No one wants to buy PLM…Part 8 of an infinite series

 

 

I am a PLM sales person…and the title of this blog entry may imply that I am whining about my job. While I am not immune to the occasional emotional episode / mild tantrum, the title of this blog entry has a purpose. I assure you that this purpose has nothing to do with my emotional state.

Companies that contact InFlow are generally not looking to buy a PLM solution. Rather, they are looking to solve complex issues in their organization. Often times, the connection between the issue and the definition of PLM is somewhat cloudy. Therefore, my goal in this series is to discuss some of these challenges that InFlow has addressed with PLM and some of the measurable success that our customers have achieved.

"In Search of a Prius That Runs on Cooking Oil..."

If you root around the CAD websites these days, everyone seems to be looking to add a check to the "green" box.  SolidWorks, for example, recently rolled out "Sustainability Express" in all licenses of SolidWorks. This video highlights some functionality of the SolidWorks Sustainability Suite.

As the child of a Beatnik (just a bit too old to be a hippy), I find it very satisfying to find companies that are trying to do the right thing for the environment.  I am proud to say that we recently took part in just such a project.

My customer produces complex equipment used to power our world.  They recently developed a product that was widely accepted by their customers as an essential component of the Smart Grid and, simply put, sold as soon as they could build them.  And therein, as the Bard would tell us, lies the rub...

This company had sufficient floor space and enough business to triple their manufacturing capacity.  However, this piece of machinery is extremely complex and can only be built by a small number of qualified individuals.  Our customer needs to train its users without sacrificing the time of these valuable, qualified shop floor individuals. 

Recently, this company chose to implement 3DVia as a solution to this issue.  The solution will allow CAD data to be used as a starting point for interactive assembly instructions. These instructions will be delivered to shop floor with a Bill of Material (BOM) and data that describes each part.  Moreover, these instructions will be automatically updated when the BOM/geometry/description changes to alleviate confusion.

The expected outcome of this project is to build more than three times as many units, and increase revenue by 3x on the chosen product line.  If successful, the solution can be scaled up to include any product that they have designed in 3D CAD.

Ken Kesey once said "You're either on the bus or off the bus."  Working together, we are simply building a bigger, more pimped out version of the bus that will house more workers, create lower emissions and decrease our carbon foot print.  And what a long, strange trip it's going to be...

 

I am a PLM sales person…and the title of this blog entry may imply that I am whining about my job. While I am not immune to the occasional emotional episode / mild tantrum, the title of this blog entry has a purpose. I assure you that this purpose has nothing to do with my emotional state.

Companies that contact InFlow are generally not looking to buy a PLM solution. Rather, they are looking to solve complex issues in their organization. Often times, the connection between the issue and the definition of PLM is somewhat cloudy. Therefore, my goal in this series is to discuss some of these challenges that InFlow has addressed with PLM and some of the measurable success that our customers have achieved.

"In Search of a Prius That Runs on Cooking Oil..."

If you root around the CAD websites these days, everyone seems to be looking to add a check to the "green" box.  SolidWorks, for example, recently rolled out "Sustainability Express" in all licenses of SolidWorks. This video highlights some functionality of the SolidWorks Sustainability Suite.

As the child of a Beatnik (just a bit too old to be a hippy), I find it very satisfying to find companies that are trying to do the right thing for the environment.  I am proud to say that we recently took part in just such a project.

My customer produces complex equipment used to power our world.  They recently developed a product that was widely accepted by their customers as an essential component of the Smart Grid and, simply put, sold as soon as they could build them.  And therein, as the Bard would tell us, lies the rub...

This company had sufficient floor space and enough business to triple their manufacturing capacity.  However, this piece of machinery is extremely complex and can only be built by a small number of qualified individuals.  Our customer needs to train its users without sacrificing the time of these valuable, qualified shop floor individuals. 

Recently, this company chose to implement 3DVia as a solution to this issue.  The solution will allow CAD data to be used as a starting point for interactive assembly instructions. These instructions will be delivered to shop floor with a Bill of Material (BOM) and data that describes each part.  Moreover, these instructions will be automatically updated when the BOM/geometry/description changes to alleviate confusion.

