Clarity on PLM

A quick peek into some research on … on what IT leaders need to know about implementing PLM on mobile devices such as the iPad.  This is a follow up to my PLM Hits the Road – and the Plant – and the Service Depot… post and the underlying reports, PLM Goes Mobile and Product and Program Management Goes Mobile. I think it is important to provide the technical perspective to complement the business perspective in those reports, so the last paper in the series, Enabling Mobile PLM, is intended to point out some very practical considerations that IT leaders must take into account when taking PLM mobile.

The Research Findings

The two reports aimed at the line of business uses of mobile Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) point out the limitations of current devices that support PLM (laptops, desktops, workstations, and smartphones running web browsers) in mobile environments. One of the key “aha” moments I had while researching the report was that laptops are not really “mobile” devices – they are “portable” devices that can be readily moved from one stationary location (like the office) to another (like a plane or hotel). The reports point out scenarios including traveling engineers and managers accessing PLM when standard devices aren’t practical. It also shares scenarios where plant personnel and service technicians need access to product data but work in non-conducive locations such as the plant, the field, or for that matter on (or in) a piece of equipment. See my views on different devices in common mobile PLM scenarios (below).

The report starts with the premise that using mobile devices such as tablets to access PLM is compelling to the business. If you are not on board with that already, please read the reports (or at least the executive summaries).  If you are with me on the value, then, it is important for IT to recognize some factors that need to be taken into account for mobile PLM. The factors I touch on in the report include:

• Leveraging existing PLM infrastructure
• Device considerations
• Application considerations
• Process considerations
• People considerations
• Management considerations

I think one of the most important conclusions has to do with the applications themselves. While it’s important to leverage as much of the existing PLM infrastructure as possible, existing PLM solutions don’t count as “an app for that.” As the report says, “Purpose-built mobile apps are fundamentally different than web applications intended for desktop use.” While the functionality, security, processes, users, and other entities in PLM are reusable, a mobile application is not designed in the same way as an application designed for use with a keyboard, mouse, and a nice big monitor (or for engineers, perhaps two or three of them).

Implications for Manufacturers

So that was a quick peek into some recent research on the information technology implications of mobile PLM, I hope you found it interesting. Does the research reflect your experiences? Do you see it differently? Let us know what it looks like from your perspective.

Please feel free to review more free research and white papers about PLM and other enterprise software for manufacturers from Tech-Clarity.

A quick peek into some research on … how mobile devices like the iPad can extend PLM value. Tech-Clarity recently published two papers, PLM Goes Mobile and Product and Program Management Goes Mobile. These papers explore the ways that using mobile PLM applications and devices can extend the opportunity for engineers and others in the product lifecycle to contribute, decide, act, and innovate with PLM.

UPDATE: For the IT perspective, please see this post about What the CIO Should Know about Mobile PLM

The Research Findings

Apple’s iPad and iPad 2 are revolutionizing the way people access media and information. About a year ago, I decided to buy one of the first iPads available as a birthday present (yes, for myself). I never regretted the decision until I saw how much more elegant and functional the iPad 2 is. Now I am envious. But as new as the iPad is, mobile devices and applications are not new. I researched business uses of mobile devices in papers such as SLM Goes Mobile which discusses taking field service applications into the field. But up to this point, the value of PLM hasn’t been widely available in a mobile setting. Things are changing. As these reports say, “Devices like the iPad are well suited for the intersection of business and mobility.”

The reports highlight the issues that traditional PLM-capable devices put on mobile workers. The report discusses two distinct sets of users, each with their own challenges:

• Users that are extending the reach of their enterprise systems outside of the office, such as in a plane, doctor’s office, or meeting
• Those that use mobile applications as their primary device, such as service technicians or manufacturing supervisors

The reports point out a wide variety of locations and scenarios where mobile applications can help with PLM (see Mobile PLM Framework diagram). They also point out the limitations of current devices in mobile scenarios. For example, one of the biggest differentiations (you know what I mean if you have an iPad) is that laptops are not mobile devices, they are portable devices. They are of very little use until you get from point A to point B and set them down on a flat surface. And for all of us that struggle with trying to type on a PC in coach airplane seats, you know that even that is a challenge. Compare that to the challenges faced by someone climbing up and down a piece of equipment or an aircraft in the hangar! The report also points out why smart phones fall short. Although the iPad will not be the only device that will be capable of running PLM applications, it will set the trend because it is the first one ready.

