Making the value of technology clear
How can you get on the journey to a model-based enterprise? What are we learning that you can put into action today? Mark your calendars for January 17th at 11AM PT/2PM ET to join us for an engaging webinar covering topics such as:
Semiconductor makers must evolve and innovate, so how can MES keep delivering value? Specialty chips can be great niches, but they don’t necessarily improve linearly or predictably. So, semiconductor companies must become more effective innovators rather than only seeking stability or increased product processing speed. Changing products, processes, and customers can boost win rates. No matter what, research and development (R&D) is a crucial foundation for business success.
Yet historically, innovation, changes, and R&D created significant challenges for legacy MES. As a result, these older systems have lost value over time. Semiconductor companies need MES that is reliable and flexible to keep up with innovation and evolving business and production processes.
Meeting new applications that build on the company’s current capabilities is a winning strategy. Specialty chips often work where virtual meets real. The intersection of virtual and real is also where MES models and capabilities meet actual fabrication, assembly, and test of chips.
In the face of constant innovation, the MES must be able to process multiple experiments at the same time as standard runs. The MES should be able to support fabs in running experimental lots with little to no disruption to commercial production. The MES ideally fully records and reports all the runs, small, large, or one-off experiments.
For reliability at the same time as flexibility, it’s ideal to have an MES that includes not only dispatching of special and commercial lots, but also maintenance, quality, materials, and more. The value comes from support for all aspects of change and innovation.
Fortunately, there are semiconductor MES available that have all of that and support greater agility with less manual effort than ever before. These modern systems enable semiconductor companies to set and meet their goals for evolving and innovating into new market opportunities. Choosing the right semiconductor MES to evolve and innovate is crucial.
Read this third in a blog series about semiconductor MES issues by Julie Fraser for a deeper look into what you might need and why. Thank you to Eyelit for supporting our efforts to educate the market to the business value of technology.
For related content, please read the previous senmconductor blog posts by Julie Fraser on Eyelit, including Redefining Semiconductor MES and the Semiconductor Risk Conundrum.
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When can an early technology decision create a risk conundrum? When you’re a semiconductor company that implemented MES a decade ago or more. You now face the decision of whether to stick with an outdated legacy system or migrate to current MES. Julie Fraser explores this risk conundrum in her second of three guest blog posts for the semiconductor industry.
Semiconductor company risks are high, and those for production are as well. While keeping with the old familiar system may seem the safer choice, it poses enormous risk. Particularly as the semiconductor industry continues to power forward with new products, applications, and markets. The uncertainty in demand is only increasing, and fabs and backend sites must keep up by becoming more agile and higher-mix.
The overall business risks are high in this time of change. The risks of technical debt from heavily customized, no-longer-supported MES include disconnected data, inability to confidently run test lots, support burdens, IT, and staffing challenges.
This article also points out that while the risks of migrating to a new MES in a current facility are substantial, they are lower than in the past. These risks are short-term and only possible, while risks of staying with the status quo older MES are long-term, persistent, guaranteed risks that current workforce shortages exacerbate.
Read the blog to learn what to look for in a new MES to ease the migration and minimize the risk. Thank you to Eyelit for the opportunity to share our views.
For related content, read Julie Fraser's guest blog post on Eyelit to learn why redefining semiconductor MES is essential to support the next 30 years of semiconductor progress. 
PPM Leader Starting Fresh
I was excited to catch up with Bryan Seyfarth after learning that he started a new company in the portfolio management space. I’ve known Bryan for years as an executive at Sopheon, that he helped become a leader in product portfolio management (PPM) solutions for consumer-oriented companies like food, beverage, and consumer packaged goods (CPG). BrightFire follows in the footsteps of other PPM solutions to help companies better capitalize on their product innovation portfolios to get the most out of their R&D and new product development (NPD) efforts.
