PDM Buyer’s Guide – Ensuring Maximum Value from Product Data Management is an educational tool to help manufacturers evaluate and select the right data management solution to improve design, product development, and engineering performance. PDM helps companies control, access, and share information. This guide offers advice and requirements related to: Software functionality Implementation User adoption Support…
- Software functionality
- Implementation
- User adoption
- Support
- Vendor characteristics / attributes
- Special needs for smaller or larger companies
- Industry needs
Table of Contents
- Introducing the PDM Buyer’s Guide
- The Product Data Management Imperative
- Analyze PDM Capabilities
- Service Requirements
- Consider Vendor Requirements
- Identify Unique Company Needs
- Conclusion
- Recommendations
- About the Author
Introducing the PDM Buyer's Guide
Product Data Management (PDM) is an important tool to help manufacturers overcome the complexities of designing, developing, producing, and supporting today’s products. Manual and ad-hoc approaches such as shared folders, FTP, Dropbox, and hard drives are simply not good solutions to manage critical, complex product information. These approaches may work for very small organizations, but quickly falter as organizations grow and people need to share information outside of a few core engineers. These techniques also fail to manage data relationships and complex file structures common to 3D CAD systems. PDM systems are purpose-built to address these issues. PDM is a structured, collaborative solution that helps manufacturers control, access, and share crucial product data. Selecting the right PDM system for your business has a large impact on productivity, product success, and profitability. The PDM Buyer’s Guide is a reference tool to guide you on what to look for when selecting a PDM system for your company. The guide is composed of four sections covering software functionality, service requirements, vendor attributes, and special company considerations (Figure 1). Each of these sections includes a checklist with key requirements to investigate when selecting PDM software. The guide focuses on common requirements that form the foundation of PDM for manufacturers:- Getting files under control so people can find the right revision with confidence
- Making sure concurrent updates don’t overwrite each other to avoid “the last save wins” syndrome
- Making information available outside of engineering
- Ensuring Intellectual Property (IP) is captured and accessible regardless of who stored it
- Getting away from complicated shared drive structures that lead to errors
- Making sure people don’t manufacture or purchase against the wrong drawing
- Provide “one version of the truth” versus multiple copies of designs
![Visual Design Management for Faster Project Completion](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Visual-Design-Management-for-Faster-Project-Completion.jpg)
![Visual Design Management for Faster Project Completion](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Visual-Design-Management-for-Faster-Project-Completion.jpg)
![7 Tips to Speed Time to Innovation | Innovation Management](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/7-Tips-to-Speed-Time-to-Innovation-Innovation-Management-300x275.jpg)
![7 Tips to Speed Time to Innovation | Innovation Management](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/7-Tips-to-Speed-Time-to-Innovation-Innovation-Management-300x275.jpg)
![Tech-Clarity Insight_ Cloud ERP](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Tech-Clarity-Insight_-Cloud-ERP-232x300.jpg)
![Tech-Clarity Insight_ Cloud ERP](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Tech-Clarity-Insight_-Cloud-ERP-232x300.jpg)
Table of Contents
- Executive Overview
- Understanding the Old ERP Trap
- Living with the Implications of the Old ERP Trap
- Cloud Overcomes the Financial Obstacles to Better Systems
- Cloud Breaks the IT Resource Barriers
- Cloud Keeps you Out of the Old ERP Trap
- Understand Myths and Realities of Cloud
- Take Advantage of Better Information and Decision-Making
- Conclusion
- Recommendations
- About the Author
Executive Overview
