Design of the product life cycle management is more important than the production and marketing such as critical downstream operations, and recycling and can be tracked in terms of regulations compel manufacturers to have to concern about the products sold.
General manager of IBM's PLM business Walter Donaldson said: "PLM is changing, it is no longer just for the engineers to create better tools."This includes not only computer-aided design software, including some tools to improve those processes and the system is outdated mess downstream operations.
PLM for the term extension has attracted people winning director Mike Burkett of AMR Research, said: "Now, many of the PLM investments are based on the downstream effects."He to Motorola, for example, the company only uses fewer parts and suppliers to make products, he said:" This is to make a strategic change."
Similarly, Toyota also said its products through the standardization of components, so that to reduce the cost per vehicle of 1,000 dollars.
PLM so that such cost-saving measures become more simple, because one of its main functions is to spread to multiple systems is usually all the parts and products related information collected.
PLM can make strategic changes in the aerospace industry to show.Analysts said Boeing has been able to successfully win the order, mostly because in its use of the "digital tools" to build the new 787 Dreamliner aircraft.From project start to production until the product support, Boeing Dreamliner project in the first major application of the PLM technology.With the French supplier of PLM Dassault Systemes company provides software, Boeing will develop the required 787 hours 777 from the previous generation to reduce the required five years to four years.
Last December, the Washington State Boeing factory workers on the big screen to watch the Dreamliner assembly process simulation of a large number of components of the type of aircraft expected to be achieved first flight.
Boeing's success in sharp contrast to its rival Airbus, Airbus A380 aircraft for the new extension of forcing European manufacturers to reduce the project.Airbus is also large-scale use of the Dassault 的 PLM software, but the key is different Airbus departments using different versions of the resulting incompatibility means that an Airbus plant design another factory wiring harness is not suitable for the production of the fuselage.
This is the downside of digital production: One of the advantages of digital prototypes in their need, but if Airbus built a physical prototype, the problem may soon be found a much lower price will quickly be resolved.
"PLM provides a new way of working that you no longer need to spend up to the cost of the project the prototype stage."Austrian manufacturer Magna Steyr automobile information management, chief engineer Heinz Mayer said.
Magna Steyr is the most well-known manufacturer of BMW X3, but it also for other car manufacturers produce vehicles, including manufactured without using a prototype of the new Fiat Bravo.Magna Steyr has rapidly grown into the largest worldwide non-brand brand manufacturers, car manufacturers will develop small quantities of longer entrusted to Magna Steyr automobile production.Engine and logo provided by the brand manufacturers, such as the Saab 93 Cabrio and BMW X3 and the other part of the development and production by Magna Stehr.
Mayer said the company used by the U.S. supplier of PLM Agile Software provides software to reduce development time and it played an important role in reducing costs, especially in relation to those design changes when necessary.He said: "By the PLM system with production planning and manufacturing systems integration, production planning, we can rapidly provide a variety of design engineers."
In many industries, and even product development to product manufacturing outsourcing trend is the formation of more and more intense.
Boeing 787 about 90% of the work is done through outsourcing, its partner companies use PLM software is provided by Airbus Dassault is planning to outsource more work will be "risk-sharing partners."
Compared with the construction of new aircraft on the toothbrush of marketing challenges faced by the PLM becomes a little for the mass consumer products can also provide strong support for the industry.
Daniel Staresinic company UGS PLM U.S. mass consumer products business leader.He said that in the United States each year 35,000 kinds of consumer products will be introduced, but 80% of the products can not meet financial targets set by the manufacturer.
He also pointed out that the use of PLM to shorten product time to market such products the opportunity to achieve the greater expectations.
Mass consumer products industry, a trend that is based on specific needs of retailers, product customization, usually through special packaging and promotional activities, such as bundling toothbrush and toothpaste.
These custom product design elements insignificant, but it is necessary to determine whether those who can produce customized products delivered on time but also to decide whether the manufacturer, this is a headache problem.
Staresinic said the use of PLM in this application can reduce the decision time to 50% and 30% or more of the "execution time."