The reports also highlight mobile scenarios for different functions in the business. In fact, the papers were designed to address different perspectives:

• For engineers and engineering managers, the issue is a lot of decision-making and innovation goes uncaptured or gets put on hold when an engineer is mobile.
• For manufacturing personnel in the plant or service technicians at the service depot (or in the field), they simply don’t have convenient access to the product information they need to do their jobs.
• For product and program managers, the issue is that mobile team members need to decide, approve, and contribute to their projects and programs in real-time regardless of whether they are sitting in front of a computer.

Please feel free to download the reports, there is far too much to go into in a blog post. But I hope this gives you some idea of what to expect in the reports.

Implications for Manufacturers

So what can manufacturers do to take advantage of the mobile PLM opportunity? The first thing they should do is recognize the limitations that they currently face from their devices. They should also recognize that the challenges for mobile PLM are not limited to devices, but also the applications. Simply running an existing PLM application in a web browser will fall short of expectations (and likely not get used). Mobile users need mobile apps, not PLM applications built for desktops or laptops (with a mouse, keyboard, and one or more large monitors). Mobile PLM applications should be built for mobile scenarios and use visual navigation. The iPad has great graphics and is very capable of showing high resolution product graphics, but work their best when they are running “apps” specifically designed for their form factor. The opportunity to extend PLM information and decision-making to mobile scenarios is in reach with the iPad (and other devices to come) and the availability of mobile PLM apps.

So that was a quick peek into some recent research on how mobile technology can have a positive impact on PLM, I hope you found it interesting. Does the research reflect your experiences? Do you see it differently? Let us know what it looks like from your perspective.

Please feel free to review more free research and white papers about PLM and other enterprise software for manufacturers from Tech-Clarity.

Join me this week or a quick peek into some of my research in one (or more) of several PLM-related webcasts this week. I will be joined by some great speakers that will share their views as well. I am not sure why this week is so densely packed with web presentations, but it should give everyone an opportunity to tune in and get a perspective on a few different interesting topics! We have product innovation, product development, product documentation, engineering, and more. Last week a podcast on the business value of PLM, now a handful of webcasts – Mom I have gone multimedia!

The Topics

• Tuesday (2:00 PM, Eastern US) – The Five Dimensions of Product Complexity – Jim Brown of Tech-Clarity will present with Matt Greene of Siemens PLM on the trend towards increased product complexity, how it has made developing profitable products more difficult, and how Product Lifecycle Management solutions can help.
  Register

• Wednesday (11:00 AM, Eastern US) – Transforming PLM for the Economic Recovery - Jim Brown will present with Chip Perry of Kalypso on this Aras ACE Innovation Series webcast on how to leverage PLM to take advantage of the upturn in the manufacturing industries, including innovation to increase revenue, decrease product cost, and reduce product development cost.
  Register

• Thursday (2:00 PM, Eastern US) – Streamlining Product Documentation and Raising the Bar with 3D Communication - Jim Brown will present with Garth Coleman of Dassault Systemes on this IndustryWeek webinar on how to use 3D product communications to improve efficiency, time to market, quality, cost, and customer experience.
  Register

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So that is a quick peek into some recent research I will be presenting, I hope you find it interesting and helps bring the research to life for you. Please feel free to look for more PLM-related webcasts (upcoming and archived) from Tech-Clarity.

A quick peek into some research on … the business value of PDM and how companies can implement PDM solutions in a way that helps them achieve value quickly and set themselves up for more value over the long term. The report, The Business Value of Product Data Management: Achieving Rapid and Extendable Benefits, shares the experiences of three small to midsize (SMB) manufacturers and discusses how they were able to take a more “out of the box” approach to PDM to implement it quickly, achieve the value they were looking for, and ensure they could continue to add on and upgrade the solution over time.

The Research Findings

The report is based on interviews with several SMB manufacturers in different industries, including:

• Veeraja Industries- A total solutions provider of coolant filtration, chip removal and coolant management
• Flovel Energy – A fully integrated hydro power equipment supplier
• Weir Valves & Controls – an end-to-end whole plant solutions to nuclear, fossil-fired and renewable power stations

The findings are similar to other research I have done into product data management solutions, including Managing Engineering Data – The Role of Product Data Management in Improving Engineering Efficiency. Manufacturers are using PDM to get control of their product-related data and better share it across their business. In specific, the report identifies several repeated themes that companies report as valuable results of implementing PDM:

• Control and secure product-related data
• Improve the ability to quickly find and reuse information
• Share product knowledge with other departments