Tech-Clarity recently evaluated the benefits, requirements, and considerations of cloud-based enterprise software for manufacturers. Two recent reports, Assessing the Cloud PLM Opportunity and Integrating Cloud PLM, discussed the potential value of transitioning to cloud solutions. They also addressed a number of important factors manufacturers should examine before making the transition. This report extends those findings to help manufacturers determine if cloud ERP can help solve a far-too-common problem, companies stuck running insufficient, outdated manufacturing systems. Manufacturing appears to be on the verge of a rebirth and a period of opportunity not seen in our industry for many years. Unfortunately, most companies will not be able to take full advantage of this macroeconomic trend because they are stuck in one of two dead-end situations - the “Old ERP Trap” or the “No ERP Trap.” In these scenarios companies are bound to either legacy ERP applications running on outdated infrastructure or a hodgepodge of homegrown and/or informal systems. There are multiple disadvantages to running these antiquated systems. The primary reason identified by this research was not technical in nature. Manufactures will simply not be able to take full advantage of the economic revival without improving their ability to rapidly identify opportunities and adapt their business. Cloud ERP offers a potential new path to modernize manufacturing systems and helps companies overcome financial and resource barriers to change. But many manufacturers are concerned about the potential pitfalls of cloud-based solutions. Most of the concerns, as the previous reports discusses, are unfounded and easily mitigated. In fact, interviews for this report indicate that despite concerns, cloud ERP results in a better, lower risk implementation than most companies could support inhouse, offering web class performance and reliability. “People think they have better control and security with onsite software, but based on what I’ve seen that’s not the case,” observes Randy Copperman, VP Support Services for piezoelectric ceramics manufacturer Channeltech. “It’s not our business to build big data centers and protect information, someone else will do that better than I ever will. That’s the whole concept of outsourcing, that’s what the cloud vendors do.” Clearly there are some important factors to keep in mind. Not all cloud vendors are created equal. It’s important to evaluate the cloud ERP vendors’ capabilities for backup, recovery, support, performance, reliability, and security. Industry certifications such as SSAE 16 Type 2 are a good place to start. Most companies will find that their concerns are quickly alleviated and that cloud providers offer a higher level of service than they could provide internally. Once the misunderstandings about “going to the cloud” are clarified, cloud ERP offers a new path to modernizing systems that is worth serious consideration. [post_title] => Modernizing Manufacturing Systems with the Cloud [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => cloud-erp [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2022-11-14 22:27:32 [post_modified_gmt] => 2022-11-15 03:27:32 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://tech-clarity.com/?p=3171 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 1 [filter] => raw ) [4] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 3164 [post_author] => 2 [post_date] => 2013-05-13 08:03:24 [post_date_gmt] => 2013-05-13 12:03:24 [post_content] => Hear Jim Brown discuss the myths and realities of Cloud ERP and how cloud-based systems can help manufacturers get out of the Old ERP Trap. Hear how cloud ERP helps overcome financial and IT resource constraints that keep companies stuck on outdated ERP systems that don't provide the information they need to make good, timely business decisions. Sponsored by Plex Systems.![Plex Systems WebEx Enterprise Site](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Plex-Systems-WebEx-Enterprise-Site.jpg)
![Plex Systems WebEx Enterprise Site](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Plex-Systems-WebEx-Enterprise-Site.jpg)
![Tech-Clarity-IssueinFocus-VR-In-Industry.pdf](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Tech-Clarity-IssueinFocus-VR-In-Industry.pdf.jpg)
![Tech-Clarity-IssueinFocus-VR-In-Industry.pdf](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Tech-Clarity-IssueinFocus-VR-In-Industry.pdf.jpg)
Table of Contents
- Introducing the Issue
- Simulation Offers a Solution for Some
- 3D Virtual Training Accessibility Expanding in Industry
- Know what Virtual Reality Is (and Isn’t)
- Explore the Science of Virtual Reality for Learning
- Leverage (Military and) Gaming Industry Investments
- Utilize 3D Assets to Reduce Effort
- Learn from Others
- Conclusion
- Recommendations
- References
- About the Author
Introducing the Issue
