Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)

Engineering is the epicenter for capability development. In the private sector, markets for manufacturing companies are becoming increasingly competitive and dynamic as a result of a homogenization of technology and globalization. In the public sector, similar pressures apply, but they are driven by mission-related factors. In today’s environment organizations no longer compete against each other in isolation, but networks of companies now battle for market dominance. In the public sector, budget reductions demand organizational efficiencies without loss of effectiveness.

Modern engineering is a collaborative effort with organizations and their suppliers exchanging and sharing the knowledge needed to field a product. The ability to enable sharing and cross-organization collaboration is a key component in managing a product throughout its lifecycle.  The ability to manage up-to-date, consolidated product data and information across functional and organizational boundaries is critical for driving efficiencies and establishing control over critical product and sustainment data. This is particularly true in defense organizations where products are complex and their lifecycles are long.

In order to release the creativity contained in engineering, roadblocks must be removed so work can be done efficiently.  Too much time and money is wasted on miscommunication, trivial tasks, searching, and administration. These inefficiencies increase costs and directly affect mission effectiveness. Focusing on innovation is critical. In defense organizations, bringing new and innovative weapon systems into inventory as quickly as possible is a mission critical requirement.

Few organizations, public or private, have the required business process integration to efficiently manage the complete life cycle of a product.  Many organizations automate processes in ERP software, but few organizations automate PLM processes in ERP. ERP typically does not contain the rich business process logic required to manage the product lifecycle. The alignment of ERP and PLM is an ongoing challenge, and EII’s strengths are focused on solving this aspect of the implementation problem.

Problems Solved at the Source

At EII, we are experienced in developing process-oriented solutions that enable product life cycle management.  We have developed templates and methodologies to design solutions that help to better manage lifecycle data in conjunction with our partner tools. We specialize in:

• Redesign of lifecycle management business processes
• Design of product configuration management business processes
• Aligning PLM systems with organizational processes and data
• Aligning PLM systems with ERP systems
• Architecting and implementing standards for product data exchange
• Designing solutions that extend product data management business processes to include full PLM capabilities

We have our own PLM reference model, and we have a special tailored version for defense organizations. We also have own data integration methods and procedures, and we specialize in the alignment of required data to Equipment Management processes. We approach PLM from a business process perspective, which ensures that proposed solutions deliver business value. We understand that PLM solution design requires that data first be aligned with business processes, and that PLM systems only automate these fundamental process and data requirements.  This approach directly ties the lifecycle management business processes with logistics data (including maintenance), which is an absolute requirement for business process integration. .

Adding Value to Customer Organizations

We can add value by addressing challenges, such as:

Efficiency in Engineering
Engineers spend a significant amount of time on trivial tasks such as retrieving information, converting formats, updating vendor content and very little time on innovation. By automating business processes, resources are made available for reducing cycle times. Business process automation also eliminates fundamental quality problems.

Improving Data Quality
Data quality problems are widespread, and in many cases, the problems originate from inaccurate product data. By addressing the problem at the source when product data enters the organization, the platform for improving data quality throughout the organization is created. EII’s customers have large repositories of information that have data quality issues that can benefit from our complete data integration solution methodologies. .

Cross-Organizational Collaboration
In today’s world of complex products and supply chains, exchanging drawings and specifications in traditional formats is inadequate.  Traditional methods are time consuming and expensive, and as a result potential partnerships are abandoned in favor of seclusion and submissiveness. EII offers consulting and data management solutions that can significantly cut the cost of collaboration and enable cross-organizational innovation.