This report examines how companies can achieve these benefits rapidly. The companies surveyed took more “out of the box” approaches to implementing PDM. This helped with faster time to benefit from PDM, but also set them up to leverage more of the solution in the future (and take future upgrades without having to reconcile modifications with the new release). Specifically, they used a solution that allowed them to:

• Take advantage of PDM systems with pre-configured, best practices for security, part numbering schemes, and other common information required to set up a the system
• Leverage standard best practice workflows such as “release to manufacture” and “engineering change control” to speed implementation
• Limit customization of PDM in order to achieve rapid time to benefit and simplify future maintenance and upgrades

Implications for Manufacturers

The research provides a way to view how PDM helps improve business performance. I am still surprised to find companies that haven’t implemented PDM, while others are on their second or third generation or have extended the value to a full PLM solution. The barriers to implementing PDM have come down dramatically in recent years, and there are now more pre-configured solutions on the market that can help companies implement without reinventing the wheel. Even for smaller companies, there is a PDM solution that is right for them and can help control the complexity of today’s engineering environment.

So that was a quick peek into some recent research on PDM and how to implement it quickly, I hope you found it interesting. Does the research reflect your experiences? Do you see it differently? Let us know what it looks like from your perspective.

Please feel free to review more free research and white papers about PLM and other enterprise software for manufacturers from Tech-Clarity.

A quick peek into some research on … the business value of transforming product documentation to rich, interactive communication. The report, Tech-Clarity Insight – The Business of 3D Technical Communications: Evolving Strategies to Document Products, explains how companies are changing their views on technical documentation to a more strategic approach, including the use of 3D to go beyond flat, static documents to incorporate richer, interactive, more realistic representation of products.

The Research Findings

At first glance, product documentation may not seem like a valuable topic, let alone a sexy one. After all, how much fun can you have with a user manual? It’s true that many companies look at product documentation as a necessary evil. Even for companies that take that view, the report provides insight on how to increase the quality and decrease the cost of product documentation. But there is more strategic, business-level value available than just saving money (not that anyone should turn savings down given today’s tight product margins). Even those that take a tactical, operational view of documentation should recognize that delaying product documentation processes can result in delaying time to market – which in turn has a big impact on market share and profitability. And for international companies, they can also save significantly on translation because they can rely more on images and significantly reduce text.

Better processes can help operationally. But the report goes further than that. The report shares the experiences of three manufacturers:

• NACCO Material Handling Group, a division of NACCO Industries that designs, engineers, and manufactures material handling equipment
• S&C Electric Company, a global provider of equipment and services for electric power systems
• AS&E, a producer of state-of-the-art x-ray detection solutions

These companies explain how they have transformed their views from product documentation to technical product communications. They have found ways to leverage their existing 3D CAD assets to gain some significant business advantages, including:

• Higher engineering efficiency by allowing documentation specialists more freedom to create images from 3D models
• Improved effectiveness of documentation & communication by including 3D, animation, and interactivity
• Better collaboration with downstream functions (that don’t have CAD) to improve product designs and product quality
• Reduced potential for errors in manufacturing and enabling a “deign anywhere – build anywhere” strategy
• Improved service performance leading to improved customer experience and uptime

Implications for Manufacturers

Many manufacturers have moved to 3D CAD solutions, and reaped significant rewards in design quality. Manufacturers with 3D CAD in place have an opportunity to extend the value of their CAD assets by reusing them for product documentation. At a minimum, it will create efficiency and save some time and money. As Bill Abely of AS&E is quoted in the report:

“The day before the first printing of our manuals a tech pub writer overheard a conversation about a change that he wasn’t aware of. The change affected 50 images! Including the change would normally take about ten days – instead it was ready by the next afternoon.”

How long would that take your company? Used effectively, 3D technical communication can also provide some significant benefits by improving the performance of those that need to know the most about products – including Manufacturing, Service, Customers, and even Marketing. The result can be better quality products, reduced cost, and a better customer experience. From my perspective, it looks like it is time to rethink product documentation.

So that was a quick peek into some recent research on the business of documenting products, I hope you found it interesting. Does the research reflect your experiences? Do you see it differently? Let us know what it looks like from your perspective. Please feel free to review more free research and white papers about PLM and other enterprise software for manufacturers from Tech-Clarity.