Managing Portfolios from Innovation Through Execution
One of the things that struck me about Bryan’s vision for BrightFire is the comprehensive, yet right-sized scope. One of the key areas that many PPM solutions lack is the ability to put innovation decisions into action in the execution phase. As Bryan says, the goal is to support companies “from strategy, to prioritization, to execution.” To do this, Brightfire offers capabilities to help with:
A lot has happened since I last wrote about Propel and their Product Value Management strategy. Several significant updates are their continued progress toward their vision, very successful Propulsion and Dreamforce conferences, and a carefully executed shift in executive leadership.
Delivering on PVM
Let’s start with vision. The goal of PVM, in a nutshell, is to better connect product development with product commercialization. It sounds obvious, and those from outside of the engineering software community would probably assume PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) would inherently create digital continuity across design and commercial people and processes. Instead, most PLM solutions don’t address go-to-market or incorporate the customer experience. Interestingly, perhaps, some are starting to focus on the service lifecycle of the product following commercialization, but that’s a different post. Propel is relatively unique in their focus on PVM to close the “Product Value Gap” between product and commercial teams.
Since our last post, Propel formally announced their PIM (Product Information Management) solution to complement their existing PLM and QMS (quality management) capabilities. They also released significant additional capabilities to support new product development and go-to-market. This is evidence of significant investment to achieve their PVM strategy and we expect to see more over time.
It's important to mention, though, that they’ve also continued to further their PLM capabilities, for example with recent enhancements to further support design collaboration and visualization and integration with Altium to support ECAD (electronic CAD) alongside mechanical designs and RenderDraw for converting CAD files to interactive 2D and 3D viewables. They’ve also extended their capabilities to better support design for supply to help manufacturers develop products that are better optimized for their supply chain with a SiliconExpert integration.
Leadership Change
Founder Ray Hein has paved the path to rethink how a software category supports an industry more than once, and proved his abilities again with Propel. He surrounded himself with a strong team and listened to his customers more than most CEOs I’ve met. He and the team continued to evolve their vision by learning from customer goals and experiences. They also leveraged their strong, inherent relationship with CRM and platform provider Salesforce to streamline and integrate across the digital thread from product inception to commercial offering. The result, their PVM strategy, is both valuable and differentiating.
Ray is stepping away from Propel’s day-to-day operations, but he’s leaving after a calculated and thoughtful transition. He passes control to Ross Meyercord, who has already been Propel CEO and worked on product planning and strategy for a year while Ray focused on the broader company vision as Chief Strategy Officer. Ray will retain a role on the Propel Board and continue to offer guidance. But Ross comes with strong experience in enterprise software for the manufacturing industry and appears to be taking the same customer-centric role that Ray did. He also inherited a strong team with great credentials. See the press release here.
We’re excited to see how Propel and their PVM vision continue to grow and create a continuous digital thread across the product lifecycle, as many would agree is the ultimate goal of PLM.
Thank you Ray Hein, Ross Meyercord, and Tom Shoemaker for continuing to keep us abreast of Propel’s progress.
Our related eBook teaches companies how to adapt people, processes, and technology to improve revenue and customer experiences by connecting the product digital thread. Watch the on-demand webinar with Jim Brown, Mark Boles (Propel), and Tom Shoemaker (Propel) to learn how to solve the product information disconnect, improve NPDI, and drive product profitability.
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[post_content] => How do you build a business case for PLM that puts business value first and recognizes the role that product lifecycle management (PLM) technology plays in achieving it? Watch the replay of our President of Digital Innovation Research, Jim Brown, and Trace One PLM expert, Jobi Varghese, to learn organizational and industry drivers that you can leverage to build a solid business case around the value of a single source of truth PLM platform for the CPG and retail industries.
Watch the webinar replay to:
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[post_content] => Can a “dot-release” of SaaS software deliver even more value to the industry? If it expands the footprint, yes. The Apprentice press release announcing Tempo Manufacturing Cloud Version 7.2 appeared November 8, and quotes Tech-Clarity’s Julie Fraser.