Training employees in industrial environments is important to running a sound business. Effective training reduces risk, decreases liability, and satisfies compliance demands. Perhaps more importantly it improves efficiency, speeds up startup and deployment times, and increases productivity. Few would argue with the value of good training. Unfortunately, some industrial settings make it challenging and costly to train personnel on real equipment or in the actual environment. Facilities like oilrigs often lie in remote locations where transporting instructors and trainees is expensive. Other settings may be unsuitable for training due to the danger placed on untrained workers. Learning skills such as cleaning up hazardous waste or combatting a fire in a hazardous environment like a nuclear facility can also be extremely difficult. In addition to being extremely dangerous for the novice trainee to explore for the first time, some environments are just not conducive to training. For example, emergency response exercises in a subsurface mine would be hard for instructors to observe and provide feedback because of the dark, cramped environment. Even if safety isn’t an issue, training in some industrial environments may carry opportunity costs that negatively impact profitability. Taking equipment offline for training purposes leads to lost productivity. Temporarily scheduling a forklift for training might be acceptable, but there would be major cost implications to shutting down capital equipment producing “24/7.” In other cases, it might not be worth risking expensive assets in the hands of trainees, where a single mistake could damage expensive or delicate equipment. In some scenarios, taking equipment out of service for training purposes is simply impractical from a scheduling perspective. For example, training new crewmembers on a vessel that requires a quick turnaround at the dock may not allow adequate time for effective training. There are also situations where the equipment or assets are not yet physically available, making it impossible to train operators until construction is complete. [post_title] => 3D Virtual Training in the Industrial Environment [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => 3d-virtual-training [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2022-11-14 22:27:32 [post_modified_gmt] => 2022-11-15 03:27:32 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://tech-clarity.com/?p=3136 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [7] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 3123 [post_author] => 2 [post_date] => 2013-04-16 10:23:18 [post_date_gmt] => 2013-04-16 14:23:18 [post_content] => Jim Brown will set the stage for this Industry Week webcast featuring Mercury Marine's John Bayless. Jim's presentation will feature the fundamentals of PLM including:- Product and Product Development Complexity
- Knowledge-Based Decisions and Information Overload
- Operational and Business Value of PDM and PLM
![How PLM Propels Innovation at Mercury Marine | IndustryWeek-1](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/How-PLM-Propels-Innovation-at-Mercury-Marine-IndustryWeek-1.jpg)
![How PLM Propels Innovation at Mercury Marine | IndustryWeek-1](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/How-PLM-Propels-Innovation-at-Mercury-Marine-IndustryWeek-1.jpg)
![Product Portfolio Management_ Getting Products to Market Faster - Enterprise Apps Today](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Product-Portfolio-Management_-Getting-Products-to-Market-Faster-Enterprise-Apps-Today.jpg)
![Product Portfolio Management_ Getting Products to Market Faster - Enterprise Apps Today](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Product-Portfolio-Management_-Getting-Products-to-Market-Faster-Enterprise-Apps-Today.jpg)
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![Mobilize Your Product Knowledge to Win More Engineer to Order Business - US_EN WEB Rulestream ON24 130131 Reg_ Siemens PLM Software](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Mobilize-Your-Product-Knowledge-to-Win-More-Engineer-to-Order-Business-US_EN-WEB-Rulestream-ON24-130131-Reg_-Siemens-PLM-Software.jpg)
![Mobilize Your Product Knowledge to Win More Engineer to Order Business - US_EN WEB Rulestream ON24 130131 Reg_ Siemens PLM Software](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Mobilize-Your-Product-Knowledge-to-Win-More-Engineer-to-Order-Business-US_EN-WEB-Rulestream-ON24-130131-Reg_-Siemens-PLM-Software.jpg)
![Tech-Clarity-Insight-Knowledge-Enabled-Decisions](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Tech-Clarity-Insight-Knowledge-Enabled-Decisions-Summary.pdf.jpg)
![Tech-Clarity-Insight-Knowledge-Enabled-Decisions](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Tech-Clarity-Insight-Knowledge-Enabled-Decisions-Summary.pdf.jpg)
