PLM Education: Gangnam Style!

Quiz question for you: What is the most viewed video on YouTube? The answer would be: the Gangnam Style Video from South Korean artist Psy, now viewed by over 833 million people. If you haven't seen it yet, get out of your cave and follow my link. Wouldn't it be nice if PLM in your company was as popular as this video? With the right PLM education, you can have a whole bunch of people in your company doing things "PLM-style".

There are probably only a couple of people in your whole company that accurately understand the potential of PLM, if you're lucky. These few people are often trying to push PLM onto those who have a very limited understanding of the great potential that exists for companies that intelligently implement PLM. Many people look at PLM as an expense with questionable returns. There are ample case studies showing the many benefits of PLM, but not everyone is aware of these. By educating more and more people in your business, the number of people that want PLM will increase like a snowball rolling down a pile of old punch cards.

PLM education must be pervasive throughout your company because the effects of PLM are only completely realized when a majority of your company uses these tools. The content creators must use CAD, CAE, document management, PDM, and other tools. Reviewers must be able to use visualization, DMU, and workflow tools. The rest of the consumers in your company must be able to use viewers, web portals, dashboards, mobile apps, and other tools that make their access to information seamless and fun.

All of this effort requires a large group of people that understand the value of PLM and how it can help their business. True understanding of PLM can only come as people are educated, solutions are deployed properly, and benefits start to accrue. It is only over time that the benefits will be realized because PLM is not about technology, it is a strategic business initiative that must be understood at the highest levels of your company.

So, start educating people about PLM in your company, and you will see many people begging for the technology that makes it possible. Then you will really see the benefits of doing things "PLM-style".

What do you think? Is your company properly educated about PLM?

Go to the CIMdata website to learn more about PLM education.

Cheers,

Jim

5 Reasons Your PLM Team Sucks!

Have you tried PLM before? Have you tried it and failed more than once? Is your current PLM implementation just limping along with one broken leg, an arm in a sling, and your tongue hanging out? If this is the case, it might be because your PLM team sucks!

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

Will MS Surface Become a Zune?

This week, Microsoft (MS) announced their latest foray into the hardware space. The MS Surface is their latest attempt to win over the scores of users already loyal to their OS, and potentially many new adherents. The Surface is a cross between an iPad and a laptop. It might be just the thing for users on the go, as a second device, or for those who only need a browser and a few apps.

Initially, when I heard about the Surface, several months ago, I was very excited. I thought that this device might even be the best of both worlds: an iPad with a great keyboard that can be used in many business situations, and a laptop replacement while on the road. It appears to be built well, and there is a commitment from MS to really make it work. The early reviews have been mostly great, and I was feeling good.

But, then I looked at my bookshelf. There I spied my Zune; the music device from MS that I bought many years ago. This device was their answer to the iPod. Initially it looked like it would work well, and have a chance to take over some of the market that Apple had created with their wildly successful iPod and iTunes. However, the success that MS envisioned with this hardware never developed, and today it can be used as a coaster, a door stop, and a paper weight.

In the past MS has not shown the ability to make hardware successful. It makes me wonder if the Surface will join my Zune on the bookshelf as a lovely door stop. The Zune was announced with much fanfare, and many people thought it would be successful; it was not. I am not sure all the reasons why, but it just never lived up to expectations.

So, will the Surface join the Zune on my shelf? Not if I don't buy one...

What do you think?

Cheers,

Jim

Is Your Business Ready for PLM?

Ready, set go! The race to implement PLM has started. Many people will approach PLM implementations like a sprint, when in reality it's a marathon. Successfully implementing any technology in your business is challenging, but PLM is especially tricky. That's because PLM is a strategic decision, not just software; and PLM never ends! There are also many people that must be involved to achieve PLM success.

What can you do to make sure your business is ready to get the most out of PLM? Here are some key areas that you can evaluate to see if you are ready for PLM success:

1) Executive Support - If you do not get support from a high level executive sponsor for PLM, you won't make if very far. PLM is a strategic activity with an enterprise vision, and it means that it must be supported from the very top of your organization.

2) Organizational Support - There will be many organizations that need to be part of the overall PLM implementation. If you do not have support from key people in all of your organizations, you will struggle to successfully implement PLM.

