This is an invitation to speak your mind on the use of social computing in product innovation, product development, and engineering. I have the honor of helping one of my favorite innovation and PLM consulting firms, Kalypso, with some new research. Please take our survey on using social media for product innovation now.

My Thoughts

I have been a clear proponent of the use of social computing to improve innovation, for some history see:

• Mythbusting “Facebook and Business Don’t Necessarily Mix”
• Social Software and PLM – Gap Filler or Intelligent Network?
• Why does Facebook Fail for Product Development? (and how to fix it)
• Connecting Social Interaction with Product Information (Interview)

My Predictions

One of my favorite things to do is “mythbust” analyst and research predictions. It’s great fun to go back and see what people predict and compare it to what actually happened. I particularly like to poke fun at myself when I was wrong (and maybe brag a little on the occasion that I am right). Of course I cheat and use research to fuel my predictions, so I stack the deck a little bit. So here is what I posted in 2011 – The Year Social Computing Explodes in NPD and PLM?:

• Collaboration – “will happen sooner rather than later“
• Discovery – “is coming“
• Product Knowledge – “will take a little longer“

Your Chance to Make it Real

Way more important than my thoughts and predictions are what companies (like yours) are actually doing. Am I spot on? Did I blow it? This is where you come in.

Please take the survey now!

(It shouldn’t take more than about 10 minutes or so. And if you like, we will send you a copy of the results.)

So that’s what I believe is happening in the world of social computing and product innovation, I hope you found it interesting. More importantly, tell us what you think by taking the survey! One last time, the link is: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CQ37WKP

Hear Jim Brown share his views on … mobile PLM applications in engineering, product management, and program management.
The main topics covered include:

• The advantages of mobile PLM to Engineering
• How mobile PLM helps in product and program management
• Key considerations every CIO should know when taking PLM mobile

Let us know what you think. Do you agree? Disagree? Have a great example to share?

Please see the related posts PLM Hits the Road – and the Plant – and the Service Depot… and Mobile PLM – What the CIO Should Know or download the underlying reports, PLM Goes Mobile, Product and Program Management Goes Mobile, and Enabling Mobile PLM for free to learn more. Please also feel free to review more free research and white papers about PLM and other enterprise software for manufacturers from Tech-Clarity.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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.

What I learned this week … came from a great conversation with Sankar from Younomy. I have been in a number of conversations recently that make me realize that the world of social computing is looking into social product development and social innovation as much as the PLM and manufacturing communities are looking into the social computing world. Still with me? Sorry, that was a mouthful. You can read Sankar’s interview of Jim Brown (me) on social computing and product development on Younomy here and learn more by reading this collection of social computing in PLM posts on my site.

Who is Looking at Who?

What I realized is that we are all trying to learn from each other. Manufacturers are trying to learn from what other companies are doing, and other companies are interested in some of the early initiatives from manufacturers. To me, this is just another reminder of how new social computing is. I am fortunate to sit in both camps – the advancement of social computing in business and the maturation of PLM. That is why the intersection of social computing and PLM is so interesting to me.

Implications for Manufacturers
One of the key points that I made in the interview was that I see the greatest value not from one side or the other (social computing or PLM). I believe that the most significant improvements to product innovation, product development, and engineering performance will come from linking social interactions with product data. That’s why I pay so much attention to what PTC, Siemens, Dassault Systemes, Vuuch, Sopheon, and others are doing in this space. That is the where the real power is unleashed. Generic tools will be helpful, but by connecting the two we get:

• A product-focused discussion that directly helps develop better products
• A source of product knowledge (the discussion itself) that can be captured and reused into the future

It was great to have an opportunity to discuss this with Sankar to remind me how passionate I am about the potential of taking the concepts of things like Facebook and applying them to product development. I hope you found the discussion (and the interview) interesting.

A quick peek into some research on … how product portfolio management (PPM) can be more closely tied to engineering projects. The research, Issue in Focus: Product Portfolio Management in a PLM Strategy – Closing the Loop on Product Planning explores the connection between PLM and PPM for manufacturers that focus on intense engineering programs as opposed to high-volume products like consumer packaged goods (CPG). I look forward to your thoughts as I shake off the cobwebs from a summer that involved too little attention to blogging. But it was a good summer, and I hope you enjoyed yours (or your winter for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere).

The Research Findings

Most of the research I have read – and written- on PPM in the past has focused primarily on fast-moving consumer goods. Clearly, consumer goods companies live and die based on a steady stream of new and innovative products with extremely short product lifecycles. But what about companies that focus on engineering-centric products like aircraft? Or organizations like Sandia Labs, interviewed for the paper, a multi-program engineering and science laboratory? Don’t they have to manage and balance their engineering investments? Do they have any special needs?

