Clarity on PLM

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.

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.

What I learned this week … came from an article on Yahoo! Tech News titled Technology in starring role at NY Fashion Week. The article really made me think about how virtual worlds, social computing, and PLM could transform fashion shows.

Note: The video grab is from a site called “vimeo” posted by “Four H” and the link to their great Lego fashion show video is here. Pretty great job of animation, I think.

What the Article Says

Given the recent focus on PLM for the footwear and apparel industry, I was not surprised by the headline. In fact, I probably read more into it than I should have. Perhaps I am a bit overly optimistic about how technology can transform an industry like fashion. But companies have greatly improved product development and supplier management in these softer industries by using PLM. That was not the focus of the article, however. The article spoke about:

• The use of the Internet to put on a virtual fashion show (more remote than virtual, I think)
• The use of the Internet to sell clothing and fashion (including a new application for the iPhone)

Interesting, but not what I had hoped to see.

What the Article Doesn’t Say (but Might Eventually)

I really didn’t expect the article to cover using PLM to improve product development. But I did expect to hear more about the use of virtualization, visualization, and mockup technologies to display fashion. The article started out talking about “creating collections that are less expensive to show.” To me, that sounds like an opportunity to reduce physical prototypes like the automotive and other mechanically-oriented industries have. The ability to create realistic human models, simulate the way a fabric will drape over it, and realistically render what the finished garment will look like has come a long way. Does that compete with a live model wearing the clothes walking down the runway? Of course not. But on the other hand, instead of seeing what a professional model looks like in the clothes, maybe we could see what the clothes would look like on a body like the one we actually have.

My expectations were clearly too high regarding a PLM-based fashion show, but I think there is potential there that has yet to be tapped. In the meantime, PLM will have to continue to reduce time to market and improve supplier collaboration and responsiveness instead. Of course, there is a lot of value in that – perhaps more than in a virtual fashion show.

So those are my thoughts on PLM and fashion, I hope you found them interesting. Who knew? I didn’t, if you did let us know about it.