Production processes are complex and require adequate management for the success of the entire production cycle. A single failure in any phase of production can impact the entire process, leading to significant financial losses.
How can businesses avoid such losses?
Modern companies can leverage a process called Extended Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) to optimize every phase of production. This process enables companies to plan each step of the production cycle, thereby increasing efficiency and preventing losses.
What is Extended Product Lifecycle Management?
Bringing a new product to market is a long process that requires proper preparation, thorough analysis, and an effective strategy.
Extended Product Lifecycle Management combines and integrates the following aspects:
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Defining the product in relation to customer/market demands and its variations.
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Establishing and controlling the product's quality throughout all phases of its lifecycle.
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Defining standards for goods and services and ensuring compliance.
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Supporting and guiding the implementation of the production phase.
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Assisting in the management of product maintenance and upgrades for customers, while maintaining close collaboration between R&D, Service, and customers.
The history of PLM
Extended PLM is not an entirely new service. Its evolution dates back to the 1930s, when Otto Kleppner designed an early model that later transformed into today’s Extended PLM. Initially, PLM was conceived as a tool for engineering product development; today, it has evolved into a methodology that covers a broader portion of the business, including marketing, partners, customer service, sales, suppliers, and more.
Today, PLM has become a comprehensive approach to managing data related to all aspects of a product, from design and manufacturing to support and decommissioning. In other words, PLM is the extended process of designing the entire product lifecycle along the supply chain, from production to sales and services.
Companies leveraging PLM
Companies face a wide range of challenges and related problems during the development and production of goods. An Extended PLM solution helps track solutions to these challenges, creates a coherent and useful knowledge base, manages a single "technical" source of truth for products, and provides a strategy for improving a faster and more reliable go-to-market approach.
By managing the correction of these problems, adjustments to new demands, and issues that arise during the customer usage phase, Extended PLM aligns the continuous development path of the product with market requirements. At the same time, it enables rapid access to product data for all business areas and the “extended” company (partners, suppliers, consultants, etc.).
Therefore, companies must:
- Maintain supply and demand by managing inventory.
- Accurately recognize and fulfill customer demand.
- Optimize production.
- Ensure employee safety.
- Manage logistics effectively.
There is no doubt that consumer demand fluctuates, and integrating PLM into the organization’s ERP structure is crucial for adequately responding to this ever-evolving demand.
The relationship between PLM and Supply Chain
Integrating the ERP system with PLM unifies all product-related information into a continuous and accessible source for all systems within the organization. It automates critical processes, reducing human intervention and preserving data integrity. This efficient fusion over time ultimately enhances the overall supply chain efficiency.
What does PLM-ERP integration bring?
Data integrity
PLM-ERP integrations record data, changes, and updates on a single platform. Any revisions or new versions are documented within the same system, avoiding issues such as multiple entries and facilitating change tracking.
Collaboration with real-time updates
Documenting data on a single platform facilitates interdepartmental transfer, enhancing communication within the organization.
Improved visibility of the product lifecycle
A product’s success in the market depends, in part, on its lifecycle during production stages. At this stage, many data points circulate constantly. However, this data is most useful when the production department has full access to it. PLM-ERP integration allows the production team to identify issues within the supply chain and address them in real-time.
Syscons for Extended Product Lifecycle Management
Manufacturing is at the core of any company, making the product lifecycle the most crucial process. At Syscons, we have a team of professionals who understand that each production process is unique, and the product lifecycle must be managed with precision. For this reason, we offer high-quality consulting where we identify challenges and define goals. Our team is led by Senior Consultant Robert Tomè.
Syscons focuses on engineering in the development of Extended PLM solutions. We collaborate with your engineers to identify and address specific challenges and find suitable solutions. Our solutions focus on the following aspects of the product lifecycle:
- Increasing productivity.
- Accelerating time-to-market.
- Reducing production costs.
- Preparing for mass production.
Adopting PLM for your business not only optimizes production and the product path but also brings significant benefits such as greater transparency, improved product quality, and increased revenue.