The research starts by reporting that the basics of PPM still apply, companies need to focus on the following four fundamentals:

• Select and Maximize Product Portfolio
• Resource and Enable Pipeline
• Execute and Manage Projects
• Determine and Monitor Product Value

Beyond that, the research points out that PPM processes are often disconnected from other product development and engineering processes. The paper then asks the question “What additional value can be achieved through a tighter integration between PPM and PLM, and from closing the gap between product planning and the reality of the underlying design and development efforts?“  In fast-moving consumer goods, the R&D project is complete before production begins. The die has been cast from a portfolio perspective by the time the product is released. In more engineering-intense industries, however, program management is ongoing during the entire project and real knowledge can replace early assumptions. This is where the opportunity lies to close the loop between the engineering program and the portfolio, so portfolio assumptions can be monitored and updated as the engineering proceeds. This is also true for fast-moving goods during the R&D process, of course.

Implications for Manufacturers

So why is this important? PLM have grown, as discussed in my Four Dimensions of PLM Expansion. Many PLM initiatives now include portfolio management in their scope. Further, PLM vendors including Siemens PLM, PTC, Dassault Systemes, and others have added PPM to their product suites. Enterprise vendors SAP and Oracle also have PPM offerings in addition to PLM. Does this present an opportunity for tighter integration? The paper does more good at bringing up the question than answering it. The most important advice in the research is “…manufacturers shouldn’t integrate because they can, they should find the right areas of value to focus in across the four core PPM processes.” I believe the integration opportunities will vary by company, but the good news is that the door has now been opened and the potential is there.

So that was a quick peek into some recent research on portfolio management, 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 (and some “mythbusting”) on a post by Christopher Null on Yahoo News titled “Facebook and business don’t necessarily mix.” Great, catchy headline. But does it really reflect the underlying research from MIT? I don’t think so. I will also share some comments posted on the PDMA blog from a study by Kalypso that don’t sync up with the commentary. And, I will provide an opportunity for you to speak your mind by participating in a current research study on social media and product innovation.

Commentary and Reactions

I don’t know the author of the post, but when I read it something didn’t sit right with me. For the most part, maybe it was that the title of the post didn’t match the underlying premise. To be fair, I know that some editorial gets “help” with their titles to grab attention (which this one certainly did, at least to me). But here are my thoughts (and feel free to “bust” them yourself, I realize I don’t own all the right answers).

Facebook and Business Don’t Necessarily Mix (Busted) – OK, I know I am picking on the title. But let’s own up to two realities:

1. You don’t have a choice. People on social networks are going to talk about your products. Whether you initiate the conversations or someone else does (customers or competitors), it is going to happen. As the post in PDMA ”Do you use social media in innovation?” points out, Social media on your terms is a much better idea than letting others take control of it for you. You MUST get ahead of this.

2. This isn’t what the MIT research says. The post Mr. Null references, “Pitch may fail on Facebook – Study: Social media don’t always create good buzz“, is much more aptly titled. What is says is that buzz can be positive or negative, and that it can actually hurt sales. According to the Boston Herald blog, the research (which I haven’t read, and is not published yet as far as I know) quotes the author as saying that “found that online buzz only helps when new products are at least half as good as consumers expected.” Now that is interesting! The author, P.J. Lamberson, an MIT Sloan School of Management visiting assistant professor, is said to use math to study large networks.

“Conventional Wisdom” (Plausible) – Mr. Null starts his article with “conventional wisdom now holds that if you want to have a successful product launch, you need to exploit Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace to get the word out about your product.” Is this really conventional wisdom? Are most companies using social media today? My experience says no, but I could be wrong. I will admit, my focus is more on social computing for product innovation, product development, and engineering (PLM) and not product launch. But my experience says that companies are experimenting with the use of social media, but it is far from standard operating procedure. The only evidence I have is from some preliminary results from the study being run by Kalypso (Disclosure: I am helping them run the study) that indicates that the use of social networking and social computing in product launches is still not fully developed. In fact, only about 1/2 of companies are using social media for product launch. Further, companies that are using social media are only using it on a small percentage of their initiatives. In other words, we are very early in the use of social media, and it is far from conventional wisdom. On the other hand, the preliminary results show that about 90% of companies that are using social media for innovation are planning to increase usage next year, with none indicating they were reducing it.  Why is this Plausible and not Busted? The research is not done – please participate in the survey and I will share results back with you via the blog.

Bottom Line (Busted) – After being generous with the last mark, I was fully planning to Confirm the post’s bottom line. Then I read it again to copy it here, and I disagree. “The bottom line is simple: Viral marketing, in which a conversation about a product is actively encouraged, can turn good or bad in ways that traditional marketing and advertising typically cannot. Unless a business pays careful attention to the tone of that conversation, the company could find itself shelling out millions on a viral ad campaign, only to have the unwanted effect of decreasing sales instead of increasing them.” I copied the whole comment over, because I agree with the first part. Yes, viral marketing can turn bad. But then it says business need to pay attention to the tone of the conversation. The underlying study (from what I can see) doesn’t say that. It says that your products have to meet expectations. In other words, it’s saying you can’t just manage the tone because it is out of your control.

Implications for Manufacturers
So what should manufacturers do? Learn from the study. What I hear is don’t over-hype your products, and don’t try to push a bad product through social media. It seems to me the harder you push how great a product is, the more likely you are to get dissenting view from customers. The study doesn’t say your product has to be good, it just has to meet expectations at least half-way.