This SaaS product aimed at biotech and pharmaceutical manufacturers includes MES, but is much more. Per the quote in the press release, “[Apprentice’s] Tempo suite is a fresh approach that marries the latest enterprise mobile and SaaS technologies with composable applications for pressing industry issues," said Fraser. "Yes, there’s a SaaS MES – but there is more for the plant, quality lab, enterprise, and manufacturing network. It serves the product lifecycle, starting with preclinical and clinical."
Apprentice has entered a crowded market for pharmaceutical-focused software with great success. The relationship between plant, quality, and enterprise is a foundation. Now the extension to trading partners such as CDMOs makes the solution even stronger. We have been researching the role of cloud-based applications in manufacturing, and reaching across siloes is one advantage.
We continue to watch the progress of the Apprentice Tempo Manufacturing Cloud. The vision of meeting the changes in the industry with a new type of software to support regulated operations clearly resonates. Thank you, Kristen Kucks and team for the opportunity to share our views in this Apprentice press release.
For related content, read an Insight from Julie Fraser's briefing with Apprentice back in June 2023 on Tempo.
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One of our most recent guides, Seven Keys to Improving Service with the IoT, focuses on helping manufacturers and service companies get the most out of machine monitoring. The guide offers seven considerations for companies to consider when they target service transformation.
As we published the guide, I wondered if writing about “how” to improve service and the system capabilities it requires is enough. Are most companies aware of “why” they should be doing it in the first place, and how it can positively impact their business? If so, why isn’t everyone doing it successfully now that barriers to implementing machine monitoring through the industrial IoT (IIoT) have dropped?
Share your thoughts on my guest blog post on the PTC blog (registration required).
For related content, read our buyer's guide, Seven Keys to Improving Service with the IoT, to learn practical steps for companies to improve service through IoT condition-based monitoring.
You can also hear Jim Brown share insights from this buyer's guide and share his thoughts about improving field service by leveraging the IoT in episode 20 of PTC’s Speaking of Service Podcast with PTC’s VP of Strategic Partnerships, Christine Wolff,
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The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is fundamentally disrupting the automotive industry, forcing manufacturing engineering to digitally transform. Given this:
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What is missing in transforming into a model-based enterprise (MBE)? For one thing, continuity from engineering to shopfloor and back.
Gaining MBE continuity is a many-faceted challenge. There are people, process, and technology issues to transform.
In this on-demand webinar we explored those issues. It will get you thinking about how details of the digital model flow impact your business success. We also pointed out ways to start the MBE journey, even if continuity is not 100% in place.
Julie Fraser hosts a discussion of the issues that arise and how to get on the journey. Panelists Jonathan Scott of Razorleaf has deep PLM and product design engineering expertise, and Michel Gadbois of iBase-t is an expert in A&D manufacturing and operations. Each of them sees many customer challenges and will share some of what they see and the problems that a lack of continuity from engineering to shopfloor creates.
In this wide-ranging interactive discussion, we will touch on these questions:
Plans for the Future
Duro also plans to provide customers with the option to use Box, Google Drive, or Microsoft OneDrive to give customers the choice to use what best fits their business, and likely the one they are already using. They’ve implemented PDM One in a file-centric way that mimics folder structures that many smaller companies and startups already use to manage their files and lifecycle states.
Today, PDM One is what we would call design data management or basic product data management (PDM) and it offers a more comprehensive offering in combination with their product lifecycle management (PLM) solution. It will be interesting to watch how the solution evolves and how it is adopted by customers. It’s a clever approach that leverages a robust cloud data platform and extends it for simple data management. Duro has work to do to build integrations with CAD solutions and will likely extend the capabilities, but their initial offering will probably prove to be enough for many companies moving from an unmanaged or ad hoc environment. Duro is definitely a vendor that high tech companies should keep on their radar screen.
