Top 10 Ways to Tell if Your Business Needs PLM

How can you tell if your organization needs PLM? It won't help to use a crystal ball, or consult your daily horoscope. It will require you to look at your business and figure out how it can be more innovative and efficient. In my opinion, everyone needs PLM. Take a look at this list, and see where PLM can help you.

How to tell if you need PLM:

10) It takes a long time to find the correct information, and after you find it, you are still not 100% sure it is the latest information.
9) In order to find product design information, you need to look in 3 or more different systems.
8) Large parts of your business are still managed with Microsoft XL Spreadsheets.
7) Email is your companies #1 collaboration method.
6) There is no link between your Engineering BOM and your Manufacturing BOM
5) You believe PLM is just another basic module of ERP that can be easily implemented.
4) Your existing PDM/PLM software is heavily customized.
3) You are still using intelligent part numbers.
2) Workflow and change processes are handled manually by passing around file folders.
1) PDM and PLM are used interchangeably and mean the same thing in your organization.

One of the best ways to get on the path to PLM is with education throughout your organization. PLM education will dispel misconceptions, solve the above challenges and more. If you think your organization needs a better understanding of PLM, there is no better way than to get educated.

A typical plan for this kind of activity might have you or one of your colleagues attend a PLM Certificate Course, then make a plan to bring a customized course into your company where many people can be trained.

Keep working, and soon your organization can realize the benefits of PLM efficiency and innovation.

Cheers,

- Jim

Nobody Cares About Your Stupid Website!

I was touring some local model homes with my wife recently. We are not in the market for a new home, but this is one of my wife's "hobbies". She just loves to go look at new model homes. I guess I can see why: they are clean and welcoming, they smell nice, and the people there always make you feel wanted.

The other day I was searching around the internet (like I do almost every day), and I realized that I don't look for websites as much as I use to. In the old days, I was always looking for the best website to tell me about a product, or gain information, or find a cool link. Today, I have noticed that I tend to follow links from my social media "friends" that send me to blogs, to Facebook, to Tweets, to Linkedin, and eventually, maybe, to a traditional website.

Most of the time, when I visit a corporate web site, I can't find a link to their Faceboook, Twitter, blogs, YouTube, or other social accounts, this leaves me frustrated (I get frustrated a lot). At the very least, a corporate web page should provide a solid jumping off point for the rest of their social presence. This led me to wonder just how important web sites, search engine optimization (SEO), and site optimization in general is to the overall brand messages and information that we seek on the internet.

I recently read an article titled: "Why 'The Atlantic' No Longer Cares About SEO". One of the things they are doing is not worrying about writing articles for Google search algorithms, but writing articles that real people want to read, share, rewteet, repost, etc. They are, "capitalizing on the growing importance of social networks, rather than search engines, as sources of traffic." I think this is a growing trend, and one that I see more and more every day.

What does this mean? Well, for one thing, the first place people look for information about you or your brand is not necessarily on your web page. They likely look at blogs, tweets, videos, and other sources as well. By the time they get to your website, most people have already formed an opinion about you; sometimes they NEVER get to your web site at all! Your competition is becoming more social as we speak, can you afford to do nothing?

Just like walking into someone's home, people must find a very social and friendly atmosphere on your web site. If you have an old-school site with static pages and very little social content, you will likely miss out on many potential customers. These potential "friends" will get up, spill their drink, and take their social presence elsewhere; and no one wants that.

What do you think? Is your website inviting people inside, or pushing them away?

-Jim