Taking a look around at the engineering software market there are a few things that are clear and a lot of unanswered questions. One clear fact is that 2010 was a lot better than 2009 for most manufacturers and the engineering software vendors that serve them. From early indications, 2011 is looking even better. But there is still trepidation and a sense that things are still not settled. So what will happen to the market? What are companies doing about the uptick? How will they react, and what will the impacts be?

The Research Findings – 2009-2010

Tech-Clarity, Cyon Research, and Design Insight presented survey findings at last two COFES (Congress for the Future of Engineering Software) gatherings. These events bring together a great collection of people that are passionate about CAD, CAE, CAM, PLM, BIM, and other related topics. The research always generates some very interesting discussion. For example, in 2009 a discussion on the impact of the economy on smaller PLM and engineering software vendors sparked some hot debate between large and smaller vendors. In 2010 we reported that the smaller vendors who predicted they would “struggle but survive” were right. We also reported that the channels and VARs were hurt the most in 2009, and were the least optimistic about 2010. Follow the links above for some more insight. Looking back I am pleased at the job the collective wisdom of the survey participants has done in predicting the future of the market. After all, we are the market!

Research for 2011 – Share your Views!

Now, the time has come to gather data for COFES 2011 coming up in April of this year. This is where you come in. Please take the 2011 survey on the engineering software market to share your perspective. We want to hear from manufacturers, engineering firms, vendors, VARs, consultants, bloggers, other analysts, press, and anyone else that plays a role in this market. Help us find out if the channels and VARs were right to be concerned about 2010, and what strategies companies are adopting that may impact them further in 2011. We will share the results at COFES and then I will share my thoughts with you here.

So that was a quick peek into some past research, I hope you found it interesting. More importantly, I hope you participate in this year’s research. And I hope to see you at COFES in April to share some more lively discourse on the future of the engineering software market.

What I learned this week … from a video by Kalypso called Social Product Innovation: It’s More than Facebook further validates that social computing is making a big impact on product development. As one participant from Boeing said emphatically in a discussion I led at COFES a while back, “We are not going to design a plane on Facebook!” I agreed then and still agree now. But the video makes some strong statements based on a research study published by Kalypso that shows that social media, web 2.0, and enterprise 2.0 technologies are being adopted in product innovation and making a positive impact. And Facebook may play a role after all…The Research

Strap on your seatbelt and launch the video. It is a fast-paced ride that highlights a lot of great points about social product innovation. I will try to capture a few of them here, but the video (and the underlying paper) are worth a look. Note, you can download the paper from the Kalypso “SPIKE” site but you have to scroll down a bit below the video to find it and provide your contact details.

Kalypso defines social product innovation in two ways in the video:

• As one of their clients defines it: “open innovation combined with the Internet“
• Their definition: Social Media + Product Development = Social Product Innovation

I think the Kalypso definition is a bit broader and more to the point. The benefits of social computing in product development span from the use of innovation portals all the way to engineering collaboration, or Collaboration 2.0 as I have called it. The video commentary defines two main ways that companies are using social product innovation:

1. Web 2.0 – Public networks including things like blogs, wikis, and social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and twitter
2. Enterprise 2.0 – Secure networks that can also be shared with partners / suppliers – communities of practice -knowledge sharing, collective problem solving; using technologies like SharePoint, videoconferencing, instant messaging, and electronic white boards

The video also shares some great statistics from the report, and mentions some of the companies that are leading the way in the use of social product innovation, including SPIKE award winner Kimberly-Clark who I interviewed here.

Implications for Manufacturers

There is a movement underway to explore the use of social computing in product innovation. The research indicates that over 70% of companies are using social media in product innovation or planning to do so. That is a significant number of companies. Perhaps more importantly, they are reporting benefits including more product ideas, better product ideas, faster time to market, reduced product development cost, and more. Most companies have started small, but they are also planning to do more next year. This is really something that shouldn’t be ignored.

So just for fun, let’s get back to Facebook. I have made some bold claims that Facebook is not the right platform for social computing in product development, including Why Does Facebook Fail for Product Development?. In my report Going Social with Product Development,I go into more detail on why I think the concepts behind Facebook are winners in product innovation, product development, engineering, and product lifecycle management (PLM). But what about Facebook itself? Well, I have to admit that corporate sites in Facebook are being used for open innovation. It is only one part of the puzzle, but it can play a role – particularly in consumer-oriented companies. It still fails for the majority of the back-end process where an understanding of product development processes and integration to product information are critical. But I guess I am softening up a little on the front end. Let’s face it, there is no “one tool” that is going to meet everyone’s needs from open innovation to product development and design collaboration and then back out to product launch.