Continue to experiment and learn. Social media is changing the way we interact with products. Be a part of the change and experiment. The last bit or preliminary data I will share from the Kalypso study is that those that are doing it are seeing business benefits (revenue, time to market, reduced cost). This is real, get on it.

So that was a quick peek into some recent research on social networking and business, 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 free research and white papers about product innovation and product development from Tech-Clarity.

What I learned this week … was that we could use a good, common PLM definition and scope, but we will not get one. The discussion (a lot of discussion in multiple forums, actually) came from my post SAP, Too Much or Too Little Credit for PLM Efforts and another called Who Will Disrupt Entrenched PLM Vendors? Chris Williams pointed out on a LinkedIn thread that he felt maybe the confusion was due to a lack of understanding of what PLM really is, and asked for a common definition. My response? Not so much.

A Not-so-Common Defintion

Chris asked the million dollar question. But PLM is not one thing. While ERP has matured to a more common footprint across the vendors, the scope of PLM from each of the vendors differs. I define PLM as “processes and software used to improve product innovation, product development, and engineering performance.” That is (by definition, not by fault) very broad. There is no one “PLM” definition. The vision of the vendors shows consoliation over time, but today they are very different. Siemens includes MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) for A&D. Dassault Systemes has spent much more effort in “lifelike simulation.” PTC includes development of product documentation. Then, there are the applications that don’t come as a part of the suite, which makes each implementation different. Aras includes APQP and quality. They are all different.

Implications for Manufacturers

The lack of a common definition is also why putting in PLM without a strategy is a quagmire waiting to happen. But a common defintion won’t help. While there are standard processes in PLM, they are not as common as in ERP. There are examples of common processes, such as Stage-Gate processes for new product development (NPD) or CMII for change management. But product innovation and product development are not as standardized processes as accounting, as an example. It is not the lack of common PLM system definition at the root of this, it is the lack of common PLM processes. And as much as companies like Invention Machine are putting process orientation into innovation, it will still not be as standardized as ERP functions like human resource management.

So, manufacturers really need to think about what problems they want to solve before implementing PLM. You can’t just install the software and expect any benefits (beyond maybe simple data management). This is what I call the PLM Program, a strategy and vision for PLM that you accomplish in small, incremental steps.

So those are my thoughts on a common PLM defintion, don’t hold your breath waiting for it. I hope you found it interesting. Do you have a better one? I didn’t, if you do let us know about it.

That, by the way, is one of the reasons it is very hard for ERP to simply build another module and call it PLM. That is why SAP has a long program to develop PLM (which will be yet another variation on the PLM theme, different from the others).

I had the chance to talk with … Tim Frost of Burner Systems International (BSI) about their adoption of Product Data Management (PDM) to improve engineering and new product development performance. Tim explained to me that one of the primary goals for their adoption of PLM was getting a handle on their product data. But BSI also wanted to expand collaboration outside of Engineering and improve their time to market. The case study, Tech-Clarity Business in Focus: Burner Systems International – Improving Collaboration with Product Data Management, describes BSI’s experience from recognizing the need for action due to increased complexity in their business all the way through today’s benefits and plans for the future.

What do they Do?

BSI is a supplier to the OEMs that manufacture gas appliances. Like most suppliers, they compete very aggressively with their competition. They compete based on innovation, but most importantly on agility. They need to be able to react quickly to customer needs and bring the right component to market. Due to increased competition, growth by acquisition, and globalization BSI faced a huge challenge. As Tim tells me “We ended up with plants all over the globe, and we had to integrate engineering functions and data.”

What did they Do?

Recognizing the increased complexity, BSI took action. “You can use folders and you might get away with it for a while, but with multiple revisions you can’t manage it,” Tim explains. The solution was to implement a Product Data Management (PDM) system.  Just as importantly, they wanted to improve collaboration across departments. Tim describes how they implemented a PLM system (which includes PDM) that can be used by engineers and non-engineers alike. We discussed how departments like Quality, Manufacturing, Purchasing, and Sales get involved in the product design and development process.

What are the Results?

The new PDM system has shrunk cycle times and helped them make fewer manufacturing errors. According to Tim, those errors can cost up to $100,000 each. BSI is pleased with the results. “We know that we are faster in developing new products, I would estimate 25% faster,” Tim says. “We know that we are better prepared for launching production due to better input and collaboration from Manufacturing, and we know that we are less likely to make bad parts due to out of date drawing revisions.” The project is a success, and BSI is looking to further their gains by continuing to go beyond PDM to a more full PLM solution, leveraging the infrastructure they have in place.

 Implications for Manufacturers

 Burner Systems is a great example of a smaller company that desperately needed to get product data under control. At the same time, they have managed to achieve even more strategic benefits through collaboration and improved time to market. PDM is often the first step in a broader PLM Program.

So that’s what I hear from BSI, I hope you found it useful. What do you think? What else should I have asked them? A summary of the report is available from the Tech-Clarity site, and the full report is available for free from Siemens PLM, the provider of the Teamcenter Express software that BSI uses (and the sponsor of the report). Please feel free to review more free research and white papers about PLM and other enterprise software for manufacturers from Tech-Clarity.