Thank You
Thank you James White and Aphrodite Brinsmead for bringing this to my attention and to Mike Prom for your time explaining the product and future strategy.
For related research, read the commentary from our December, 2022 briefing with Duro about their goal to deliver agile PLM for hardware manufacturers.
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Visibility and collaboration are crucial to supply chain success and resilience, but even getting that internally can be a challenge. Join as Julie Fraser facilitates a discussion in MESA’s Smart Manufacturing Community Smart Connected Supply Chain Group on November 29.
How much do disconnected tools cost your business?
Historically, most companies have relied on multiple disconnected tools to get the job done, particularly in product development and manufacturing. IT then invests significant effort to integrate them. Interestingly, Top Performing companies say that reducing manual efforts and non-value-added work is most important for successful product development and manufacturing software. To achieve this, they point to solutions that easily integrate. This leads to the question, should companies invest in best-of-breed solutions they must integrate or adopt an integrated platform? Do the benefits of adopting best-of-breed point solutions outweigh the cost of working with disconnected tools?
Based on a survey of 187 IT, product development, and manufacturing professionals, this research study examines these questions. It looks at what IT needs to be successful in their job and how they can provide the most value to their company, including product development and manufacturing teams. It reveals best practices for overcoming the costs of disconnected tools and how to empower IT to focus more energy on the tasks that offer the most corporate benefit and make them even more successful.
Please enjoy the summary* below. For the full research, please visit our sponsor SOLIDWORKS (registration required).
IT Is Critical to Business Strategy Execution
Top IT Strategies
The role of IT has evolved from a tactical “order-taker” delivering on requirements provided by business leaders to a more strategic one. Now IT is more likely to collaborate with business leaders to help identify and define business problems.1 The top IT strategies reflect this more strategic focus.
Digital Transformation
Digital Transformation has enabled many companies to achieve efficiencies that are hard for competitors to match.2 As such, Tech-Clarity's research finds that 41% of executives attribute digital transformation as a top business factor driving long-term success.3 Consequently, many executives place high importance on digital transformation, making it a priority for IT.
Successful digital transformation relies heavily on implementing the right technology. However, it is a considerable undertaking as true digital transformation impacts all business processes and requires a deep understanding of company processes, bottlenecks, and optimization opportunities. Implementation requires a significant IT investment. It is also a journey, requiring continuous improvement to realize the highest levels of efficiency.
Enable the Business
IT must ensure its strategies align with business goals. They must meet today's business needs and consider future needs to ensure that whatever they implement doesn't limit the business and will scale as it grows. They also need to ensure that what they implement provides value so the company realizes the expected return on the investment (ROI). Finally, they need to ensure that they can support a variety of environments across all company locations, including those working from home or on the road.
The other key takeaway is that now, 18 months after the merger, Selerant will be known as Trace One. This is important as they take advantage of synergies across the DevEx PLM system, which will retain its branding, and Trace One solutions. The combination gives Trace One the capability to help retail, CPG, and supply chain customers develop and promote compliant products faster, while maintaining full traceability. Trace One describes the solutions as Manufacturing PLM (DevEx) and Retail PLM (Trace One), as the image shows. We believe that expanding the scope of PLM beyond the product and manufacturer to better plan and manage the product in the context of the CPG / retail relationship is a valuable proposition.
Outlook
Selerant appears to be doing quite well as a part of Trace One. I met and heard from quite a few new customers at the conference, in addition to some that are in their selection process. It was good to see the success of a company that has long focused on a core, best of breed offering and has developed significant solution breadth. I also find it a good sign when vendors are confident enough to invite their prospective customers to meet and interact with existing customers at their user conference.
We look forward to learning more about Trace One and watching progress as they bring the combined offerings to market. Thank you Hollie Farrahi, Sunil Thomas, Marianna Fowles, and Saida Ait for including me in your conference. It was also nice to see (and meet) a number of key Trace One and Selerant leaders including Christophe Vanackère, Jacapo Colombo, Carlo Colombo, Claire Bui, Jobi Varghese, Antoine Daviet, Mike Frankel, and others.