So I was happy to share some evidence on the adoption of social product innovation from Kalypso, I hope you found it interesting. I have asked whether or not 2011 is the year social computing will explode in PLM, so this is a big area of interest for me. The early indications are positive for 2011, we will have to see what happens. Let us know what you think about it, or what you are doing about it.

A quick peek into some research on … the role Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) play alongside ERP and PLM to help manufacturers improve their business and increase product profitability. I have researched, posted, and discussed the complementary and integrated roles of ERP and PLM numerous times. But the question would come up, “how does MES fits into the picture?” In my graphic I had placeholders for more execution-oriented systems such as MES, Maintenance Repair & Overhaul (MRO), and others. But I made a conscious decision not to complicate the already complicated subject of integrating the manufacturing systems ecosystem. Now that the industry has made progress in understanding how to integrate ERP and PLM, the time has come to address the role of MES. The details can be found in Tech-Clarity Insight: Integrating PLM and MES – Realizing the Digital Factory.

The Research Findings – Preface (or possibly rambling, you be the judge)

For you engineers reading this, do you remember freshman year when they taught you how to calculate stress and strain on rigid bodies? Then as you progressed in your learning, you found out that it was a gross oversimplification and didn’t really apply to real world materials? Or for you brainier people when someone admits that the rules of physics and mathematics are just models that seem to work (for the most part) but aren’t really hard and true rules? Or for business-oriented readers, the first time you heard an accountant ask “what would you like the numbers to be?” instead of giving you a simple answer. I might be digressing a little, so I’ll make my point – sometimes you need to understand the basics without all of the other real-world complexity that makes it hard. But it’s important to get to that real-world understanding, because that is where the real understanding lies. End digression.

The Research Findings – Simplified Roles of ERP and PLM

In my earliest discussions I typically simplified the roles of ERP and PLM as:

• PLM = Innovation
• ERP = Execution

I then progressed that a bit as:

• PLM – PLM focuses on product innovation, and is designed to help manufacturers design, develop, and launch profitable products.
• ERP - ERP’s role is executing the business of manufacturing, supporting the business of planning and managing the execution cycle.

I still like these definitions today, particularly the PLM one. The key difference in the ERP definition is the word “business.” While there are some companies that execute with ERP on the shop floor, for the most part it is used in planning for production and recording the results. Actual production is typically managed outside of ERP. Sometimes it is not automated at all, other times with some form of MES. So the picture was not yet complete.

The Roles of ERP and PLM – Now with MES!

So where does that leave us? With a need to integrate the manufacturing systems ecosystem into the reality of manufacturing operations. This is where MES enters into the picture. I had the opportunity to interview three companies that were willing to share their experience. One is a leading aerospace manufacturer who has significant experience with the integration but unfortunately wasn’t comfortable being identified, one is a Siemens electronics plant, and third is ATK Space Systems. Please read the report for their perspectives, they are worth hearing.

The roles as defined by this report, which are reflected in the updated graphic, are:

• PLM - PLM drives and captures product and process innovation
• MES – MES manages and tracks execution to turn those products into reality
• ERP -  ERP manages the commercial business of manufacturing

Still pretty simplistic, I know. But sometimes having simple, clear roles helps companies move their strategy forward. In addition to redefining the roles, the report discusses the following topics in more detail:

• Integrating the product and production lifecycle
• Automating the integrated product and production lifecycle
• Closing the Loop between designs and products

Implications for Manufacturers

I realize this is a long post, there is a lot to say and I have barely scratched the surface of the information in the report. So I will keep this short. Consider the role that MES plays alongside ERP and PLM and take the opportunity to integrate the product and production lifecycle. Whether you call that the “digital factory” or that term means something different to you, examine the value of increasing speed, improving quality, and decreasing errors by developing a synchronized manufacturing backbone that ties innovation, business execution, and manufacturing execution.

So that was a quick peek into some recent research on role that MES plays with ERP and PLM in a manufacturing software strategy, I hope you found it interesting. Does the research reflect your experiences? Do you see it differently? Let us know what it looks like from your perspective. Please feel free to review more free research and white papers about PLM and other enterprise software for manufacturers from Tech-Clarity.

A quick peek into some research on … the business value of simulation shows how manufacturers can meet demands for time to market and reduced cost without compromising product quality. Simulation helps companies meet the reality of today’s market, where building products with extremely high safety factors will simply no longer work. Like wise, costly and time-consuming physical prototypes will not suffice. Instead, manufacturers are turning to simulation to help engineers design and validate better quality products faster and more efficiently.

