How can process manufacturers, who are traditionally undersupported by PLM offerings, manage their digital threads and bridge the gaps from formulas, to process, to plant, to the supply chain? Where can recipe-driven companies, including those in chemicals, food & beverage, cosmetics, oil & gas, and other related “process industry” companies, turn for PLM?
The answer is not simple. Let’s look at the scenario. PLM for the process industries shares a lot of similar concepts with traditional PLM systems. But there are fundamental differences in the data model, processes, and reporting / analytics that make PLM solutions built for discrete manufacturing a poor fit. Over the last two decades, there have been a number of process industry PLM offerings developed and brought to market. But the number of options for PLM for the process industries is small, and the market has changed dramatically.
This eBook explores the idea of whether traditional PLM can fill the gaps needed to support PLM for the process industries. One way to approach leveraging discrete PLM systems for process industry needs is to take advantage of the flexibility and adaptability of low-code solutions. The eBook explores how a process company could manage their digital thread and gain the significant business value of PLM by leveraging a PLM system built on a low-code architecture. We look forward to your thoughts.
Please enjoy the summary* below. For the full research, please visit our sponsor Aras (registration required).
Table of Contents
- Exploring PLM for the Process Manufacturing Digital Thread
- PLM and the Process Manufacturing Industries
- PLM Core Concepts are Valuable
- Core Data Model Challenges
- Business Process Challenges
- Reporting and Analytics Gaps
- Adopting Traditional Discrete PLM Elements
- Can Traditional PLM Fill the Gaps?
- Recommendations and Next Steps
- Acknowledgments
Exploring PLM for the Process Manufacturing Digital Thread
Supporting Recipe and Formula-Driven Digital Threads
Our research finds that two-thirds of manufacturers view the product digital thread as important – or critical – to their company’s overall success and profitability.1 Further, our surveys show that product digital thread delivers significant business value including improved quality, time to market, engineering efficiency, innovation, and compliance.
PLM, the solution that serves as the digital thread backbone, however, is not typically suited to industries driven by formulas and recipes as opposed to discrete bills of material (BOMs).
Leverage PLM as the Process Industry Digital Thread
What capabilities are required to achieve digital thread benefits in the process manufacturing industries? How can companies bridge the gaps between R&D, recipes, plants, equipment, and the supply chain? Can currently available PLM capabilities and low-code development help? We’ll explore these questions and examine how the process industry digital thread could be supported by using core PLM fundamentals as a backbone.
PLM Core Concepts are Valuable
Integrating with the Systems Ecosystem
Digital thread data is now more likely to be federated than physically consolidated. The digital thread comes primarily from PLM but doesn’t stop there. Complementary systems like ERP, QMS, MES, and EAM also provide critical data. More advanced companies may also use PLM to integrate, collaborate, and connect with the supply chain and cloud data sources to populate their digital thread. Modern PLM systems require flexible integration capabilities to play their role in the manufacturing systems ecosystem.
System Fundamentals
These capabilities can add significant value to the process industry digital thread. There are other fundamental PLM capabilities that translate well to process industry PLM, such as user and role management, granular security models, workflow management, cloud deployment, and more. Ideally, these are created as services that can be adapted and reused to support and digitally transform the process industries.
Recommendations and Next Steps
Know Your Requirements
Manufacturers of all kinds can gain significant business value from a trusted digital thread managed by PLM. However, traditional PLM systems were not designed to meet unique process industry needs, let alone specific needs for industries like chemicals or food and beverage.
Traditional PLM capabilities, on the other hand, can support packaging design and BOMs, which follow a discrete model. These systems can also manage the digital thread and digital twin of plants and plant assets.
Look for Flexibility and Adaptability
How do you expand a solution from an 80% fit to a fully capable solution without impacting maintainability and the ability to upgrade? Consider that it might be easier to get from a 60% fit with a solution built on a low-code architecture so you don’t create technical debt.
One way to pursue PLM for the process industries is to adopt PLM basics and use low-code to replicate, modify, and augment it to fill the process industry disconnects. This approach offers the fundamentals of PLM for both recipe- and BOM-centric needs in a way that doesn’t create unmanageable technical debt.
Get the Right Architecture
When looking at a system to support the process industries, it’s essential to consider the architecture of the solution in addition to the capabilities. For example, is it open? Easily integrated? Available on the cloud? Does it offer low-code to make it flexible and maintainable? These are important considerations to get the right combination of capabilities for today and the ability to future-proof the system to support the business of the future.
Gain Business Value
Ultimately, the purpose of selecting and implementing a PLM system is growing business value through higher revenue, greater agility, lower cost, better quality, and increased compliance. PLM delivers proven value, but it’s critical for PLM to support the uniqueness of the digital thread in the process industry.
*This summary is an abbreviated version of the ebook and does not contain the full content. For the full report, please visit our sponsor Areas.
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