I think that PLM in general as well as most other enterprise systems are very non-user friendly. My simple conclusion is that all these systems have a ‘push’ behavior – you need to manage all processes, initiate data transformation, send released design to engineering, release bill of materials to manufacturing… processes, processes, processes. We have too many processes to manage, in my opinion… How we can change and transform PLM systems to behave differently?
I suggest that we don’t focus on processes. Organizations need processes but people are troubled by them. They see processes as something that makes their life more complex and slows down their work. They are not good for people. They are not good to people. I cannot understand processes. BUT I can understand the list of my tasks. I need to have data to make a task happen, yet, in most cases my task depends on changes somebody else makes to the data. So, let’s focus on this and imagine that our PLM system is a single Web. Everything is published and organized. You need to be notified when something is changed. This reminds me of RSS!
In order to create a possible revolution for PLM, I think that we need to formalize 3 fundamental steps:
1/ Stop dealing with processes and focus on data
2/ Manage people’s tasks
3/ Notify people about data changes
I envision a future PLM system that deals much less with processes and focuses more on data and tools. Process management will become a native part of the IT infrastructure and will be used across organizations, without being limited to a particular application domain.
