Product Lifecycle Management (PLM

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) INTRODUCTION Product lifecycle management, sometimes "product life cycle management", represents an all-encompassing vision for managing all data relating to the design, production, support and ultimate disposal of manufactured goods. PLM concepts were first introduced where safety and control have been extremely important, notably the aerospace, medical device, military and nuclear industries. These industries originated the discipline of configuration management (CM), which evolved into electronic data management systems (EDMS), which then further evolved to product data management (PDM). Over the last ten years, manufacturers of instrumentation, industrial machinery, consumer electronics, packaged goods and other complex engineered products have discovered the benefits of PLM solutions and are adopting efficient PLM software in increasing numbers. HISTORY The inspiration for the burgeoning business process now known as PLM came from American Motors Corporation (AMC). The automaker was looking for a way to speed up its product development process to compete better against its larger competitors in 1985, according to François Castaing, Vice President for Product Engineering and Development. After introducing its compact Jeep Cherokee (XJ), the vehicle that launched the modern sport utility vehicle (SUV) market, AMC began development of a new model, that later came out as the Jeep Grand Cherokee. The first part in its quest for faster product development was computer-aided design (CAD) software system that make engineers more productive.  The second part in this effort was the new communication system that allowed conflicts to be resolved faster, as well as reducing costly engineering changes because all drawings and documents were in a central database. The product data management was so effective that after AMC was purchased by Chrysler, the system was expanded throughout the enterprise connecting everyone involved in designing and building products.  While an early adopter of PLM technology, Chrysler was able to become the auto industry's lowest-cost producer, recording development costs that were half of the industry average by the mid-1990s. 1982 – 1983  Rockwell Int'l developed initial concepts of PDM and PLM for the B-1B bomber program. A system called Engineering Data System (EDS) was augmented to interface with Computervision and CADAM systems to track part configurations and lifecycle of components and assemblies. A white paper on this topic was presented during those years at a Computervision User's Group meeting in San Diego. Shortly after Computervison released its system implementing only the PDM aspects as the lifecycle model was specific to Rockwell and Aerospace needs. The theory of a product life cycle was first introduced in the 1950s to explain the expected life cycle of a typical product from design to obsolescence, a period divided into the phases of product introduction, product growth, maturity, and decline. The goal of managing a product's life cycle is to maximize its value and profitability at each stage. Life cycle is primarily associated with marketing theory. What is a Product? To understand PLM, you need to first understand definition of Product and the challenges associated with getting one to the market place. A good, idea, method, information, object or service created as a result of a process and serves a need or satisfies a want. It has combination of tangible and intangible attributes (benefits,features, functions, uses)that  seller offers a buyer for purchase. (@ https://www.businessdictionary.com ) Examples of Products:- What is a PLM? PLM is a tool that helps to manage both product data and product development process. PLM Software's vision is to enable a world where organizations and their partners collaborate through global innovation networks to deliver world-class products and services, allowing them to deal swiftly with emerging risks and opportunities. PLM integrates and manage processes, applications, and information that define products across multiple systems and media. Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) helps you manage complex, cross-functional processes, coordinating the efforts of distributed teams to consistently and efficiently develop the best possible products. The PTC PLM software system manages all aspects of the product development lifecycle, from concept through service and retirement. By optimizing product development processes and using a single, secure source of information, you can develop products that are competitive, cost-effective, and high quality. Any organizations in a global market place strives: To reduce Product costs To attain better Quality To reduce/improve “time-to-market” To attain Product Differentiation DEFINITION What is PLM, or Product Life Cycle Management? Good question and one we should define before we help you: decide if you need it, explain how it can help you and figure out what parts of it you need - or don't need. Product Lifecycle Management can be interpreted in numerous ways. Leading authorities provide their own interpretation of PLM, a variety of which are listed below: "PLM is a strategic business approach that applies a consistent set of business solutions in support of the collaborative creation, management, dissemination, and use of product definition information across the extended enterprise, and spanning from product concept to end of life-integrating people, processes, business systems, and information. PLM forms the product information backbone for a company and its extended enterprise."  