PLM Implementation is faster with modern PLM solutions
The Product Lifecycle Industry is now more than a decade old, and a lot has changed. Just like the old-style behemoth IT projects have gone out of favor in preference to cloud based or targeted business solutions; the same transition has occurred in the PLM space.
The 7 Breakthroughs Leading to Faster PLM Implementation Results
A decade ago, PLM implementations took years to produce a positive ROI. Companies implementing PLM today can begin to achieve a financial return in months by selecting a PLM system that is specialized for their industry. Modern PLM systems yield rapid returns by providing rich out-of-the-box features and best-practice process improvements.
In the early years of PLM adoption, most projects were initiated by the IT departments in very large organizations. Today the product development business units are driving process improvement and PLM system adoption. Business leaders recognize IT based solutions can enhance competitiveness and improve their ability to produce the right products through global collaboration.
Early PLM systems were primarily software toolkits that could be customized to serve many different product development related industries. After a decade of large company implementations, the leading PLM products have matured tremendously and they have added many retail and consumer products industry specific features. Consumer products manufacturers who are exploring PLM today will benefit from hundreds of million of dollars invested in PLM solutions by the large, early adopting customers and the PLM vendors who develop the software which they use to run their businesses.
Because of the integration of industry best-practices into core PLM software applications, the implementation time for companies in the retail and consumer goods industries has reduced from years to months. The streamlined implementation process can deliver the same competitive advantage that large companies realized but at a significantly reduced cost for smaller companies implementing PLM today.
In order to benefit from industry leader’s PLM investments, look for a modern PLM software package and a PLM consulting service provider with the following characteristics:
- A PLM product which is tailored to your industry. An example of a Consumer Products PLM system is FlexPLM.
- Experienced service providers that can help your business implement the PLM system. They should have implemented PLM systems in your industry and have experience servicing all aspects of the project from PLM functional requirements to business process improvement, implementation, and training of the product development system users.
- Find a PLM consultant and a PLM product that can provide a rapid implementation methodology that takes advantage of industry best-practice methods.
- Consider how the rollout of a PLM system can be phased to accelerate ROI results. There are natural phases in a PLM implementation that lend themselves to early value realization.
The bottom line:
The PLM industry has come a long way from the early days of software toolkits for assembling product development systems. Today, manufacturers and retailers can select a PLM system that will support their business processes without any further customization. This maturing of the PLM market now enables smaller businesses to leverage their global supply chain while delivering products with an ever-shortened development cycle. In the early days of PLM in the retail and consumer goods industry, the large companies distanced themselves from the smaller business because they had the financial ability to be a PLM early adopter. Today, any business can achieve the operational and strategic benefits of a PLM system. Contact us to learn how.
