Understanding Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and Business Process Management (BPM)
PLM is a framework that organizes all aspects of a product’s life, including product information, engineering, manufacturing workflows, and collaborations.
It connects everyone involved in the product’s development and ensures that they share the most current product data.
PLM helps manage and control essential product-related information, making it easier for teams to work together effectively. Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions help companies manage their products from idea to manufacturing, implementation, and maintenance. This allows them to introduce new products rapidly to the market. PLM emphasizes safety and control, integrating these tools with methods, people, and processes throughout a product’s life. PLM is not solely about software; it’s also a business strategy. It aims to optimize product development and management from start to finish.
Product Lifecycle Stages
- Conceive (Market introduction stage) o Specification o Plan
- Design (Growth stage) o Detailed design o Validation and analysis (simulation)
- Realize (Maturity stage) o Sell and deliver o Manufacture
- Service (Saturation and decline stage) o Use o Maintain and support
PLM is the Business Strategy of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from its conception, through design and manufacture, to service and disposal. The three major elements of PLM are people, process, and technology.
BPM is an overall approach that helps to promote efficiency in a company. It involves:
- Documenting existing processes (Process Mapping)
- Defining the future process (Process Modelling)
- Implementing the defined processes (Process Deployment)
- Measuring the process (Process Monitoring)
Benefits of BPM:
- Enhance process efficiency and reduce operational costs
- Ensure compliance with regulations and standards
- Improve the quality of products or services
- Adapt to changing market conditions
- Foster innovation and agility
- Enhance customer satisfaction
- Provide a structured approach to managing processes
There are five distinct Product Lifecycle stages: 1. Product Development 2. Introduction 3. Growth. 4. Maturity 5. Decline. Product development starts when the company finds and develops a new product idea. During product development, sales are zero, and the company’s investment costs increase. In the introduction phase, the new product is introduced to the market, probably with a big marketing campaign. As the product is introduced in the market, sales will slowly grow. Profits are still non-existent. In the growth stage, the firm continues to grow market share and brand awareness. Price may be maintained if demand is high or lowered, if necessary, to capture additional market share. In the maturity stage, sales growth slows down because the product has achieved acceptance by most potential buyers. Profits level decline due to marketing outlays need to be increased to defend the product against competition. In decline stage, sales declined as consumer tastes change or the product becomes obsolete. The firm can maintain the product, possibly rejuvenating it by adding new features and finding new uses; it can harvest the product, reducing costs and continuing to offer it, or selling it to another firm that is willing to continue the product, or it can discontinue the product and liquidating remaining inventory.
PLM Data is crucial for effective product development, collaboration among teams, and decision-making at various stages of the product lifecycle. The PLM system acts as a centralized repository for this data, ensuring that all stakeholders have access to the most up-to-date and accurate information throughout the product’s life. PLM refers to the management of data and processes used in the design, engineering, manufacturing, sales, and service of a product across the entire lifecycle. Product data is all the information about a product which can be read, measured, and structured into a usable format.
Advantages of PLM:
- Decrease Product Implementation costs
- Increase productivity
- Shorter time to market
- Accelerate revenue growth
Disadvantages of PLM:
- Difficult to foresee transition
- Difficult to determine what stage of PLM product is in
- All products don’t have a one size fits all PLM approach
- Only one product per diagram
- Inefficient when dealing with services/brands
Product Engineering encompasses the entire product life cycle from design and testing to release and deployment. PLM tools and processes improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and competitive advantage of businesses. PLM tools ensure product quality. Parts Management provides you with complete control over the lifecycle of parts, including automated workflows and permissions to help manage the approval processes. Manage the lifecycle of parts through improved data management and automated processes. Connect parts with related CAD models, drawings, documents. Classify parts to support search and reuse.
A BOM is a thorough rundown of parts, components, assemblies, and different materials needed to make a product. It also comprises guidelines needed for gathering and utilizing the mentioned materials. It is like adding ingredients to the list of the recipe you want to create. It is the foremost step you take to put together the final product. BOMs management helps organizations to manage and synchronize multiple sources of information in a single database to create and maintain structured, multi-level bill of materials for each stage of the product lifecycle including design, manufacture, and support.
Additionally, MBOMs and EBOMs can be easily synchronized, providing visibility into cross-disciplinary change statuses throughout the product workflow. The following 7 types of BOMs stand out as the most common for the manufacturing and engineering industry: i. Single-level BOM ii. Multi-level BOM iii. Engineering BOM (EBOM) iv. Manufacturing Bill of Materials (MBOM) v. Sales BOM vi. Service BOM vii. Production BOM. A well-defined BOM serve the purpose and helps companies: • Plan purchases of raw materials • Estimate material costs. • Gain inventory control. • Track and plan material requirements. • Maintain accurate records! • Ensure supply robustness and reduce waste.
The BOM Process Solution BOM management with Aras Innovator®: • To assist in connecting and manage multiple sources of information in a single database within organization. • To create and maintain structure of multi-level BOMs for every stage of the product lifecycle. • To synchronize EBOMs and MBOMs for clear visibility through, design, manufacture, and service.
Benefits of BOM Management
- All the parts, components, materials, and assemblies that make up the complete product structure are managed in a multi-level, indented BOMs.
- Automated updates to the EBOM with CAD designs are linked to Part items for.
- All items and files assure configuration control of Revision & Version management.
- Provide a complete BOM change history with BOM redlining highlights changes made to BOM lines from revision to revision.
- To promote reuse, avoid unnecessary product costs, and reduce parts proliferation.
- Improves collaboration and coordination to avoid manufacturing errors, scrap, and rework.
- BOM automation reduces data management overhead.
- Keep designs up to date on their obsolescence status. Document Management includes version and change control for files in multiple formats in a secure, searchable repository
Purpose of DM
- Paper storage may require significant physical space.
- A DM platform can integrate disparate documents for greater control, access, and process efficiency.
- It offers advantages in terms of information retrieval, security, governance, and lower cost of operations.
Benefits of DM:
- Fully configurable to support company’s corporate procedures, practices, and standards.
- Document lifecycle versioning, status management, and user access control.
- Document classification based on document types.
- Automatic document numbering and naming.
- Document linking to related items like projects and parts.
- Viewable automatically created for Visual Collaboration.