PLM in the USA [3], BPM Immersion, PDT Europe 2010, BPM
2PLM NewsletterJohn Stark Associates September 27, 2010 - Vol13 #13 |
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Welcome to the 2PLM e-zine This issue includes :
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| PLM In The USA [3] by Roger Tempest |
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| The quickest way to uncover a general picture about PLM in the USA is to talk to the people who are implementing it. So, using a very old-fashioned method (picking up the telephone) I made a few calls. This led to a series of short discussions with real live PLM managers about how PLM has progressed over the past few years; whether it is possible to identify and learn from other companies' best practice; and how PLM should develop in the future.
There was no need to delve into sensitive detail. The important message is what can be derived from the common themes of all the conversations - and the outcome is very surprising. Put succinctly, American companies have a view of PLM that is less complete than the general view in Europe. The surprising thing is, this is not because US companies have neglected or ignored some PLM concepts that they think are unimportant. Instead, it is because they don't recognise these concepts at all. The American view of PLM has evolved separately, and it has blind spots which mean that some PLM activities and benefits are never even thought about. Consider the PLM Concept Set - the basic PLM knowledge that should be common to all practitioners. American companies harbour a certain fatalism that PLM will always be a secondary activity to ERP (because ERP saves real dollars) and so fall short on PLM Permeation - the extent to which full PLM is spread through the enterprise. However, European companies can also be weak in this area, often because the global PLM team is centred around Head Office and concentrate on what is closest to them. The main difference stems from the American emphasis on the software platform, and the projects that implement it, as covered in the September 13 issue. Using standard terminology, their focus is therefore on PDM (or the "PLM System"). PLM views are developed from that as: "PLM is the business context in which PDM is implemented". |
The problem is that this viewpoint of PLM neglects the Enterprise Down concept, which was identified as early as 2004 in Munich during a workshop on PLM Benchmarking. PLM is, in fact: the product viewpoint of the whole business", and applying this from the enterprise down uncovers many new areas such as board involvement; strategy; long-term planning; cultural issues; interaction with Quality, Innovation and Lean; portfolio management; supply and value chain management; as well as new ways of measuring and adding value from a product perspective.
So how can American companies take advantage of the European experience? In the short term, a Self-Assessment will highlight areas that have been overlooked within a given implementation. In the longer term there could be some trans-Atlantic calibration via benchmarking or by developing the reference models for PLM Benefits, Best Practice and Maturity. There are always strengths and weaknesses. It is very likely that, in the areas where American implementations have focused their efforts (such as process redesign on the business side, and system integration and data management on the technical side) they may be more advanced than their European counterparts. There may be more about that in future issues. I would like to thank all the people who were kind enough to take part in the discussion. Something positive can be constructed from this, and there may be more conversations to determine what that should be. The PLM in the USA discussion continues, and we would welcome your input.
Roger Tempest is co-founder of the PLMIG. You can send your views of PLM in the USA to him (or request more information) via plmusa@plmig.com |
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| BPM Immersion by Scott Cleveland |
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| Last week I was being interviewed by a research company. They asked me why companies haven't taken on BPM. The question led to an interesting conversation. Here's an overview ....
I have been talking BPM with a financial services company over the last few years. The CIO would like to implement BPM software. He's looking for more control and visibility into their processes. In their case, the process that he wants to manage is their main business process. He says that the CEO believes the cost to be high, and that the return on investment will be low. During the current economic climate, the CEO is unwilling to take that risk. This story may ring true to many of you! The key business process for all companies is their 'quote to cash' process. Over-simplified, a company quotes a price for a product or service; a product is manufactured or a service is rendered; and, the company collects the cash for the goods or services. All other processes exist to make sure the 'quote to cash' process functions properly. |
Still using the financial services company as an example, the process they want to manage is their 'quote to cash' process - their key business process. Instead, they should begin by managing one of the supporting processes. If they create a visible success there, management will be happy to have them tackle another. Over time, you will be managing more and more processes until you finally encompass your 'quote to cash' process. The return on investment is real and there for the taking.
What's in it for you? Your Thoughts.... What steps has your company taken to be a market leader?
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| PDT Europe 2010 Conference |
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| Eurostep is pleased to officially announce the PDT Europe 2010 conference to be held November 16-17 at the Microsoft Campus in Reading, UK.
This year's theme is "Standards based PLM for Global Innovation and Collaboration". |
The programme has just been completed. To view the agenda please visit www.pdteurope.com.
Register by October 21st to receive a Euro 155 early bird discount! |
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| Business Process Management by Scott Cleveland |
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| From a Terry Schurter blog,
Everyone that thinks BPM is some form of technology or use of technology has missed the boat, the big picture and the real opportunity. It starts with an understanding of what BPM is .... BPM is an understanding of the work that people do in an organization as related activities [or tasks] that often encapsulate or create experiences [customers or internal customers], that exist to achieve a result, that are optimized and managed against desired experiences, that are refined to eliminate non-value added work, and that are supported by technology in a way that makes all experiences [customers, internal customers, participants, managers, etc.] simpler, easier and more successful. BPM is something we can use to accomplish many organizational benefits of great value. We can increase customer satisfaction, improve customer value, reduce costs, improve employee morale, make less mistakes, create more consistency and get more work done.
My Thoughts.... I couldn't have said it better - so, let me just add .... I think that people don't realize that if they purchase BPM software, they must do a lot of work before they can implement it. |
Among their tasks:
Once they are happy with their 'new, improved process' they can bring in technology [software]. They will use technology to help them manage the process as they intend it to function and to automate where possible. What's in it for you? Why do all this work? Your Thoughts .... What steps has your company taken to be a market leader? Scott Cleveland can be contacted on +1 408-464-6387 |
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