Table of Contents
- Executive Overview
- The Demand for Timely, Relevant Knowledge
- Too Much Information and not Enough Knowledge
- Recognize why Knowledge Management Remains a Challenge
- Improve Access to Knowledge with Semantic Search
- Understand the Basics of Semantic Search
- Extend Semantic Search with Advanced Search Tools
- Extend Semantic Search with Engineering Tools
- Understand the Value of Knowledge-Based Decision-Making
- Quantify the Value of Knowledge-Based Decision-Making
- Calculate the Benefits
- Conclusion
- Recommendations
- About the Author
Executive Overview
Optimizing the multitude of important decisions in innovation, R&D, and product development requires more than hiring the right people. Effective product decision-making demands companies make the most relevant information available to decision-makers in the right context. Innovation and problem solving require a broad array of knowledge. This information is scattered across internal and external sources such as research libraries, patent databases, and more. Further, it consists of information in many formats, document types, and languages. Aggregating and accessing the right information from the exploding volume of digital information is a significant challenge, making knowledge access an important enabler of innovation. As Tech-Clarity’s Product Data Accessibility report concludes, accessing accurate, timely information “is vital to the health and profitability of a manufacturing company.” Modern search technology offers much better value than traditional, costly knowledge management approaches that require data to be centralized, harmonized, and categorized in advance of knowing what information will actually be needed! Purpose-built semantic research tools are emerging that provide much more focused results and cut search time dramatically. “When you are searching a small amount of information, keyword searches will probably do well,” explains Sridhar Ranganathan, Technical Leader at Kimberly-Clark Corporation, “But now with so much available information, just a keyword will return too much noise.” Semantic search offers more effective knowledge retrieval without having to organize information in advance, particularly when searching large volumes of information. “Semantic search adds another dimension to the search to slice through the huge gobs of data you have more quickly,” Mr. Ranganathan explains. Developing a targeted search to drive innovation decisions is dramatically improved by translating complex problems into the fundamental, conceptual challenges that need to be addressed. Proven engineering techniques offer the opportunity to methodically break problems down into systems elements or root causes so researchers can retrieve relevant information from the vast amount of digital knowledge available today. Defining the right question to ask helps researchers find solutions from others who have solved similar problems in the past, perhaps in a different industry. Knowledge-enabled decision-making combines semantic search with engineering methods to help companies frame questions appropriately, allowing them to retrieve the most relevant information – across languages, industries and fields of study - to make better decisions. But how do you put a value on knowledge-enabled decision-making? The benefits can be invaluable, such as providing researchers with the insight to open up new markets, improve new products, or encourage greater innovation. It can also provide strategic benefits such as protecting intellectual property or discovering room to operate among existing patents. These benefits are both incredibly strategic and highly variable, but also difficult to quantify. Fortunately a highly concrete ROI is available even if companies disregard the strategic benefits and only consider tactical time savings, particularly when teams are already overworked and headcounts aren’t growing. “Even though quantifying the value is very hard, a survey among power users shows that researchers are shortening the time it takes to find solutions by using semantic search,” offers Peter Guse of Corporate Research, Innovation Management at Robert Bosch GmbH. This report provides a template to calculate these benefits based on tangible, bottom-line savings. This template is based on US census data and interviews for this paper. Applying the metrics derived from this research to a representative manufacturing company shows a cost savings of over $650,000 annually. While it’s important to remember that these are the tactical benefits and they are potentially dwarfed by the benefits