Even though more and more PLM product vendors are coming with standard solutions for managing product information and processes, still PLM solutions are customized heavily during implementation. As a result of this, the cost of ownership for maintaining PLM Solution goes up significantly, due to development of customization, maintenance, upgrade. Along with this also comes in inefficiency due to the non standard process deployment. This article tries to addresses some of the key reasons behind this and looks towards approach to realize the potential of PLM.
Business Driven Vs IT Driven
One of the reasons that PLM is still viewed as a IT solution in organization, is that PLM is headed and driven under IT Organization instead by business functions. This results focus shift from deploying a business solution into developing an IT solution. Companies that extract the best out of PLM, tend to spend more time in deploying the business process through PLM within the company rather than trying to develop IT solution that tries to match their process variance. Business Driven PLM deployments can focus on measuring and improving efficiency, lead time, profits etc through PLM. IT driven implementation tend to focus more on IT targets like development milestones, new feature addition, usability improvements etc. Not to say that these IT measures are not important, but the key question here is where should be focus ?. And the focus should be towards realizing the business benefits, for which millions of dollars are spent in buying PLM solutions.
Standard Deployment Vs Custom Development
Even though PLM Products available in the market comes with built in processes, still many companies continue to implement PLM solution in the standard software development cycle like requirements, design, built and roll-out. Instead business solutions like PLM should be implemented as As –Is Process Study, To Be Process , solution design, Conference Room Pilot 1 (CRP 1), configuration, CRP2, Training and Rollout. This solution deployment process is followed as a standard process in ERP systems. The above said approach could lead a major shift towards standard solution deployment.
The other major reason that leads to custom development is due to focus towards ‘Exception Management’. The standard feature of most of the PLM products can satisfy 80% of most the business measures, which PLM for any company is set to achieve. Companies tend to shift their focus towards satisfying the remaining 20% by developing and customizing solutions instead of having focus on deploying on standard features. This approach of deploying standard solution achieving 80% of business benefits, without incurring additional cost of ownership will greatly help companies towards channeling resources and energies.
‘We are different’ Syndrome
Many times companies implementing PLM, customizes and develops PLM solution on its own instead of adopting the standard package solution available. But the primary pitfall here is the approach of having a mindset that ‘We are different’. This mindset relies in this premise that each company processes is non standard and is unique. Though there could be some truth in this, but still the standard product development process, change management process and other product management processes are well addressed in the standard PLM solutions available in the market. Understanding and adopting them will not only reduce the overall cost of ownership of the PLM solution, but also bring towards the best practice followed in the industry.
Enabler Vs Controller
Another common mistake in implementing PLM solutions is companies tend to build PLM solution as a Process Controller system. Many checks, mandatory fields, enforcements are built trying to ensure the data entry is proper in ensuring control. This goes to an extent where PLM becomes a policing system rather than an enabling system. This policing results in poor user experience, delay in process cycles, bureaucracy and defeating the basic purpose. Instead PLM should be implemented as a enabling system where people participate in authoring, reviewing, approving contents because they see value towards it. Built in mechanisms like reviews, reports, audit trials can always capture process or data violations, which can help rectify deviations. So the better approach is start deploying PLM system as a enabling system with loose checks and tighten it up based on audits at later point.
Role of PLM Product Vendors
If we look into Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions, they have standard implementation framework and approaches. ERP implementations framework is matured and Functional consultants and technical consultants for each module are recognized and products vendors invest in developing capability around these consultants. With Respect to this, PLM vendors have not invested enough towards developing functional consulting and this result in non standard process deployment. Also the PLM solutions developed are not articulated well as business solutions and process fulfillment to the audience. The User manuals of PLM solutions dwells more on IT system usage rather than business processes/ problems which the solution addresses. More focus from the product vendors towards articulating PLM as a business solution and developing standard functional capability / consultants towards it will help the customers in a big way.
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