The expected outcome of this project is to build more than three times as many units, and increase revenue by 3x on the chosen product line.  If successful, the solution can be scaled up to include any product that they have designed in 3D CAD.

Ken Kesey once said "You're either on the bus or off the bus."  Working together, we are simply building a bigger, more pimped out version of the bus that will house more workers, create lower emissions and decrease our carbon foot print.  And what a long, strange trip it's going to be...

Do You Ship Products to the European Union?

 

Recently, we have had a number of customers inquire about solutions to help them comply with environmental regulations.  While many of these regulations have been in place for quite a few years, the enforcement of these regulations is becoming a reality.  Thus, companies have to prepare themselves in order to continue exporting their products, especially to the European Union.

This survey is simply intended to understand the value of such solutions in CATI's customer base. Please take a few minutes to let us know if compliance with these regulations is important to your business.

<a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=PpL8Lr3bCTBYb20TRvWADQ_3d_3d">Click Here to take survey</a>

Recently, we have had a number of customers inquire about solutions to help them comply with environmental regulations.  While many of these regulations have been in place for quite a few years, the enforcement of these regulations is becoming a reality.  Thus, companies have to prepare themselves in order to continue exporting their products, especially to the European Union.

This survey is simply intended to understand the value of such solutions in CATI's customer base. Please take a few minutes to let us know if compliance with these regulations is important to your business.

<a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=PpL8Lr3bCTBYb20TRvWADQ_3d_3d">Click Here to take survey</a>

No one wants to buy PLM…Part 7 of an infinite series

 

I am a PLM sales person…and the title of this blog entry may imply that I am whining about my job. While I am not immune to the occasional emotional episode / mild tantrum, the title of this blog entry has a purpose. I assure you that this purpose has nothing to do with my emotional state.

Companies that contact InFlow are generally not looking to buy a PLM solution. Rather, they are looking to solve complex issues in their organization. Often times, the connection between the issue and the definition of PLM is somewhat cloudy. Therefore, my goal in this series is to discuss some of these challenges that InFlow has addressed with PLM and some of the measurable success that our customers have achieved.

"Can we attribute this to Yogi Berra and call it a day?"

I read an article last year that discussed the application of lean principles to the product development process.  In the article, the author called for rigorous standardization in order to create strategic flexibility.

If any of you have ever seen me present PLM solutions to your company, you may have heard me remark that I am not a smart man.  Reading the author’s statement further confirmed this sentiment.

As I read the sentence, then wrote it on a scratch pad seven times like an engaged 20-something with a new married last name, reality became very clear:  I needed to speak to an engineer.  His first response, a tribute to the former Yankee catcher:  “If you ask me anything I don't know, I'm not going to answer.”

On a serious note, my smarter cohort set me straight:  The author was referring to the creation of strict design standards in order to predictably alter existing designs and the process by which these designs are priced, ordered, and manufactured.

If you are a CAD guy, you may believe that you can accomplish this with configurations, such as those created in SolidWorks.  If you are on the operations side of the business, you may believe that a Knowledge-Based Engineering solution linked to your ERP and PLM systems may provide this capability.  If you are in a position of power to buy one of these solutions, please contact me at eric.gold@cati.com.

 

One of our customers recently implemented an interesting combination of solutions:  The customer chose a key aspect of their design which is a part of every project but varies in every instance.  For the sake of anonymity, let’s say the customer manufacturers hydraulic cylinders and they are constantly re-designing brackets.

Up until recently, the customer found itself re-designing brackets for every new project.  The engineer would then have to search their ERP system for brackets that they had previously built that were close to the newly designed bracket, then alter the design or create manufacturing instructions for the new design.

With the implementation of DriveWorks’ design automation solution, the engineering leader has created a series of master brackets and has written the rules for all feasible configurations for new brackets.  By offering these designs through a simple-to-use interface, a non-CAD user can specify design standards and allow DriveWorks to access SolidWorks to create all associated models and drawings.  The benefit:  Out customer has cut bracket design time by 70% and reduced overall product development cycles by 5%.