of finding a new innovative product, entering a new market, or finding room to operate within a tangled web of patents, it is likely more than enough to pay for the cost of implementing knowledge-enabled decision-making technology. [post_title] => The Business Value of Knowledge-Enabled Decision-Making [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => knowledge-enabled-decision-making [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2022-11-14 22:27:32 [post_modified_gmt] => 2022-11-15 03:27:32 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://tech-clarity.com/?p=3012 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [13] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 3061 [post_author] => 2 [post_date] => 2013-01-01 10:16:32 [post_date_gmt] => 2013-01-01 15:16:32 [post_content] => Jim Brown will participate in a live discussion on IM Channel 1 with PPM guru Pamela Soin of Kalypso and Doug Shandonay, Innovation IT Lead Business Partner at Kimberly-Clark, in a presentation on Integrated Innovation: How to Make Innovation Everyone’s Job on February 7. Register for the Live Event (or watch the replay)![Tech-Clarity_IssueinFocus_Integrating_Cloud_PLM.pdf](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Tech-Clarity_IssueinFocus_Integrating_Cloud_PLM.pdf.jpg)
![Tech-Clarity_IssueinFocus_Integrating_Cloud_PLM.pdf](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Tech-Clarity_IssueinFocus_Integrating_Cloud_PLM.pdf.jpg)
Table of Contents
- Introducing the Issue
- Start with the Business in Mind
- Choose a Problem to Solve
- Identify the Roles PLM and other Systems Play
- Determine how PLM and other Systems will Interact
- Understand the Evolution of Cloud Integration
- Get Started
- Address IT Considerations
- Conclusion
- Recommendations
- About the Author
Introducing the Issue
Manufacturers today face increased expectations for rapid innovation while battling unprecedented product development complexity. This has driven a lot of interest in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), including cloud-based PLM. Like more established cloud Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and supply chain offerings, cloud PLM is generating a lot of discussion. Why? The promise that the business benefits of PLM – increased revenue, decreased product cost, and reduced product development cost – can be achieved with lower investment. Tech-Clarity’s Assessing the Cloud PLM Opportunity explains that the cloud offers the potential to significantly improve PLM value by:- Leveraging economies of scale
- Eliminating non-value added work
- Taking advantage of cloud level systems performance
- Enhancing flexibility and agility while reducing business risk
- What should I integrate with PLM?
- Which solutions are responsible for which data?
- What level of integration do I need? Data only? Process? Bi-directional?
- Can I integrate cloud applications to the ones behind my firewall?
- What new integration considerations do cloud applications bring?
- Can I take advantage of cloud business benefits in integration?
![How Do Top Manufacturers Design Differently?](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/How-Do-Top-Manufacturers-Design-Differently-300x189.jpg)
![How Do Top Manufacturers Design Differently?](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/How-Do-Top-Manufacturers-Design-Differently-300x189.jpg)
![What is important in data management? 4 experts give their views « Siemens PLM Software Blog](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/What-is-important-in-data-management-4-experts-give-their-views-«-Siemens-PLM-Software-Blog-300x210.jpg)
![What is important in data management? 4 experts give their views « Siemens PLM Software Blog](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/What-is-important-in-data-management-4-experts-give-their-views-«-Siemens-PLM-Software-Blog-300x210.jpg)
- Simon Floyd, Microsoft
- Ken Amman, CIMdata
- Bill McClure, Siemens PLM
- Jim Brown, Tech-Clarity (yours truly)
![Tech-Clarity_IssueinFocus_PD_Decisions.pdf-1](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Tech-Clarity_IssueinFocus_PD_Decisions.pdf-1.jpg)
![Tech-Clarity_IssueinFocus_PD_Decisions.pdf-1](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Tech-Clarity_IssueinFocus_PD_Decisions.pdf-1.jpg)
Table of Contents
- Introducing the Issue
- Increasing Challenge of Engineering Decisions
- Addressing The Product Information Challenge / Opportunity
- Enabling Engineers to Make Timely, Optimal Decisions
- Taking it to the Next Level - Supporting NPD
- Conclusion
- Recommendations
- About the Author
Introducing the Issue
