A blog by Oleg Shilovitsky
Information & Comments about Engineering and Manufacturing Software

Pragmatic Architectures for PLM Future

Pragmatic Architectures for PLM Future
olegshilovitsky
olegshilovitsky
30 September, 2009 | 2 min for reading

Picture 9I think, we’ve faced many changes during past few years related to how enterprise software is going to be implemented. Shifts in business models, new social and cloud technologies, demand for free software and many others. Thinking about all these challenges and changes, I want to discuss what is potential outcome and impact on Product Lifecycle Management architecture and implementations.

In my view, we came to the point when PLM is adopted as a business methodology and business strategy. However, I think we still have a huge gap between understanding of business practice and technologies and implementations we have in the field. So, proposed principles are my ideas about to define a pragmatic PLM architecture for the next 5-7 years. I’m taking this time span, as something that allows us to change fundamental architectures of the systems and not only make cosmetics tweaks.

1. Individuals Interaction and Process Tools. What should be an approach to design process tools? It looks to me, the key capabilities should be in the way a specific user (individual if you will) can impact overall process design and process management in the organization. Process tools need to move from space where people are divided into “process planners” and “process execution”. No more “build vs. run”. The individuals in an organization will need to define right processes and be able to improve as business change in the organization.

2. Customers Collaboration. I think, we move to the space where a customer will decide how to assemble PLM system from a flexible set of PLM services. Those services will be developed and providers by PLM suppliers. However final system configuration will be defined by customer and answer to the specific needs of business and organization.

3. Permanent Change as a key factor to improve software.
Changes become a key factor in PLM architecture adoption. Today’s systems are very expensive in case you want to make a change in their configuration, data model, implementation practices. This is something we need to work on the future. Cost of change will be key driver to successful PLM implementation. Change is on going procedure. Together with future SaaS models it will finally remove the need in planning precise PLM implementation phases from year to year.

4. Working Software over Methodologies and Documentation. This is last, but very important. No more documentation. Architectures need to allow people to learn how PLM system works, systems will become self explained and self documented. In the same way, you can discover software code, you will be able to discover PLM implementations. This will be a future role of PLM architects in the organization.

This is, of course, not a recipe how to build new PLM system. However, I do so sense in these principles to think how to change enterprise PLM software in the future.

Just my thoughts. As usual, your comments are welcome!

Best, Oleg

Recent Posts

Also on BeyondPLM

4 6
8 July, 2016

For many years, customization was considered an unavoidable thing in enterprise software. At the earlier days, PLM system was a...

2 October, 2011

Earlier this month, I posted What is the biggest PLM challenge? Since then I had multiple conversations on twitter, blog...

22 August, 2016

Change is hard. Think about enterprise and manufacturing company trying to change their systems, business processes or even upgrade from...

17 October, 2013

All roads lead to Rome. Sometimes, I have a feeling whatever discussion happens in CAD, engineering and manufacturing world, it...

21 December, 2010

I found an interesting article in San-Francisco Gate about Dashboards- “Introducing Netvibes Dashboard Intelligence Solutions: Business Intelligence Reinvented for the...

7 September, 2018

Cloud technologies are trending. But engineers are still on the fence to decide about how to move to the “cloud...

27 January, 2009

I’d like to open a series of discussions related to business intelligence and PLM. I had a chance to speak...

31 December, 2021

2021 is almost over and I want to use the moment to reflect on what we’ve seen happening in the...

13 August, 2009

Do you think PLM is about a process, right? Reading last buzz about social networking and product development I actually...

Blogroll

To the top