advance plm software solutions for complex …...advance plm software solutions for complex business...

Advance PLM Software Solutions for Complex Business Processes

Abstract

As customers world-wide clamour for more technologically rich products, be it a car, or a smartphone,

manufacturers are having to contend with more complexities while pleasing their customers and staying abreast of

competition. Right from conceptualization to design to manufacturing to distribution to aftersales to end-of-life, the

pressure is always on the manufacturer to deliver products to match the customers ever changing needs. This need

for innovation coupled with the mounting complexities that new technologies bring with them, the need for highly

customized and individualised products, the quick time to market pressures, etc., are making manufacturers work

with a large and perpetually expanding supply and distribution chain. These supply chains are often disparate and

diverse and spread across geographies and cultures, so working in collaboration with such a wide network can also

take a toll on the already tough task ahead. For example, in the final phase of an automobile assembly, over 4000

parts are brought from several suppliers and part manufacturers from various geographies for the final assembly,

where it takes an average of 30 hours to assemble one single car (Arvidson). Assembly is just one part of the whole

process, every part manufacturer has numerous processes to follow before his individual part is tried and tested for

the next phase (Automobile). The total time taken for assembly of a Boeing-777 is approximately 83 days (Brown,

2012).

This paper explores, through a case study, how the most complex and critical of business processes can be brought

under one roof, figuratively speaking, using PLM , which not only helps that manufacturer to take his product to his

end customer faster but also at increased efficiencies and lower costs.

1. Product Lifecycle Management

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Contents

Abstract 1Introduction - How Complex Business Processes Function? 3Case Study: A Global Consumer Goods business 3Solution: How did PLM Help? 4Key Observations 5References 6About the Company 7


Introduction -

Case Study: A Global Consumer Goods business

How Complex Business Processes Function?

Businesses are constantly looking at making their operational and manufacturing processes more agile and scalable,

so that they are not only available and accessible on demand and across the organization but also help them to

expedite their go-to-market and increase their core efficiencies. The need to deliver the product faster is making

businesses re-examine their development cycles as well as their supply chains and create a logical and simplified

pipeline that connects all the dots (A strong lever for flexibility and growth). Be it a manufacturing unit, a IT firm or a

packaged goods industry, they all depend on the strength of their processes, the data and their resources, but given

the fact that all business have gone global today, all resources, teams, source geographies and distribution networks

are spread out, which makes it difficult for the company to cater to their customer’s needs in a timely manner. This

naturally pushes innovation out of reach as well.

A large consumer goods company has a presence across the globe and has a diversified portfolio of 17 different

businesses ranging from home products to apparels to branded labels to fashion products to electronics and home

appliances. The biggest challenge that they are facing is the fact that each of these is equally profitable and hence

requires them to concentrate on the minutest aspect of each business process right from design, sourcing,

production, testing, marketing, sales, after sales and end-of-life, that too independently. They need to remain in

close communication with not only the end customer for each product, but also with the disparate teams working

on each of them, the parts/materials suppliers, the distributors, the marketing teams, the engineers, the

manufacturing plant, the testers, the licensors and all the others who are involved closely in taking the product to

the market. They wanted to ramp up production and start manufacturing in bulk, however they were faced with

several challenges (Reducing time to market by unifying business processes):

l Lack of control on the individual teams and processes that were spread across geographies

l Lack of a common pool of data/information that could enhance collaborative working

l Lack of a centralized and standardized source of process workflows

l Lack of transparency and visibility into management of the samples and prototyping

l Lack of properly charted out compliance and country-wise regulatory norms with no point of contact who

ensured that the compliances were being met

l Outsourced quality testing which again indicated a proper lack of control

l Lack of information on materials and processes availability to build bulk manufacturing capability

l Different manufacturing plants functioning in separate silos without much communication to the corporate

office

5. Bill Of Materials6. Computer Aided Designing7. Product Data Management


The conglomerate was looking for a resolution that would not only help them in addressing all the above challenges

but would also help in building a standardized system that would remove the need to micro manage several

disparate processes and teams. They also needed the corporate headquarters to have better visibility into the

working of each individual setup without having to manage every single detail and step.

The company brought in a team of consultants to understand the existing processes and create a workflow that

would address each of the aforesaid challenges. The team undertook a study on the existing processes of each and

every division along with the internal and external teams and created workflows for each. They then identified the

commonalities and began to regroup the processes and workflows. Once they charted out all the workflows they

mapped them to PLM services from a leading PLM solutions provider and this solution was seamlessly merged into

the entire infrastructure, communication, data portals and process flows of the organization. The organization

managed to get all of its processes and teams onto one common platform which helped them to communicate easily

and work in tandem at all times.

The PLM solution helped them:

l Create a common business process by restructuring the existing ones across all their divisions

l Remove several process redundancies by developing common workflows for processes with commonalities

l Seamlessly integrate with their on-site, in the cloud, and off site systems including the existing legacy systems

l Standardize processes across geographies with easy accessibility even for the disparate and external teams

2l Digitize the existing processes including BOM , compliance checklists, external supplier/distributor requirements, testing standards, etc.

l Establish a proper hierarchy that clearly defined the flow of authority

l Specify quality controls

l Common accessibility to all samples that had already gone through testing and compliance, thereby reducing 3the need for retesting, which also ensured that there was company-wide consistency in QA

l Decrease in costs of communication, testing and product lifecycle due to lower redundancies

l Better collaborative working hence better teamwork

l Improved process and people efficiencies due to better visibility into workflows

4l Adopt technologies such as virtual designing using CAD

l Build capabilities in bulk manufacturing

Solution: How did PLM Help?

2. Bill of Materials3. Quality Assurance4. Computer Aided Design


Key Observations

The company benefitted in several ways. Not only did they manage to create a common platform for all their

divisions and reduce the need to micro manage, they also were also able to build better teamwork, better

communication, better transparency, which helped them reduce operational costs and ultimately improve their

time to market as well. The reduction in redundancies helped them optimise their resources and shorten their

development cycles and gain better control over all the phases of development right from conceptualization and

strategy to end-of-life.


References

A strong lever for flexibility and growth. (n.d.). Retrieved from cimpa.com:

http://www.cimpa.com/fr/business-processes

Arvidson, E. (n.d.). How to build a car from start to finish . Retrieved from ehow.com:

http://www.ehow.com/facts_7811332_long-build-car-start-finish.html

Automobile. (n.d.). Retrieved from madehow.com:

http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Automobile.html

Brown, D. P. (2012, January 14). How long does it tale to build a Boeing-777? Retrieved from

AirlineReporter.com: http://www.airlinereporter.com/2012/01/how-long-does-it-take-to-build-a-boeing-777/

Reducing time to market by unifying business processes. (n.d.). Retrieved from ITCInfotech:

http://www.itcinfotech.com/Uploads/GUI/knowledgecentre/Reducing_time_to_market.pdf


About PROLIM:

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PROLIM is a leading provider to industries like Automotive, Aerospace, Manufacturing

Supplier and Life Sciences. Providing these services has helped the clients to enhance efficiency and top-line growth

As one of the fastest growing private Companies in America recognized by Inc 500, PROLIM being customer focused

rather than product focused, the company envisions harnessing customer requisites by adding more satellite offices

over the next few years in major metropolitan centers PROLIM envisages reaching customers beyond borders to

deliver effective services in the west and east coasts of the US Canada and Europe and Asia.

PROLIM Global Corporation

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