Which industries will benefit from a PLM solution?
There are not many limitations at all to the industries that can benefit from implementing a PLM solution. At Symetri, we are focused on supporting companies within the industrial equipment, transportation and automotive, oil and gas industries.
We have seen that a PLM solution will bring huge benefits to project engineering companies and building component manufacturers.
More than what the industry company represents, it’s also about the company’s business model that defines what kind of PLM solution is required - is the business Assembly to Order (ATO) where products are assembled from components after the receipt of a customer order or Engineer to Order (ETO) type where each customer order results in a unique set of part numbers, bills of material, and routings.
Whatever the industry or type of business, using a PLM system will add value and support the business to reach its goals.
But you might still ask, Isn’t PLM just for large, complex companies?
The simple answer is that the right PLM solution fits most companies, regardless of size, but before you rush into choosing a PLM solution, we advise you to ask yourself these three questions:
1. What is the current situation at the company – what are our challenges and bottlenecks?
2. What do we want to achieve – What are our short-term and long-term goals?
3. Are we prepared to change (our/the) current processes and workflows and start working more according to [LEAN]?
When you have answered these questions and carried out an inventory of your challenges and thereby have an idea and vision of what you want to achieve – and, above all, are prepared to work for change – then you are ready for the next step: to make an inventory and shortlist of the suppliers in the market that provide the right PLM solution for your company.
How will your company benefit from a PLM solution?
Although the first area of involvement is typically the engineering department, as this is where most of the product data is created, PLM can be used for much more than just CAD data management.
PLM presents Return on Investment (ROI) benefits in every phase of the product’s lifecycle:
• Sales: guarantee that the correct products and parts are selected and sold
• Procurement: ensure that the correct item revisions are ordered and documentation is provided to the supplier
• Production: assurance that the correct items are assembled and delivered and that engineering changes are implemented in a controlled way
• Service and maintenance: ensure that the correct spare part documents are created, and information related to each individually delivered product is stored, managed and easily accessible.
As the industry develops along with innovations and technology, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), PLM is a huge asset. When connecting real-time information from an individual product or fleet of product configuration data managed in PLM, you can expand the opportunities related to additional products and service sales extensively to your existing customer base.
Where to start with PLM?
Planning is the main key to success in a PLM implementation project. However, many other important factors influence the success of the implementation, and they all need to be noted and understood from the start. Successful delivery can be achieved through experienced suppliers and the correct implementation methodology.
Each project and customer environment are unique. However, there are also many similarities when it comes to the requirements that a PLM solution should fulfil. Instead of starting from scratch, you can get started quickly today with predefined PLM processes based on the industry best practices. These can be tested, verified, and further fine-tuned to fit your company’s specific needs. This agile approach ensures smooth and more risk-free implementation.
Although the technology implementation may be easy today, you must not forget the most important factor: people. Technology implementation is worthless without proper change management and training and ensuring that everyone understands the benefits that will follow.
When is the right time to start using a PLM solution?
That must be on a case-by-case basis, but in essence, it comes down to return on investment, ROI. Will you get more out than you put in? The first step is to work with one of our solution experts to look at the challenges your business faces and the solutions that are available for you.
Often, companies do not consider implementing PLM due to the initial cost of investment. However, the question is not whether you can afford to invest in PLM; the question is, can you afford not to?
Product data is crucial to a company and its most valuable set of information, and it’s essential to ensure that it is used effectively throughout the business processes. You need to have peace of mind that it is properly and centrally saved so you avoid it being either lost, deleted, or saved to a single person's laptop. Failure to manage product data can, in turn, lead to time being wasted on redesigning drawings in the engineering department and lost time searching for product data when you need to know which spare part your customer requires. PLM ensures that your work is always based on accurate data and avoids extra costs incurred due to the stakeholders' lack of access to the right revision at the right time.
PLM takes care of all of this for you, minimising the steps you need to take and optimising the time you spend on each step of the process, from product design to delivery and beyond.
What PLM solutions does Symetri offer?
The PLM solution that Symetri develops maintains, and supports is [Sovelia Core].
Sovelia Core benefits your entire organisation. It can be implemented smoothly using templates and industry best practices, and the ROI can be seen from the moment you make your investment decision.
Symetri’s solution portfolio is developed with LEAN philosophy and based on customer needs. Our mission is to help you remove waste from engineering and business processes to create more value and increase productivity by incorporating LEAN solutions.
Sovelia Core is supporting collaboration and securing correct, always up-to-date product information across the business. With Sovelia Core, you will have:
• Access to the right information at the right time
• Access the data globally at anytime
• Intuitive user interface for all users through a web browser
• Personalised view of the information
• Role-based access
• Approval processes
• Supporting documentation is automatically generated.