Source:  CIMdata "Product life cycle management or PLM is an all-encompassing approach for innovation, new product development and introduction (NPDI) and product information management from ideation to end of life. PLM Systems as an enabling technology for PLM integrate people, data, processes, and business systems and provide a product information backbone for companies and their extended enterprise."  Source:  PLM Technology Guide "The core of PLM (product life cycle management) is in the creations and central management of all product data and the technology used to access this information and knowledge. PLM as a discipline emerged from tools such as CAD, CAM and PDM, but can be viewed as the integration of these tools with methods, people and the processes through all stages of a product's life." Source:  Wikipedia article on Product Lifecycle Management "Product life cycle management is the process of managing product-related design, production and maintenance information. PLM may also serve as the central repository for secondary information, such as vendor application notes, catalogs, customer feedback, marketing plans, archived project schedules, and other information acquired over the product's life."  Source:  Product Lifecycle Management "PLM or Product Life cycle Management is a process or system used to manage the data and design process associated with the life of a product from its conception and envisioning through its manufacture, to its retirement and disposal. PLM manages data, people, business processes, manufacturing processes, and anything else pertaining to a product. A PLM system acts as a central information hub for everyone associated with a given product, so a well-managed PLM system can streamline product development and facilitate easier communication among those working on/with a product.  Source:  Aras Significance of PLM In high-technology sectors such as aviation the topic PLM - Product-Lifecycle-Management – always had a special significance, which even increased during the past years. PLM stands for the concept to smoothly integrate the complete information of a product lifecycle. Until recently mainly the administration of mechanical product data was concerned, today also electronic and electro technical components need to be managed and software control as well as imbedded software need to be reflected. Also complete processes, responsible persons and systems are often integrated and thus PLM represents a really complex and finally intelligent back-up for a company and its environment. Furthermore the topic is often discussed as very different groups of people inside and outside the company need to access product data. Previously the data was mainly interesting for product developer, whereas today many other functions such as marketing, sales, service and suppliers need to access PLM. Back to aircraft manufacturing: The topic can be illustrated using the example of an airline buying new seats. All data of the seats need to be correctly integrated at the aircraft manufacturer digitally. „This might sound simple, but is very complex“, says Michael Kirchgässner, Director PLM-Services at the consultancy company Altran. Not only is the size of the seat concerned. „Such information as flammability, weight, ecological characteristics of the seats, material, cabling etc. need to be integrated, completed Michael Kirchgässner. As Altran consultant he traditionally works on the interface between suppliers and aircraft manufacturers and knows which information is required. „We support the seat manufacturer to correctly provide this information. “  Actually a number of concrete benefits stand for a sophisticated PLM: Which, if integrated in an optimum way, can manage products and product data along their complete life cycle significantly better. Also cross-functional cooperation in the company will be improved and costs are reduced demonstrably, i.e. because possible synergies can be used for procurement or the IT environment has been optimised and the time-to-market is being reduced.  Also engineering becomes more effective. Many engineers need to spend a lot of time to retrieve certain data and to then transfer it from the existing system into the own system. With a PLM managed correspondingly these hours are not needed any more. You also do not require the resources for the data transfer between the different systems, formats and locations. „Today managers should not consider PLM as IT investigation – PLM is the transformation of product development“, says Michael Kirchgässner.  At the same time companies can reduce risks with innovative PLM systems: After an accident the responsible authorities need to go through many data of the components within a few days searching for indications for the accident. Also a lot of suppliers often need to disclose detailed test data and data of the purchased procurements. Companies who cannot provide this data at all or who only can provide the data at considerable cost in the required quality can be sanctioned with severe penalties. „Against this background we today consider PLM as enabler in order to create processes and products more efficient“, reports Michael Kirchgässner. A major problem for aviation projects is the obsolescence of used hardware and software during the product’s lifecycle: Facing project runtimes of 20 years and more hardware and programs design has been started with are already outdated once the development is finished and thus useless. When at the end of the development additional hardware components are required it comes as surprise that the required products are no longer manufactured because the PC manufacturer considers his workstation as outdated. PLM used in an intelligent way can indicate problems in good time and corrective action can be taken.   