5 PLM Best Practices from the Experiences of Autodesk and Its Customers

PLM won’t instantly solve every manufacturing challenge; it must be used and applied correctly.

Autodesk has sponsored this post.

Manufacturing organizations are under a lot of pressure to ensure they get to market faster and cheaper without sacrificing performance. To address this challenge, PLM has become a central talking point of product development discussions at many organizations. This is because “a PLM system is foundational for the digital transformation journey for any organization that makes physical products,” says Amitabh Verma, product manager at Autodesk. “It serves as the central repository and single source of truth by digitizing and digitalizing your product information.”

However, manufacturing leadership knows that simply implementing PLM won’t solve all their problems and challenges like flipping a light switch. The technology needs to be selected and used and applied properly to ensure success. Having worked with numerous Autodesk customers on their PLM journey, Verma has come up with a few best practices to achieve that success.

(Image: Autodesk.)

(Image: Autodesk.)

1. Central Source of Truth Improves Productivity and Collaboration

The first best practice Verma suggests is for manufacturing organizations to treat their PLM systems as the single source of truth so that the full potential of the tool can be achieved. Unfortunately, it isn’t easy to mandate the organizational and managerial transformations necessary to change everyone’s behaviors.

To address this, Verma notes that PLM systems should make it so easy to get information that everyone foregoes any spreadsheet, email, shared drive or file transfer protocol (FTP) site they would traditionally use. Then by sharing information freely, organizations break down the silos that limit their potential.

For example, consider the experiences of ME Global, an ME Elecmetal subsidiary that manufactures components for large-scale mining operations. “When you don’t have a single source of truth, an ECO (engineering change over) can get stuck,” said Michael Best, Engineering Technical Manager at ME Global. “Maybe it was delivered to a reviewer who has since left the company. Or it needs to be seen by an account manager who is traveling. Or there is a critical field missing in the document. In all of these cases, you can’t move forward. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking.”

ME Global is a mining component manufacturer known for delivering high-end, long lasting rock crusher concaves and mantels, mill liners, grinding media and ground engagement tools. (Image: ME Global.)

ME Global is a mining component manufacturer known for delivering high-end, long lasting rock crusher concaves and mantels, mill liners, grinding media and ground engagement tools. (Image: ME Global.)

When the PLM system is the repository of truth it doesn’t matter where employees might be, their time zone or how they access the PLM system. “Team productivity and collaboration is enhanced as everyone is working with the same up-to-date information,” says Verma.

As a bonus, he adds that “PLM also facilitates the creation of digital twins. This enables predictive analysis and provides feedback to designers for product improvements.”

2. Reuse of Data Reduces Rework and Risk

To be useful, a single repository of truth needs to promote reuse of parts and components. Reuse can become a reality when a PLM solution includes a robust and intuitive ability to search data from within the database. This ability shouldn’t be limited to the information of a particular project, it must expand the breadth of knowledge of the organization. This will enable users to learn from others so they can make better, more informed decisions.

“Quickly pivoting to a new product by reusing and starting from an existing product helps organizations to get to market faster while keeping the cost down,” says Verma. “I firmly believe that one of the main goals of the PLM solution is to promote part reuse and therefore reduce duplication of effort.”

In this way, ME Global uses PLM as a single source of truth to reduce the time spent searching for correct documentation, versions or reviewers. “When my engineering team receives a new project, we already know it’s coming,” said Best. “We can pre-plan, pull information straight out of [Autodesk] Vault and get going on it immediately… We’re already moving projects through much faster than before.”

Being able to classify your part information and store metadata related to part geometry, key attributes, along with a standardized synopsis is key to having a powerful search capability. Finding an existing part which matches the search criteria reduces the risk associated with developing a new part.

Development of new components not only requires design of those components but also a slew of downstream activities including procurement, vendor development, verification and quality control on those components. Thus, reuse can help in reducing cost.

Verma gave an example of using the same caliper on multiple brake assemblies. If that caliper has an issue in one product, the organization will need to determine if the other products using the part are at risk. To find all these products, the organization needs to use the PLM search capabilities. They can then do the engineering assessments to determine which products need new caliper designs.

“Part reuse often complicates execution of the change management process,” says Verma. “If a part is used in multiple sub-assemblies and products, more requests would come for changes to the parts and therefore, a robust Impact Analysis process becomes important.”

