Managing Automation - June 2008 - (Page 35)

[ SPECIAL REPORT ] in a 3D model, which cuts lead times down by about eight weeks, he says. Training engineers to use the new system took a good year, and designs were gradually moved into the Windchill database. But the PTC PLM On Demand model gives this small manufacturer a big competitive advantage. “We can respond quicker, which gives us a competitive edge over other companies our size that are trying to do engineering work and just can’t handle the modeling,” Cannaverde says. “And when we deal with Fortune 500 companies and show them our database management system, they sometimes say it’s better than theirs. It shows them that we are serious about engineering.” THE SAFE PLAY For some mid-sized companies, however, security concerns — specifically the need to protect intellectual property — trump cost issues. That was the case at Callaway Golf, a maker of golf clubs, balls, and accessories, which opted for an on-premise PLM deployment after first considering the SaaS option. “Our concern ultimately boiled down to security,” says John Loo, Callaway’s senior manager of design systems. “The golf industry, in general, is very competitive so our big concern was that we might be exposed. Since we have the expertise to run it in-house, we decided to do that.” Callaway Golf designs its products in-house and outsources the component manufacturing to overseas contractors that send the product back to be built in the United States. But when the company launched a product development improvement initiative a few years ago, it quickly uncovered one glaring glitch in the value chain: communication — or a lack thereof — with suppliers. Callaway is constantly changing the design of its clubs, often introducing several new products annually. However, before PLM, alerting suppliers to a new design was as unsystematic as sending files via e-mail. “Many times we’d make changes, but it was buried in a supplier’s in-box,” Loo says. Of course, as a company known for its innovation in the golf industry, Callaway couldn’t afford to drop the ball at any point in its design-tomanufacturing process. The company has a long histor y with Siemens PLM Software (formerly UGS), using its CAD/CAM software to design areas of small radius and tightly blended curves — something not all CAD applications can do. But coordinating among design teams, engineers, suppliers, and even the marketing staff or lawyers was not an easy task. Recently, however, Callaway decided to automate its design collaboration processes using Siemens’ Web-based PLM portal, Teamcenter Community Collaboration, based on Micro soft’s Office SharePoint Ser ver. Teamcenter Community Collaboration is set up as a framework that streamlines workflow processes between dispersed teams. It also does content management. More important, it enables clear communication between Callaway and its partners. “The number-one thing our suppliers liked was the ability to be alerted when files were updated,” Loo says. There are other benefits as well, including a bidirectional desktop sharing function that allows multiple users to work PERVASIVE PLM together on a particular deskProduct lifecycle management is not just a set of top display, collaborating on a technologies; rather, it’s a strategic business CAD model, for example. “It alapproach. PLM applies a consistent set of business lows us to solve problems in an solutions in support of the collaborative creation, management, dissemination, and use of product hour that typically could take definition information across the extended entertwo to three days,” he says. prise from concept to end of life — integrating While this is a Web-based people, processes, business systems, and informatechnology, Callaway is using tion, according to research firm CIMdata Inc. an on-premise version of the Using this approach, companies can increase efficiency, reduce costs, improve quality, and launch software that it licensed from innovative products faster than ever. For that reaSiemens. Siemens has an SaaS son — and with many delivery options emerging version, which Callaway tried — PLM is becoming a critical business investment when it was testing the techfor manufacturers of all sizes. nology. But the company Projected PLM Market Growth quickly moved the software in(software and services) house, mainly because of se$38 billion $35.1 curity concerns. billion $32 $29 billion Suppliers connect to the $26 billion $24.3 billion Siemens internal design Web billion site via a secure VPN. Once they are in the network, Callaway controls all of the access and allows suppliers to see only the areas of a project on which 2007 2008* 2009* 2010* 2011* 2012* they are working. The portal is Source: CIMdata Inc. * Estimates accessible 24 hours a day, which eliminates any time zone barriers. On a typical business day, 200 different users will log on to the portal to access documents and collaborate, Loo says. So far, Teamcenter Community Collaboration has helped Callaway to disseminate design data. But Loo sees even more opportunity to integrate other applications into the portal, such as engineering product data management. “Now we have to manually move files to taking the pulse June 2008 35

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation - June 2008

Managing Automation - June 2008 Contents Take 1 SAP Cites Functionality, Cost Structure in Modified On-Demand Product Rollout Dassault Exec Predicts More PLM Consolidation The Blackberry Goes Native with SAP CRM QAD Brings MDM In-House with FullTilt Buy Power Experts Look to End Voltage Sags The Progressive Manufacturers Notes Cover Story: Playing the Globalization Game to Win Special Report Integration Transformation Industries Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - June 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.