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[post_content] => Jim Brown and I are intrigued by what consumer products companies and retailers can do to design products and trade more effectively and sustainably after our briefing with TradeBeyond. Their multi-enterprise PLM and supply chain collaboration platform is expanding. By acquiring Pivot88, they strengthened existing industry-specific capabilities, deepened their presence in apparel, and added quality, compliance, traceability, auditing, materials management, and AI/ML capabilities.
While the company is decades old (formerly CBX Software), new capabilities continue expanding the business value for retailers and their multi-tiered supply chain partner community. The combination of product design and supply chain sourcing, ordering, and logistics is powerful, particularly with many consumer products' short lifespans and seasonal nature. Having these functions in an end-to-end platform designed for multiple trading partners supports the contract manufacturing models common in consumer industries such as CPG, general merchandise, and retail footwear and apparel.
Sustainability has also become crucial for these industries, and TradeBeyond helps with compliance. Elements include partner onboarding, documents, and more. They are also building a network of sustainability-focused partners, including BSCI amfori for a common code of conduct, Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) in apparel, The Higg Index from the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, as well as Reset Carbon, with which TradeBeyond has developed CBX Impact that helps companies assess and improve their scope 3 emissions.
Moving from product ideation to delivery on a single multi-enterprise collaborative platform is rare, and creates a digital thread from ideation through shipping. Most solutions are robust either in the product development and PLM or the supply chain and sourcing areas, but this has both. Pivot88 adds crucial production and operations capabilities in traceability, quality, and compliance. It also brings critical applied AI capabilities that TradeBeyond is already looking at expanding across their entire platform. TradeBeyond’s differentiation and footprint for delivering value is growing.
We look forward to following the company as it continues expanding its product footprint and presence in private-label and branded consumer goods supply chains. Thanks, Eric Linxwiller, and Lilian Bories, for explaining the latest to us. And thanks, Dan Demaree, for setting up the meeting.
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How can you help engineers manage complexity to make more informed design decisions?
As the role of product development teams becomes increasingly critical to product differentiation, growing complexity continues to make the job harder. However, with the right technologies, and by connecting simulation and test, you can empower development teams to engineer products that will win market share and boost profitability.
This survey-based research study examines engineering practices and the use of simulation and test. It identifies four best practices to get even more value from simulation and test. It also shares advice to support adoption.
Please enjoy the summary* below. For the full research, please visit our sponsor Siemens (registration required).
Every one of the sources of complexity has a direct impact on engineering. Engineers must figure out how to meet more requirements, incorporate new technologies, and integrate their work with additional engineering disciplines, while dealing with increasing demands for new skills. In addition, they must
be confident they've satisfied requirements while avoiding the cost of overengineering and still have the flexibility to innovate. All of this makes their job that much harder. It's such a challenge; companies take many actions to help them deal with complexity (see graph).
Addressing Complexity
Many companies turn to technology to help. In particular, simulation can be a valuable tool to improve engineering decisions. Empowering engineers to make better decisions reduces risk and increases the likelihood of products achieving market success.
*This summary is an abbreviated version of the research and does not contain the full content. For the full research, please visit our sponsor Siemens (registration required).
If you have difficulty obtaining a copy of the report, please contact us.
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How can CPG companies cut through the noise to get value from a manufacturing digital twin of their production process? How does it differ in design, commissioning, and operational phases?
The market is filled with a combination of marketing hype and real case studies about how digital twins help companies digitally transform and drive new value. This interactive panel cuts through the buzzwords by discussing the real value of applying modeling, simulation, emulation, and virtual commissioning to help manufacturers, including consumer packaged goods companies, get products to market faster with greater throughput and quality. Digital twin experts Stephen Birtsas and Leo Moran of Kalypso join me in an interactive discussion and then share valuable case studies where Kalypso helped customers transform and tangibly improve performance.
