Here are 5 reasons why this might be the case:
1) You don't have a PLM team: If you read this blog and said to yourself, "...what PLM team?", then you have a big problem. If you want to implement PLM successfully, you MUST have a PLM team. The PLM team is in charge of making sure your preparation for PLM, your PLM solutions selection, your PLM implementation planning, and implementation roll-out occur as required for your business. If you don't have a PLM team, this will never happen; and, since PLM never ends, the team should always be busy on the next project to support PLM.
2) Your PLM team has no leader: Every good team needs a good leader. The army has a general, a football team has a quarterback, and every country has a President, an emperor, a Queen, or someone to lead. If you have a poor PLM team leader, a part-time guy where PLM is not his main job, or no leader at all, you will struggle with PLM.
3) Your PLM team has no direction: If your PLM team does not know what to do, or if they are going in 5 directions at once, they will be ineffective. If the PLM team is not educated about PLM, and they each have their own view of what PLM can do for your business, it will be hard to make progress. The team must have a clear plan and a desire to eliminate scope creep, and other drifts, that can take your PLM initiative off course.
4) Your PLM team does not communicate well: One of the keys to making PLM successful is communication. If you don't have emails, web presence, tweets, blogs, user groups, newsletters, and other vehicles for communicating your PLM activities, no one will care about PLM. The cultural change that is required for PLM cannot happen without a lot of positive communication. Cultural change is often the main reason that PLM initiatives fail.
5) Your PLM team lacks executive support: Getting support from top executives for PLM is essential if you want to make PLM more than just a localized initiative. PLM, by its very nature, is an enterprise effort that requires the input and work of many people in your organization. If your team does not have a good executive sponsor on the team, it will be hard to get the kind of focus you need from the rest of your organization.
So, how well is your PLM team performing? Do they need some education? Almost all PLM teams, and extended teams could benefit from some PLM education.
What do you think?
Cheers,
Jim