The moral of this story is that that the answer isn’t always clear…more employees, more hours, more sales people, it doesn’t always translate in to more efficiency.  Sometimes, it takes a creative, fresh approach to solve complex issues and improve on operational efficiencies.  As Yogi so graciously one said: “If you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

What Do You People Want?

 I found a very interesting poll on CIMdata (http://www.cimdata.com/) regarding the key analytics that companies would like to see from their PLM system. 

Interestingly enough, this poll focused on the project management side of PLM, an area that many companies have not yet deployed.  Nonetheless, the masses have spoken, and users undeniably replied that they would like to be updated in real time on factors that may cause projects to miss delivery deadlines.

In any case, I simply thought that I would share.

The Importance of Product Data Management (Part 3 – the Finale) THE 1-10-100 RULE

Posted on behalf of John Holub.

In the previous installment of this series, we discussed a company that had issues with having shipped product to the wrong revision of a design. More often than not, this is the cause of not having the ability to control access to data prior to approval for release to manufacturing. This was a $250,000,000 company facing the prospect of losing 40% of their business if they did not get their act together.

In recent news, we heard about a company that manufactures baby furniture that had to recall one million baby cribs. Apparently these cribs were prone to collapse, and in at least one instance a baby died. To add insult to injury, they decided that the way to fix these defective cribs was to send out a repair kit. In their haste to get these repair kits out to the crib owners, they neglected to include instructions. We do not know exactly how one million baby cribs made it through the Engineering Process, the Approval Process, the Manufacturing Process, and/or the QA Process without this being found until a tragedy had occurred. It may be interesting to be able to eaves drop into the Board Room of this company as they investigate how this happened. It’s a safe bet to say that the process, if there is process in place, is broken.

These two stories bring to mind an old adage in product development. It’s the “One, Ten, One Hundred Rule”. If we find issues in Engineering, it costs us a dollar, If we find these issues in manufacturing, it costs us ten dollars, if we do not find these problems until product has been shipped, it costs us one hundred dollars, or more. Maybe even the reputation of  the company.

PDM/PLM solutions are designed to provide a secure environment for a company’s intellectual property, but the key is process. “Process is everything.” Complete visibility into the entire product development process is key to ensuring that the intended design is what has been manufactured and shipped.

Has your company experienced issues such as shipping to the wrong revision? What is your design process? Does everyone involved in the Engineering Change Process know what the entire process may be? Product Data Management is designed to reduce the risks related to new product introduction and can help us to drastically reduce the possibilities of being on the wrong end of the “One – Ten – One Hundred Rule”.

“For more information, contact InFlow Technology at www.inflow-tech.com

The Importance of Product Data Management (Part 2)

Posted on behalf of John Holub.

QUESTION: How important is Process? Consistent process. Process, allowing Companies to define policy and procedures.

In part one of “The Importance of Product Data Management”, we discussed the importance of being able to find and reuse a company’s intellectual properties. Now that the data is secure and accessible to those that need it, when they need it, let’s put process in place to add controls to how we use/reuse this information.

A company that we once worked with called us in to assist them in revamping their Engineering Change Process. This was a manual process that they said had really become a bottleneck. Their goal was to try and automate the process with the aide of their new data management system. They felt that they could reduce the time that it took to process an engineering change by 20%. In Dollars, this broke down to about $1,000,000 per year. As we started to dig a bit deeper into the situation, there seemed to be an inordinate number of  Engineering Changes per week. We suggested that the Engineering Change bottleneck might be the result of a greater problem. We then asked about the design and approval processes. Our client went on to say that there have been a number of serious issues with regards to manufacturing product to the wrong revision. He also added that he had just received a “Nasty Gram” from their biggest customer. For the second time in 18 months, they had shipped to the wrong revision of the design. The customer stated that if this happened again they would take their business elsewhere. We asked what impact that would have on the company and we were told that this customer represented 40% of their annual business. We told the client that we certainly could help them improve their Engineering Change Process, but first let’s figure out how we save 40% of your company’s business.

