THE PLM STATE

Google chrome and PLM? What I learned about a platform with apps

Google Chrome and PLM? What I learned about a Platform with apps.

google_chrome

Defining PLM is tricky- here is one opinion - Companies implement PLM strategies to improve upon critical business issues such as revenue, profitability, time-to-market and quality. PLM isn't a product but rather

  • the deployment of various technologies (such as PDM, CAD, FEA, ERP, project management, document management and collaboration tools)
  • improved processes around how products are defined, developed and produced,
  • and training of people to execute the strategy.

How it all works together from an installation, training, usage and maintenance standpoint is the difference between a good and a bad PLM implementation.

So speaking of a good experience, here is what I learned about defining and implementing PLM when I switched from IE to Google Chrome for my browsing.

Platform versus full featured Application

I was getting confused, which caused a work slow down, with all the buttons Microsoft was putting on the IE browser, so I decided to try Google Chrome. After the Google chrome download, I looked at it and said, “That’s it? Where are at least a few buttons to click?” And then I realized it was like the experience I had when getting the Droid pro phone, the basic OS was a platform and I needed to add in the popular applications to make it usable and functional for my communication needs.

On my Google chrome browser, I went into the APP store and added the apps that I needed, and kept the clutter of things I did not want Google automatically providing for me, off my browser toolbar. Now I have this super clean interface that I can navigate easily and I don’t get lost in the clutter- which is what was happening to me with IE.

What’s this have to do the PLM? Well, I am going to define PLM simply as A Platform for the virtual products life cycle. And properly implemented, it will work with the other platforms common for mfg companies;

  • CRM, SCM and ERP (the Platform for the physical products life cycle) with the proper interface points defined and connected.

Yes I know this definition is NOT new, others have gone before me with the Platform mantra. Oleg Shilovitsky has a excellent article on this topic in his beyond PLM blog http://bit.ly/lbess1

Thinking Platform, now what?

The next thought is, how do you build out the platform? Well, let’s take a look at CRM. Salesforce CRM is by far the most popular CRM system. Interface wise, it’s fairly clean and they have an outstanding app store to add things if your business requirements need more functionality. Being a sales person, the value to me was in the interface and process functions, not the cloud part. I can get at info in sales force easily and get my work done, which is what these platforms are fundamentally supposed to do – help get the work done! The first thing I did with sales force was remove a bunch of fields they provided that I did not need to clear up the screen. Then I added a few apps, like an Org Chart app with color coding.

So, if a bunch of not so smart sales people (making fun of myself here) can configure a CRM platform, I would think a group of smart engineers/platform admins can configure a PLM platform so that the users of the system can get at information easily and get their work done.

My personal experience with the Enterprise Platform from SolidWorks proved this “theory”. It was so easy to configure as an admin and add third party apps,that my service folks could get a company up and running, and delivering business value to the organization, in days versus months.

One size or platform does not fit all

The sophistication of; your product development process, business requirements (like compliance with standards) and the mix and quantity of products you design, determines:

  • Which platforms you need – for example, a small company with 80% purchased parts may be able to do everything with CRM and ERP, with a little CAD, FEA and PDM thrown in for the 20% they design.
  • That sophistication also known as “complexity” coupled with the skill level of your people( BIG factor) also determines what “apps” you add to your platform(s) and when you add them.

Think Platform with apps, add them in bite sized chunks, and build your platform(s) for usability and clarity. Try this, take a new computer, install IE and look at it. Then install Google chrome and look at it- I vote for initial user interface simplicity!

 

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