Making poor product or portfolio decisions can lead to devastating impacts on fiscal performance, Likewise, making a poor engineering decision during product development can lead to catastrophic consequences. But truth be told, most decisions an engineer makes on a daily basis don’t have life or death implications. In fact, no one decision will probably be the difference between product success and failure. The combined impact of all of the decisions required to develop even a simple product, however, has a significant impact on the performance, quality, reliability, cost, compliance – and ultimately profitability – of a product. Engineering is essentially applying knowledge and science to create solutions to problems. In product development this means making decisions to address a set of requirements or needs. Engineers make thousands of decisions in product development, from big ones down to the small, everyday ones. For example, an engineering leader from GM explained at a recent conference that developing an automobile is a process consisting of over 25,000 decisions. Each of these decisions is important on its own, but more importantly the decisions are inter-related and decisions made early in product development can have a dramatic impact downstream. Given the important role of engineering decision-making in product development, manufacturers should treat it as a core competency. Manufacturers must enable decision-makers to make better, more confident decisions. They should also enable engineers to make decisions efficiently and get them right the first time to optimize product development time, reduce time-consuming design rework, and improve time to market. Optimizing engineering decisions is ultimately about driving greater success and profitability of products. Improving decision-making is even more important today as engineers face unprecedented complexity in product development. At the same time, competition is much more global and competitive advantages are easier to copy. What was a “good enough” decision ten or fifteen years ago will not suffice today. The bar has been raised. Companies are targeting “right the first time” decision-making to make more optimal, confident decisions based on better information. The engineering decision-making processes and tools of over a decade ago will not suffice either – they must evolve to enable data-driven decisions to optimize product designs. [post_title] => Improving Engineering Decision-Making with PLM [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => product-decisions [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2022-11-14 22:27:29 [post_modified_gmt] => 2022-11-15 03:27:29 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://tech-clarity.com/?p=2691 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 1 [filter] => raw ) [19] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 2710 [post_author] => 2 [post_date] => 2012-09-20 18:04:43 [post_date_gmt] => 2012-09-20 22:04:43 [post_content] =>![Dueling Analysts Jim Brown and Chad Jackson, Coming to a Browser Near You | Kenneth Wong_s Virtual Desktop](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Dueling-Analysts-Jim-Brown-and-Chad-Jackson-Coming-to-a-Browser-Near-You-Kenneth-Wong_s-Virtual-Desktop.jpg)
![Dueling Analysts Jim Brown and Chad Jackson, Coming to a Browser Near You | Kenneth Wong_s Virtual Desktop](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Dueling-Analysts-Jim-Brown-and-Chad-Jackson-Coming-to-a-Browser-Near-You-Kenneth-Wong_s-Virtual-Desktop.jpg)
From Oleg posting about PLM Edutainment to this post and podcast interview by Kenneth Wong of Desktop Engineering. My thanks go out to those that believe in what we are doing.
By the way, I wonder if that picture of us on the set is me showing Chad the size of the wad of wasabi he will be brushing his teeth with?
![Dueling Analysts Jim Brown and Chad Jackson, Coming to a Browser Near You | Kenneth Wong_s Virtual Desktop-1](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Dueling-Analysts-Jim-Brown-and-Chad-Jackson-Coming-to-a-Browser-Near-You-Kenneth-Wong_s-Virtual-Desktop-1.jpg)
![Dueling Analysts Jim Brown and Chad Jackson, Coming to a Browser Near You | Kenneth Wong_s Virtual Desktop-1](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Dueling-Analysts-Jim-Brown-and-Chad-Jackson-Coming-to-a-Browser-Near-You-Kenneth-Wong_s-Virtual-Desktop-1.jpg)
![Tech-Clarity-PDM-Buyers-Guide-2013-01-16.docx-1](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Tech-Clarity-PDM-Buyers-Guide-2013-01-16.docx-1-231x300.jpg)
