LiveWorks 2019 – PLM is Cool

I’m attending PTC LiveWorx at Boston Convention center. Yesterday, during the keynote, PTC CEO Jim Heppelmann presented current strategic update and vision of PTC in Digital Transformation. For the last few years, PTC was investing a lot in IoT, AR/AI technologies and product using acquisition and new product development.

Some of my earlier blogs:

LiveWorx 2018 – From PLM to Things, IoT and Data.

PLM – Back in the future with IoT toolbox

LiveWorx 2016 – How to stick Thingsworx model in the cloud?

One can think that IoT is replacing PLM. Or maybe redefining PLM. Some of these messages created possible confusion about how IoT is related in PLM. You probably remember “IoT is PLM” statement a few years ago. It was sound like core PLM is not a priority anymore. However, this year PTC CEO Jim Heppelmann was connecting dots together. The foundation of everything is CAD and PLM. Without CAD and PLM, or more clear, without PLM and product data, you cannot leverage the power of connectivity, augmentation, and new IoT driven processes.

I took the following screenshots during Jim Heppelmann’s keynote. These four products are a fundamental pillars of PTC strategy.

PLM data is a foundation of all derivative business processes.

My favorite passage from Jim Heppelmann’s keynote was that everyone who is working on PLM projects needs to ask for a compensation raise. This is how it is important.

And… besides that PLM is cool. I took a shot of PTC VP Product Management of PLM and IoT Solutions Group, Francois Lamy with a secret cap (I’ve been told it is not available in the outside distribution).

What is my conclusion? PLM priority is coming back big time at PTC and this is a signal how data is important in manufacturing. PLM is the foundation of all product development and business processes. It is also a foundation of all derivative data sets used in AR/VR and IoT initiatives and projects. Just my thoughts…

Best, Oleg

Disclaimer: I’m co-founder and CEO of OpenBOM developing cloud-based bill of materials and inventory management tool for manufacturing companies, hardware startups, and supply chain. My opinion can be unintentionally biased.