3) User Support - Do you have a good plan to involve your users in the PLM selection process, and a good Cultural Change Management Plan to continue interactions with users after the initial implementation?

4) IT Support - Like it or not, PLM technology will involve a large amount of commitment from your IT organization. If they are not on board, or if they just look at PLM as another piece of software to install, you really won't get very far with your PLM implementation.

5) Education - Are all of the people involved with PLM properly educated? If you educate right from the beginning, you will get much better success with your PLM implementation. All of the above people need PLM education so that there is no confusion about what PLM is, and how it can benefit your business.

There are obviously more aspects of PLM to consider, but these are some of the key items you must evaluate BEFORE you dash off on your PLM race.

What areas of PLM are you working on today?

Cheers,

Jim

Is PLM Just a Bunch of Old Guys?

The recent CIMdata PLM Roadmap saw great attendance, and great speakers. One of the topics brought up by several speakers was the lack of young people at this conference. I don't think this is any different from most PLM conferences around the world. If you look at who attends these conferences, it is mostly 40+ years old guys. I can speak from experience, since I am one of those old guys.

Many of the new technologies that will impact PLM in the future, like mobility, cloud, social, and others have NOT been embraced by the "old" guys at these conferences. When asked for a show of hands of how many people would be tweeting at the conference, about 6 people raised their hands. Overall, there were only 18 people that tweeted at the conference; there were 300+ attendees!

The question I have to ask is: "how can we get more young people involved in PLM?" If you looked at most PLM conferences, you would get the idea that only old guys are interested in this technology. This is far from the truth, especially when you consider how much technology is used by younger people today. But, how can we get their inputs into what we are doing with PLM?

I don't know that answer, but I think it is VERY important that we figure out how to engage with our younger engineers and PLM technology users to help us understand how new technologies can provide the PLM environment of the future.

What do you think?

Jim

CIMdata PLM Roadmap Hits the Mark Again!

The CIMdata PLM Roadmap 2012 concluded this week in Plymouth, Michigan. If you missed it, you missed a sold out PLM event that provided detailed discussions about Systems Engineering, Model Based Design, Simulation, and more!

The conference started with an excellent talk from Jon Hirschtick, the father of Solidworks, about the future of the CAD market. He told the engaged audience that CAD was only about half done, and that there was still many opportunities in this space. The afternoon had sessions about PLM implementation, using analysis in your PLM activities, how to interact with vendors and systems integrators.

The best part of the conference was the hallway conversations, the lunch time discussions, and the new information shared among industry peers. There was a vendor area called Eye On Technology where many PLM vendors provided information about their excellent solutions.

There was great food, great people, and a good time had by all. The CIMdata website has more information on future conferences, and information about how you can get education and information about PLM.

See you later,

Jim

Why You Should Attend CIMdata PLM Roadmap 2012

In the late 1940's, the St. John's Provincial Seminary was opened on a choice piece of land just outside of Plymouth Michigan. In 1955 the remarkable chapel was dedicated with little fanfare; this was a religious place, and not given to extravagant celebrations. The seminary continued to serve the Catholic Church of Detroit for some 40 years; but sadly, in 1988 the doors closed.

Today, after an $11 million restoration, this iconic seminary has been reborn as the St. John's Golf and Conference Center. They not only have 118 luxury guest rooms, and a new ballroom, but they boast many more amenities:

• Stately Romanesque architecture, beautifully renovated to reflect its heritage
• Twenty two distinct meeting rooms, ideal for corporate breakout session or smaller meetings
• A breathtaking two-story glass Atrium which provides a truly unique setting for cocktails, hors d oeuvres and music for up to 600 guests
• Twenty-two distinct meeting rooms, ideal for corporate breakout session or smaller meetings
• A challenging 27-hole championship golf course (great course - I played it last year)!
• The Grande Gallroom with seating for up to 450 guests
• And More!

Learn more about this fantastic property

Not only is this a fantastic venue, but the line-up of speakers at PLM Roadmap 2012 is one of the best I have ever seen at any conference in many years. Go here to register and see the amazing line-up! Or, you can watch and share this excellent video about the conference.

As for me, I plan to be on the golf course at around 8:00 AM on Monday, October 1. Please come and join me to make things interesting.

I look forward to seeing you there!