![Tech-Clarity-PDM-Buyers-Guide-2013-01-16.docx-1](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Tech-Clarity-PDM-Buyers-Guide-2013-01-16.docx-1-231x300.jpg)
![Tech-Clarity-PDM-Buyers-Guide-2013-01-16.docx-1](http://tech-clarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Tech-Clarity-PDM-Buyers-Guide-2013-01-16.docx-1-231x300.jpg)
- Software functionality
- Implementation
- User adoption
- Support
- Vendor characteristics / attributes
- Special needs for smaller or larger companies
- Industry needs
Table of Contents
- Introducing the PDM Buyer’s Guide
- The Product Data Management Imperative
- Analyze PDM Capabilities
- Service Requirements
- Consider Vendor Requirements
- Identify Unique Company Needs
- Conclusion
- Recommendations
- About the Author
Introducing the PDM Buyer's Guide
Product Data Management (PDM) is an important tool to help manufacturers overcome the complexities of designing, developing, producing, and supporting today’s products. Manual and ad-hoc approaches such as shared folders, FTP, Dropbox, and hard drives are simply not good solutions to manage critical, complex product information. These approaches may work for very small organizations, but quickly falter as organizations grow and people need to share information outside of a few core engineers. These techniques also fail to manage data relationships and complex file structures common to 3D CAD systems. PDM systems are purpose-built to address these issues. PDM is a structured, collaborative solution that helps manufacturers control, access, and share crucial product data. Selecting the right PDM system for your business has a large impact on productivity, product success, and profitability. The PDM Buyer’s Guide is a reference tool to guide you on what to look for when selecting a PDM system for your company. The guide is composed of four sections covering software functionality, service requirements, vendor attributes, and special company considerations (Figure 1). Each of these sections includes a checklist with key requirements to investigate when selecting PDM software. The guide focuses on common requirements that form the foundation of PDM for manufacturers:- Getting files under control so people can find the right revision with confidence
- Making sure concurrent updates don’t overwrite each other to avoid “the last save wins” syndrome
- Making information available outside of engineering
- Ensuring Intellectual Property (IP) is captured and accessible regardless of who stored it
- Getting away from complicated shared drive structures that lead to errors
- Making sure people don’t manufacture or purchase against the wrong drawing
- Provide “one version of the truth” versus multiple copies of designs
All Results for "All"
Webcast on Improving Design Management
Jim Brown will present his views on getting design data under control to improve time to market and design project cycle times. He will discuss how to use data management to simplify engineering efforts, reduce complexity, and prevent errors from incorrect revisions. He will also touch on the benefits of using a visually-oriented approach to…
7 Tips to Speed Time to Market
Jim Brown of Tech-Clarity published an article, 7 Tips to Speed Time to Market, on Innovation Management as a part of the Planview Learning Series. In the article, Jim overview some recent research on time to market and identifies a number of time-proven methods that help get products to market faster. You can also download…
Modernizing Manufacturing Systems with the Cloud
Tech-Clarity Insight: Modernizing Manufacturing Systems with the Cloud – Leveraging Cloud ERP to Improve Systems and Business Performance shares insights from three manufacturers and Tech-Clarity’s research into cloud enterprise systems to assess the cloud opportunity for ERP. The report discusses how the cloud ERP business model helps overcome financial and IT resource contraints that keep manufacturers…
Cloud ERP Myths, Realities, and the Old ERP Trap
Hear Jim Brown discuss the myths and realities of Cloud ERP and how cloud-based systems can help manufacturers get out of the Old ERP Trap. Hear how cloud ERP helps overcome financial and IT resource constraints that keep companies stuck on outdated ERP systems that don’t provide the information they need to make good, timely business decisions….
Webcast on Combating R&D Knowledge Loss
Jim Brown presents on this information webcast focused on the impact of knowledge loss in Research and Development and strategies to alleviate it. Jim will share insights based on his experience as well as his report The Business-Value of Knowledge-Enabled Decision-Making. Register to view the live event or view the replay. Sponsored by IHS.