The Research Findings

The paper is titled Tech-Clarity Insight: The Business Value of Simulation: Saving Time and Money, and Getting Products Right the First Time. The paper discusses the experiences of three manufacturers, Unverferth Manufacturing, Jaguar Cars Ltd., and Joy Mining Machinery. These three manufacturers are at different levels of maturity with their use of simulation and help provide examples for how others can leverage the power of design analysis and simulation in their own business.

The research finds significant business value in simulation in the following areas:

• Time - The manufacturers were saving time by getting designs right the first time and reducing rework.
• Product Cost – Simulation helps these manufacturers optimize the cost of their products, without compromising quality.
• Efficiency – Companies can use simulation technology to break free from the time-consuming (and costly) design-prototype-break-fix approach, and finding errors early to prevent redesigns.
• Quality – Simulation helps ensure product designs will meet their requirements.
• Innovation – Digital prototypes helps engineers explore more options and try more radical design changes.

The complexity of today’s products is incredible. With new materials and the increase in the use of molded parts, simulation can offer significant improvements over traditional design validation methods. There is more detail in the report, and some great insight from the manufacturers represented.

Implications for Manufacturers

I heard a great quote the other day at a conference. The person said the reason to simulate is that “in the real world, there is no ‘undo’.” I think puts things into perspective as far as cataclysmic failures. Manufacturers can certainly use simulation to avoid making big mistakes. But I think it is also important to recognize that beyond reducing risk, simulation can help manufacturers optimize product cost, reduce design rework, and generally improve the efficiency of designing, developing, and manufacturing products. Which is more important? It really depends on what you are manufacturing.

Simulation processes and tools can be applied to solve a wide variety of challenges from simulating systems behavior to simulating manufacturing operations. Simulation provides a lot of opportunity, but it is important to apply the tools in a way that provides the right value to the business. As one of the companies I interviewed (Unverferth) for Tech-Clarity Insight: Engineering’s Role in Surviving a Down Economy explained, “We can’t afford to overdesign our farm equipment to be like a piece of construction equipment. We need to make sure the product is structurally sound with the least amount of material, so we use simulation and visualization to make sure the product will get the job done, and validate that early.” Well said, and a great example of aligning the use of simulation with the needs of the business (and the customers).

So that was a quick peek into some recent research on how simulation processes and technology can help drive business value, I hope you found it interesting. Does the research reflect your experiences? Do you see it differently? Let us know what it looks like from your perspective.

Please feel free to review more free research and white papers about PLM and other enterprise software for manufacturers from Tech-Clarity.

A quick peek into some research on … designing products for environmental compliance from our 2009 report. And maybe more importantly, here is the link to participate in the 2011 study on designing for compliance, cost, and sustainability. This year, I am expanding the research to recognize the trade-offs sometimes required between cost and compliance. Please share the link with your friends in engineering and manufacturing.

Note: For my blogging friends and those in the press, let me know if you are interested in helping gather responses, I will return the favor with some contributed content.

Research Findings – 2011

OK, it is a trick heading. There are no findings yet, take the survey and help me gather a broad perspective on the issue. If you are a consultant or a vendor, please feel free to pass along the link to an engineer or manufacturer. I will share some of the data back on this blog in return.

Research Findings – 2009

One of the most interesting findings from the last report was the broadening view of sustainability. The focus on environmental compliance information was getting the most attention in data collection from suppliers (no surprise) but the growth in focus on a broader view of sustainability was much higher (including carbon footprint, energy usage, waste/recycling). We are looking into that question again in the current survey, it will be interesting to see what has changed in the last year or so. See more of the report findings in my post on making environmental product compliance sustainable.

Cost and Sustainability

I have written about compliance before, and the need to reduce the compliance tax on product innovation. While the prior survey focused primarily on environmental product compliance, the research shows a growing interest in sustainability. But the business reality is that compliance and sustainability can’t always command a higher price, so companies have to continue to focus on controlling product cost to be commercially sustainable. You may have heard my views on designing for product cost and product cost management (PCM) before, it is something I am passionate about. So now is the opportunity to look at these issues in a holistic way.

So that was a quick peek into some recent research on compliance and a request for help in learning more, I hope you found it interesting. Let us know what it looks like from your perspective.

Please feel free to review more free research and white papers about PLM and other enterprise software for manufacturers from Tech-Clarity.