3. Easy to Use and Learn Means More Buy-In

It isn’t enough for users to share and find data easily to want to use a PLM system. To ensure buy-in organizations also need to make sure the tool is easy to use, regardless of technical skill. “Very often just having an application does not resolve the problem if there is friction in using it,” says Verma. “Users find ways to not use the system.”

This is why cloud-based tools with browser clients have taken off in the industry. When it comes to a user interface, less is more. There is no need to bombard the user with every software feature upon opening a blank file for the first time. When functionality is progressive and revealed contextually, it will be easier, almost instinctive, for the user to pick it up.

Cloud also makes tools easy to access. Often all that is needed is a phone, computer or tablet and the internet. From there, any employee can access the information they need at each moment.

For example, Stephen Howse, the PLM Program Manager at Spirax Sarco, British manufacturer of steam management systems and peristaltic pumps and associated fluid path technologies, said that regarding Autodesk PLM, his “favorite feature is the ease with which we can train our core team on how to use it.”

Spirax-Sarco is a British manufacturer of steam management systems and peristaltic pumps and associated fluid path technologies. (Image: Spirax-Sarco.)

Spirax-Sarco is a British manufacturer of steam management systems and peristaltic pumps and associated fluid path technologies. (Image: Spirax-Sarco.)

4. Ease of Setup and Configurable Options Facilitates Adoption

For an organization to transition to using a PLM solution, it should be possible to configure the PLM workflows to deliver the most efficient and productive business process. Additionally, those workflows will need to be updated and improved upon as that organization grows. “By standardizing our processes and integrating them into [Autodesk] Fusion 360 Manage, we can reduce the silos and burden of unnecessary work,” said Best. “The idea is to reduce all the noise from other tools and place everything in one location for the company to use anywhere.”

PLM tools often offer template workflows that give users a starting point. However, if the template doesn’t fit your industry, it’s not useful unless you tweak it. To that end, Verma says “PLM tools should support a configurable and extensible framework which can be mapped directly to the way your company organizes itself for business or developing a product, instead of trying to fit a PLM system into an organization via ‘band aids and duct tape’ of customizations and hardcoding.”

Sometimes that customization can be as simple as changing the names of items on the template, so they match the language of the industry, partner, user or customer. But sometimes that customization might require completely new features. The easier and faster those features can be implemented, the faster the PLM tool itself can be implemented. If the customization requires PLM suppliers to produce bespoke tools or in-house employees to be hardcoding fixes, then implementation will be a nightmare. And that nightmare might return with every PLM software update. Verma emphasizes that PLM solutions offering user-friendly configuration and customization toolkits, alongside intuitive drag-and-drop setups for business processes and collaborative application sharing ecosystems, are the most preferable choices.

5. Include Internal and External Teams to Improve Business Processes and Supply Chains

It is important for manufacturers to remember that they are not an island on an ocean, and they need help to get their products to market. These “external collaborators come in various forms,” says Verma. “They could be vendors from whom you procure ‘off the shelf’ components, suppliers and contract manufacturers who make the parts and components according to your specifications, and consultants who work with your team to develop and maintain your products. You should be able to invite these different external collaborators into your PLM system and be able to share only the specifics needed to perform their work.”

Like how the PLM system could notify internal employees of tasks, product changes and the status of a project, it’s just as important to give external collaborators access to that single source of truth.

Reynaers Aluminium, producers of aluminum systems for building fixtures on large construction projects, looked at including externals in their PLM system from a more lifecycle perspective. “It’s a continuous focus on making things as easy as possible for our fabricators and other customers, getting that customer intimacy as close as possible, and delivering the best possible solution,” said Dimitri Van Nuland, head of development at Reynaers Aluminium. “It’s all part of our goal of customer intimacy—making sure we have the right solutions on the spot, whether that customer is a fabricator or an architect. It’s very crucial for us because we’re thinking cradle-to-grave for the product life cycle, and our products can last 30, 40, 50 years or more. No matter what happens, all that detail will be available.”

Reynaers Aluminium is a global business that develops an extensive portfolio of aluminum doors, windows, sliding systems, curtain walls, solar shading, and many other sustainable building products. (Image: Reynaers Aluminum.)

Reynaers Aluminium is a global business that develops an extensive portfolio of aluminum doors, windows, sliding systems, curtain walls, solar shading, and many other sustainable building products. (Image: Reynaers Aluminum.)

PLM tools are a powerful way for manufacturers to update their organizations for a digital age. But despite the above best practices, it will still take time and experience to implement. To learn more, visit Autodesk’s PLM solution center.