The keys are consistent process and visibility of that process. Controlling access based on where designs are in their development process. Restricting access to certain areas in the organization until all approvals have been applied.

In the third and final installment of this series, we will discuss what I refer to as the “One – Ten – One Hundred Rule”.

“For more information, contact InFlow Technology at www.inflow-tech.com

The Importance of Product Data Management (Part 1)

Posted on behalf of John Holub

QUESTION: Is data/document management important? Is having “ALL” the documentation secure and easily retrievable key to your business, or just nice to have?

The first nineteen years of my career were in manufacturing. It was this background that prompted a change into the CAD/CAM Industry back in the Mid-80’s. My initial exposure to PDM was in 1989. The company that I worked for was instrumental in the development of IGOR. IGOR, named for the founder of Sykorsky Aircraft, was one of the very first production PDM Systems to come into existence. Eventually, the people involved with this PDM System got together, and using this knowledge and many lessons learned, developed a PLM System that is today has become one of the Enovia Solutions from Dassault Systemes. As we enter 2008, with all the advances in technology, companies are still wrestling with the same issues that faced Businesses over 20 years ago. “Get the right information, to the right people, at the right time”.

Some time back, a study was conducted that focused on Engineering Organizations. Like most of these reports, there were considerably more words than substance. However, a couple of the metrics really stood out: First, they determined that, on average, an Engineer spent more than 50% of his or her time searching for the material they needed to accomplish their job and, in some cases, as much as 70% of their time was spent finding what they needed. Secondly, once they determined that they had everything that was needed, they were still not certain that they had the right information. This problem still exists in the majority of product development companies today. Vital information and documents are stored randomly. It’s often times easier to redo a design rather than spend the time finding existing data for design reuse.

A company that I have worked with in the past, manufactures office furniture had this exact issue. They designed and manufactured a wide variety of office chairs, and each of these chairs used the same casters, yet it was easier to create a new part than to find the existing one for the next new chair that they designed. This resulted in the same part with 24 different part numbers. They got the job done, but this is hardly an efficient approach and not very economical from an inventory perspective.

Sounds like pretty basic stuff, right? So basic, in fact, that the justification for implementation of a PDM System can be based on getting the data secure, easily and quickly retrieving the data, and establishing methodologies for design reuse. This is really the ABC’s of PDM.

“For more information, contact InFlow Technology at www.inflow-tech.com

No one wants to buy PLM…Part 6 of an infinite series

I am a PLM sales person…and the title of this blog entry may imply that I am whining about my job. While I am not immune to the occasional emotional episode / mild tantrum, the title of this blog entry has a purpose. I assure you that this purpose has nothing to do with my emotional state.

Companies that contact InFlow are generally not looking to buy a PLM solution. Rather, they are looking to solve complex issues in their organization. Often times, the connection between the issue and the definition of PLM is somewhat cloudy. Therefore, my goal in this series is to discuss some of these challenges that InFlow has addressed with PLM and some of the measurable success that our customers have achieved.

"Change, for lack of a better word, is good"

Excuse the cheap Gordon Gecko rip-off...but who else would you expect a sales guy to quote?  Change in any organization can be viewed as a good thing.  That is, unless you are the poor sap that has to deal with all of this change.

ECRs, or Engineering Change Requests, are the way that many companies request product and design changes within the product development group.  ECRs are product development’s answer to the corporate suggestion box:  They allow anyone from any department to recommend a product change in a formal manner.

ECRs are encouraged.  Many companies believe that their people should have as much input into product line improvements as market research studies and customer demand.

One of InFlow’s customers encourages this type of input from its employees…they posted sheets outside of the VP of Engineering’s office that were filled out and dropped in his mailbox.  This encouragement was not ignored…the VP processed an average of 15 ECRs per week.  The unfortunate part of this story is the process by which these ECRs were…well, processed.  The VP had to complete 50 manual steps before beginning the approval of an ECR.  These tasks included attaching documentation to support the change, reviewing inventory levels in the ERP system, filling out his form that mirrored the employees’ request, and determining the approval route.