No matter for which PLM strategy you decide companies maintaining their systems on a regular basis reduce the risk to be facing sudden obsolescence. „Decisive for success is to precisely formulate the requirements of product components and their processes to ensure that the different PLM disciplines can implement them correspondingly in the software“,explains.Michael.Kirchgässner.  Altran’s service at this stage consists of the provision of IT systems, the development of methods and establishing processes which make digital information available. „ We introduce PLM and consult the customers how to benefit the best from the programs“, says Michael Kirchgässner.  Stages of PLM Many software solutions have been developed to organize and integrate the different phases of a product’s lifecycle. PLM should not be seen as a single software product but a collection of software tools and working methods integrated together to address either single stages of the lifecycle or connect different tasks or manage the whole process. Some software providers cover the whole PLM range while others single niche application. Some applications can span many fields of PLM with different modules within the same data model. An overview of the fields within PLM is covered here. Phase 1: Conceive Imagine, specify, plan, innovate: The first stage is the definition of the product requirements based on customer, company, market and regulatory bodies’ viewpoints. From this specification, the product's major technical parameters can be defined. In parallel, the initial concept design work is performed defining the aesthetics of the product together with its main functional aspects. Many different media are used for these processes, from pencil and paper to clay models to 3D CAID computer-aided industrial design software. In some concepts, the investment of resources into research or analysis-of-options may be included in the conception phase – e.g. bringing the technology to a level of maturity sufficient to move to the next phase. However, life-cycle engineering is iterative. It is always possible that something doesn't work well in any phase enough to back up into a prior phase – perhaps all the way back to conception or research. There are many examples to draw from. Phase 2: Design Describe, define, develop, test, analyze and validate: This is where the detailed design and development of the product’s form starts, progressing to prototype testing, through pilot release to full product launch. It can also involve redesign and ramp for improvement to existing products as well as planned obsolescence. The main tool used for design and development is CAD. This can be simple 2D drawing / drafting or 3D parametric feature based solid/surface modeling. Such software includes technology such as Hybrid Modeling, Reverse Engineering, KBE (knowledge-based engineering), NDT (Nondestructive testing), and Assembly construction. This step covers many engineering disciplines including: mechanical, electrical, electronic, software (embedded), and domain-specific, such as architectural, aerospace, automotive, ... Along with the actual creation of geometry there is the analysis of the components and product assemblies. Simulation, validation and optimization tasks are carried out using CAE (computer-aided engineering) software either integrated in the CAD package or stand-alone. These are used to perform tasks such as:- Stress analysis, FEA (finite element analysis); kinematics; computational fluid dynamics (CFD); and mechanical event simulation (MES). CAQ (computer-aided quality) is used for tasks such as Dimensionaltolerance (engineering) analysis. Another task performed at this stage is the sourcing of bought out components, possibly with the aid of procurement systems. Phase 3: Realize Manufacture, make, build, procure, produce, sell and deliver: Once the design of the product’s components is complete the method of manufacturing is defined. This includes CAD tasks such as tool design; creation of CNC Machining instructions for the product’s parts as well as tools to manufacture those parts, using integrated or separate CAM computer-aided manufacturing software. This will also involve analysis tools for process simulation for operations such as casting, molding, and die press forming. Once the manufacturing method has been identified CPM comes into play. This involves CAPE (computer-aided production engineering) or CAP/CAPP – (production planning) tools for carrying out factory, plant and facility layout and production simulation. For example: press-line simulation; and industrial ergonomics; as well as tool selection management. Once components are manufactured their geometrical form and size can be checked against the original CAD data with the use of computer-aided inspection equipment and software. Parallel to the engineering tasks, sales product configuration and marketing documentation work take place. This could include transferring engineering data (geometry and part list data) to a web based sales configurator and other desktop publishing systems. Phase 4: Service Use, operate, maintain, support, sustain, phase-out, retire, recycle and disposal: The final phase of the lifecycle involves managing of in service information. Providing customers and service engineers with support information for repair and maintenance, as well as waste management/recycling information. This involves using tools such as Maintenance, Repair and Operations Management (MRO) software. There is an end-of-life to every product. Whether it be disposal or destruction of material objects or information, this needs to be considered since it may not be free from ramifications. Why companies use PLM? Projects are more complex. Products are becoming more advanced. So, it comes as no surprise that business processes, engineering, software development, design, analysis and the other responsibilities that are part of an enterprise’s operation need a better model to support product development. PLM systems, such as PTC Windchill, manage all aspects of the product lifecycle, from concept design to product retirement. PLM can be used to increase output with constant resources, to increase revenues or to reduce the resources used to produce a constant output. This all helps to improve the bottom line. PLM helps organisation to achieve this through: Efficiency improvements Improving development for new products Reduced costs Increase productivity Improved quality of products PLMs can also be used for regulatory purposes as well as for quality assurance by supporting traceability, which is required in a wide range of industries. Increased Innovation/ New Product Development Product development is the key to future innovation. But, the challenge here is new products take a long time to develop and reach the market. Without a system to manage all the different aspects of creating a new product, it is very easy for product development to run late and over budget. PLM helps to make the product development process more transparent and improve efficiencies. This leads to more innovations, shorter product development cycles development and time-to-market and better determination of the status of new product development undertakings. Management of Intellectual and Information Assets and Property While most enterprises agree that intellectual property and assets are some if not the most important of assets in the organisation, it doesn’t means they have a comprehensive policy or strategy for managing information and intellectual property. Information that is hard to access, search, retrieve and index is not helpful- especially when dealing with large data volumes. Additionally, having to recreate design data and documents that cannot be found is tedious and expensive. On top of this, a comprehensive PLM system enables companies to reuse existing information. Advantages of PLM? PLM Software supports the product development process, integrating people, data, processes and business systems and providing a product information backbone for companies and their extended enterprise. The benefits of PLM software focus around time, cost and quality. These benefits include: Faster time-to-market Improved cycle times Fewer Errors Less scrap & rework Greater productivity Greater Design efficiency Better product quality Decreased cost of new product introduction Insight into critical processes Better reporting and analytics Standards and regulatory compliance Improved design review and approval processes Improved communication Reduced product cost and greater profitability Better resource utilization Improved integration and communication with extended supply chain Problems with PLM? While the product life cycle theory is widely accepted, it does have critics who say that the theory has so many exceptions and so few rules that it is meaningless. Among the holes in the theory that these critics highlight: There is no set amount of time that a product must stay in any stage; each product is different and moves through the stages at different times. Also, the four stages are not the same time period in length, which is often overlooked. There is no real proof that all products must die. Some products have been seen to go from maturity back to a period of rapid growth thanks to some improvement or redesign. Some argue that by saying in advance that a product must reach the end of life stage, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that companies subscribe to. Critics say that some businesses interpret the first downturn in sales to mean that a product has reached decline and should be killed, thus terminating some still-viable products prematurely. The theory can lead to an over-emphasis on new product releases at the expense of mature products, when in fact the greater profits could possibly be derived from the mature product if a little work was done on revamping the product. The theory emphasizes individual products instead of taking larger brands into account. The theory does not adequately account for product redesign and/or reinvention. Applications PLM is associated with manufacturing, but the management structure can also be used for software development and service provision. PLM is typically broken into the following stages: Beginning of life (BOL) - includes new product development and design processes. Middle of life (MOL) - includes collaboration with suppliers, product information management (PIM) and warranty management. End of life (EOL) - includes strategies for how the products will be disposed of, discontinued or recycled. A PLM software application can help an organization manage their product's lifecyles by providing a data warehouse for all the information that affects the product. PLM software can be used to automate the management of product-related data and integrate the data with other business processes such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and manufacturing execution systems (MES). The goal of PLM is to eliminate waste and improve efficiency. PLM is considered to be an integral part of the lean productionmodel. Why PLM? By:- ANIRBAN DALUI 14