimore, Md., also provides solutions and other engineering services, primarily to users of Autodesk 3D design tools. It recently formed a consulting group to help customers increase efficiency and control costs throughout the entire product development process. “We have a long history of working with our clients to implement the latest design technology, but our consulting services group goes beyond that to focus on other pieces of the process,” says Scott Hale, vice president, manufacturing solutions. “We sit down with customers and identify where their bottlenecks are. Then we start work on developing a road map 36 AUGUST 2008
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