Recently, this InFlow customer implemented PDMWorks Enterprise, a Data Management solution developed by Solidworks Corporation. Working with the InFlow team, the customer formalized the ECR process, created submittal and approval forms inside the system, and has created an automated notification system that routes the forms to the proper approvers.  This was completed in a little less than 3 weeks, and the results have been fantastic:  All 50 manual steps have been eliminated from the ECR process.  Furthermore, the submittal process happens online and is much easier for employees to access and complete.  The result:  The customer is completing 3 times as many ECRs.  However, their backlog of active ECRs has decreased by over 50%.  The company is generating more ECRs and processing them faster and more efficiently.

Gordon Gecko also said, “Lunch is for wimps.”  Be that as it may, our VP of Engineering certainly now has more time to take a well deserved lunch.  Enjoy.

No one wants to buy PLM…Part 5 of an infinite series

I am a PLM sales person…and the title of this blog entry may imply that I am whining about my job. While I am not immune to the occasional emotional episode / mild tantrum, the title of this blog entry has a purpose. I assure you that this purpose has nothing to do with my emotional state.

Companies that contact InFlow are generally not looking to buy a PLM solution. Rather, they are looking to solve complex issues in their organization. Often times, the connection between the issue and the definition of PLM is somewhat cloudy. Therefore, my goal in this series is to discuss some of these challenges that InFlow has addressed with PLM and some of the measurable success that our customers have achieved.

“I can’t make my car payment if you guys can’t help me get my quote done!!!”

You have 250,000 production drawings. Your genius sales person calls you from her VW Passat (not making judgments here…it is what I drive and thus my basis for stereotypical sales-folk transportation) and explains what her customer is looking for on a new order. She then asks you when she can have a quote.

Once again, you have 250,000 production drawings…not that the genius sales person in her VW knows this.

Chances are that if you are in the business of making products, you try to base new designs on something that has been done before. However, if you had to search through a standard folder structure or (heavens forbid) a stack of file cabinets the size of Manhattan, you might not be able to provide feedback fast enough for your genius sales person to win the business that she needs to bypass public transportation.

This conversation was very typical for one of InFlow’s customers. Even with the implementation of a PLM system, it was difficult for them to search for project data that was similar to previous projects, and still more difficult to understand whether or not that job had been profitable for the company. Still more painful was the need for a customer service engineer to compile all of this data in order for a sales person to provide an accurate quote. Therefore, the company lost a lot of deals due to long lead times and chose not to bid on a large number of jobs because they simply could not quote fast enough.

Recently, the InFlow customer implemented DriveWorks, a Design and Sales Configuration Solution. With DriveWorks, the customer will add design and business rules to its configurable product line and allows sales professionals to present design options to a client in real time; pricing, specification documents, and even 3D models are immediately available for a client’s review. The rules used in DriveWorks are to be based on project history…the customer is able to present product options that are profitable to the company. Quotes will be generated in minutes and hours rather than days and weeks, increasing revenues and assuring an acceptable level of profitability on projects that the customer wins.

With quotes being generated quickly and easily, the genius sales person should now be able to make her car payment. Now if we can figure out a way to get her to forecast more accurately…

Before 3D for Beyond 3D

We just completed a seminar series called "Beyond 3D"that reviewed ways to put the great models we can now create in SolidWorks to work in new ways. My talk was reviewing where we had come with CAD as a preview to what is next.

I was doing some research for my presentation and I remebered from my Engineering Comptuer Graphics Class at Purdue in the early 80's hearing about the research that Ivan Sutherland did for his PhD Thesis in 1962. His program called Sketchpad had many of the concepts we use in modern CAD systems prototyped out more than 40 years ago.  In my research I found this video in the Internet Archive.

It reviews the origins of computer User Interfaces and shows a video of what Sketchpad could do. It is very interesting to see how far things have come, but at the same time how little is new.