Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)

The foundation for PLM success is as comprehensive a capture of the current state as possible. After all, your company already successfully develops products. Consequently you already practices a form of Product Lifecycle Management. The question is how you handle PLM currently and whether there are potential improvements which could make your company even more successful or catapult it to the top of your market segment.

Using industry-specific templates as a framework, we analize the current PLM practices in place at your organization together with your subject matter and process experts. We draw upon a selection of up to 80 functional and non-functional topics, then focus on the essentials.

This approach ensures that nothing is overlooked, while also avoiding excessive effort. By communicating with your internal stakeholders, we form a PLM community in this early phase, thereby initiating the very important change management. PLM experts from valantic use a combination of exploratory workshops, interviews, and document reviews to fully understand where your PLM currently stands and where it could potentially be in the future.

We analyze the results systematically and prioritize the issues together with you, working towards a possible future vision. The PLM maturity level is assessed using a recognized process maturity model. This provides you with a clear reflection of your current situation.

You will receive insights and recommendations from our experts to prepare the next steps for you:

• Insights into PLM to raise awareness among your stakeholders
• Highlighting challenges and complexity
• Pointing out potential pitfalls and risks
• Support in better understanding the expectations and needs of your organization
• Summarizing requirements, risks, and impacts
• Scoping and target formulation for a future PLM

The results of the “Explore” phase become the basis for all subsequent steps. Often, PLM projects fail because this crucial foundational phase, where the course is set, does not receive the necessary attention. However, the comparatively small investment here in this phase can save considerable effort and frustration in later activities.

The scope and effort of this phase can, of course, be flexibly and incrementally designed, depending on how clear your ideas already are.

If you already have a PLM program running and are questioning whether the investments have been correct, a retrospective “Explore” phase can provide clarity and, if necessary, initiate supplements, readjustments, or a realignment. It is not uncommon for us to find situations with clients where a PLM system exists but is scarcely or incorrectly used. While this could indeed be due to the software, it is more likely due to an inadequate or missing “Explore” and “Plan” phase.

An “Explore” phase can also be very beneficial for a possible planned consolidation of heterogeneous PLM landscapes, which may have become necessary due to mergers & acquisitions or historically evolved structures.

At the end of the “Explore” phase, the decision must be for the future PLM system supplier has to be taken. valantic can accompany this process with systematic evaluation criteria, to create a detailed and comprehensible basis for decision-finding for the selection of a PLM system provider.

After the goals and scope for a future PLM setup are roughly outlined in the Explore phase, the “Plan” phase involves a more detailed and refined approach.

During the “Plan” phase, the conceptual design of the PLM solution architecture is developed as the basis for a subsequent implementation phase. For the conceptual design, requirements are again systematically captured, goals clearly defined and prioritized, a high-level system architecture developed, data management planned, integration planning carried out, and the security concept analyzed.

The solution architecture is aggregated at the end of the “Plan” phase in the form of a PLM vision and roadmap. This involves planning action sequences and work packages that contribute to the jointly formulated target vision. The planning provides clarity about the scope and effort of a PLM project and forms the basis for the subsequent “Build” phase.

valantic works closely with clients and solution providers to define the project scope, work division, organization, and schedule. The strategic direction of the project and the right approach are crucial for success. In this phase, it is important to gain the approval of all key PLM stakeholders and the management of your company.

In the “Build” phase, the planned activities are executed, and the PLM system begins to take shape gradually. We recommend an approach that combines the structure of the waterfall model with the flexibility of Scrum, known as Water-Scrum-Fall. It’s also advisable to initially establish a PLM core solution, which can be gradually expanded afterward.

Concurrently, interfaces are implemented, necessary data migrations carried out and test plans created and executed. Training materials for your key users are developed step by step, and your organization is gradually introduced and enabled to work with the new solution.

The experts at valantic have ample experience from numerous large and small projects across different industries to accompany you on the path to PLM success. As a full-range supplier in the field of industrial digitalization, valantic also covers all adjacent disciplines and systems.

At the end of the “Build” phase, your individual PLM solution can be rolled out and go live.

In the “Operate” phase, the fully tested solution is transferred from the development environments to the production environment, marking the beginning of the hypercare phase. After this, the solution enters regular operational support with KPIs, SLAs, and continuous improvements.

The shift from traditional on-premise solutions towards SaaS and cloud is also transforming PLM, having gained significant momentum. Our clients face the challenge of deciding which solution is most practical for them. PLM providers have various models in their portfolios to cater to different needs. The right model influences the decision for or against a particular provider. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, as each industry and company has its unique requirements.

At valantic, specialists who are well-versed with various hosting and operational concepts are ready to assist. We are pleased to offer you consulting services in the context of PLM.