Watch the Kalypso on-demand webinar for real-world insights and case studies about the manufacturing digital twin (no registration required).
For related research, please read Tech-Clarity's The State of PLM in CPG to find out if PLM is living up to its potential in consumer packaged goods.
[post_title] => The Manufacturing Digital Twin – Buzz or Bullseye?
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[post_content] => I had the opportunity to visit Graphisoft’s Budapest headquarters for their recent Building Together | Connect event. I left the event with several key takeaways:
Graphisoft shared its strategy and pointed to significant progress that will help integrate the work of its traditional architect customer base with others. At the event, they shared the release of the MEP Modeler in Archicad and new capabilities in DDScad. They plan to continue to add MEP / structural capabilities with every release. They also demonstrated enhancements to BIMcloud and BIMx that help support collaboration and interoperability to support industry initiatives and standards, including open BIM.
As a reflection of their integrated approach, they merged their product release announcements into one instead of individual announcements for Archicad, DDScad, BIMcloud, and BIMx. That might seem subtle, but it’s a meaningful statement about the importance of integration and evidence of a more integral product planning process and mindset.
Delivering on Customer Requests
The launch event was open to customers and Graphisoft paid clear attention to enhancements that make life better for existing customers. Graphisoft confirmed that “architects will always be at the center of our thinking,” even as they extend capabilities for multidisciplinary teams. These announcements are not the type that excite the market, but they are the tactical improvements that customers love. Some examples included integrated design option management to prevent the need to make numerous copies of a model, improved attribute management, smart distance guides, streamlined manufacturing library import, advanced model compare, and enhanced search. Graphisoft experts explained each of these in detail, and although the customer audience was remote, I could imagine their pleased responses. Graphisoft also added improved documentation for single-line drawings, which will likely make certain customers happy and also make Archicad more attractive in North America. It appears Graphisoft delivered some real value to existing customers with this release.
New Roadmapping Process
As mentioned, the announcement shared enhancements to help Graphisoft deliver on its vision but also showed strong evidence that they are listening to their customers. I met with the head of product management, Sylwester Pawluk, and Ghaleb Khadra from professional services to understand their product planning approach for the release. The plan included a mix of strategic additions like one-click LCA and tactical customer enhancements. What’s new, I’m told, is that Graphisoft has adopted a transparent roadmap so customers know what to expect. They also implemented a new technology preview process to share the enhancements with customers in advance and gained a very positive reaction to the release from their pre-release preview process.
Graphisoft now offers a live roadmap on its website, and this release shows that they delivered on their promises. In addition to solid roadmap items, Graphisoft shared research initiatives they’re focused on, including AI assistance, parametrics, and augmented / virtual reality. We expect to see results from these added to their roadmap over time. Again, Graphisoft is showing transparency and gaining credibility by announcing what they’re working on and adding it to the roadmap as they become confident of when and how they’ll upgrade their capabilities.
Final Thoughts
It’s great to see progress on both vision and customer-oriented enhancements. We’re excited about Graphisoft’s vision to offer a more integrated AEC solution while supporting existing architect customers. To do this, we expect to see continued investment in their existing solutions. We also believe we will see Graphisoft leverage more capabilities from across parent company, Nemetschek, to fulfill their vision and bring more value to their customers. AEC software is a dynamic market with significant opportunities for vendors and the industry. We look forward to seeing what Graphisoft delivers next.
Thank you to CEO Huw Roberts, Ron Close, Julianna Gulden, and the Graphisoft events team for inviting me to join such a well-organized, informative event. Further thanks to Sylwester Pawluk and Ghaleb Khadra for sharing product strategy and progress.
For more information about integrating design processes, see the survey results from our The State of Collaborative Design in AEC study.
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