3D Virtual Training in the Industrial Environment
Issue in Focus: 3D Virtual Training in the Industrial Environment: Combining Learning Science and VR Technology to Add Value and Reduce Risk reviews the science behind training using 3D Virtual Reality (VR) and discusses the opportunity for industrial companies to leverage 3D Virtual Training. The research presents how 3D Virtual Training stimulates learning, discusses how…
Industry Week Webcast PLM Driving Innovation at Mercury Marine
Jim Brown will set the stage for this Industry Week webcast featuring Mercury Marine’s John Bayless. Jim’s presentation will feature the fundamentals of PLM including: Product and Product Development Complexity Knowledge-Based Decisions and Information Overload Operational and Business Value of PDM and PLM Thanks to Siemens PLM for sponsoring this educational webcast! Register for the…
PPM Software Fills the Enterprise App Gap left by ERP and PLM in Product Development
An exciting new article by Jim Brown explains how PPM software extends the business value manufacturers receive from ERP, PLM, and other enterprise applications. The discussion explains the importance of time to market and how PPM has emerged alongside other enterprise apps to help companies create and deliver compelling, profitable product portfolios. Read the article,…
Managing Change in the Plant Survey
Tech-Clarity is conducting a research study on how top performing manufacturers manage change in their manufacturing facilities. Thank you for your interest and your participation in our survey! If you already completed the survey –> please share with a colleague using the “Share/Save” options above. If you haven’t taken the survey –> please: click here…
Webcast – Developing the Right New Products
Tech-Clarity will present with Kalypso on the upcoming Brighttalk summit on Balancing PPM for Business and IT. Pamela Soin and Tech-Clarity’s Jim Brown will discuss best practices for managing product portfolios in a session titled Developing the Right New Products for Customers and your Business. The conference is sponsored by CA Technologies. Register Now by…
Webcast on Leveraging Knowledge in Engineer to Order
Jim Brown will present his view on engineer to order (ETO) business value and best practices on the Mobilize Your Product Knowledge to Win More Engineer to Order Business webcast with Brian Grogan of Siemens PLM and Kip Alexander of Babcock & Wilcox. The presentation will discuss the business benefits and resulting complexity of customized…
The Business Value of Knowledge-Enabled Decision-Making
Tech-Clarity Insight: The Business Value of Knowledge-Enabled Decision-Making – Improving Product Development and Engineering Decisions shares the perspectives of three manufactures (Kimberly-Clark, Robert Bosch, and Rolls-Royce) on the value of applying knowledge-based decision-making techniques including semantic search and engineering tools. The paper also provides a template to calculate the ROI of a knowledge-based decision-making implementation…
Integrated Innovation Web Panel with Kimberly-Clark and Kalypso
Jim Brown will participate in a live discussion on IM Channel 1 with PPM guru Pamela Soin of Kalypso and Doug Shandonay, Innovation IT Lead Business Partner at Kimberly-Clark, in a presentation on Integrated Innovation: How to Make Innovation Everyone’s Job on February 7. Register for the Live Event (or watch the replay) As…
Webcast on Knowledge Enabled Decisions
Tech-Clarity’s Jim Brown will present with Ken Klapproth, Director of Product Management for IHS Product Design on a webcast discussing the business value and ROI of knowledge enabled decision making for R&D, product development, and engineering. Jim will share some findings from his upcoming white paper Tech-Clarity Insight: The Business Value of Knowledge-Enabled Decision-Making. …
Integrating Cloud PLM
Issue in Focus: Integrating Cloud PLM: Considerations for Systems Integration in the Cloud offers advice and insight on the integration questions companies face as they explore the applicability of Cloud PLM for their business. The report discusses existing issues such as what to integrate and how to define roles for different systems. It also analyzes…
Webcast on how Leading Manufacturers Design Products
Please join Tech-Clarity and Autodesk on this webinar to share what leading companies do differently in design. Leading manufacturers start differentiating in engineering, according to results from a recent survey of industrial equipment manufacturers. “What really sets the top performers apart is how they go about designing products,” the results show according to Jim Brown….
Siemens PLM Data Management Expert Panel Summary
I was happy to be asked to sit on a panel focused on data management at Solid Edge University this year. I presented a keynote earlier in the day based on my recent survey on managing engineering data. Each of the panel members brought a different perspective. Panel members included: Simon Floyd, Microsoft Ken Amman,…
Improving Engineering Decision-Making with PLM
Issue in Focus: Improving Engineering Decision-Making with PLM – Better Products through Information-Driven Decisions discusses the importance of enabling engineers and product developers to make informed decisions when developing products. The report discusses how PLM must provide efficient and rapid access to product information – in context – so engineers can make optimal, information-driven decisions…
Desktop Engineering Covers “Dualing Analysts” in Tech4PD
I have been truly touched to see how much support we have received from the industry on our new web show. There have been numerous tweets and posts about what Chad and I are trying to accomplish – start some serious debates about PLM and engineering software issues without taking ourselves to seriously. From Oleg…