5 Advice on Choosing a PLM Platform
Are you considering investing in a PLM platform? Then, you have probably scanned the market and noted many technologically potent alternatives to choose from. Although this is a highly advanced digital technology, what will be the right choice for you is determined by strategic considerations–and by what is waiting behind the sales curtains.
To facilitate your choice, we have compiled five basic pieces of advice you should consider.
- What do you want to achieve?
- Be clear in your position!
- Look behind the functionalities curtain!
- Prepare for a long-term partnership!
- Are all stakeholders onboard?
What do you want to achieve?
First and most important of all, think strategically. A decision on a PLM platform should be part of an overall strategic roadmap for your business. Start by asking yourself: what is your purpose in investing in a PLM platform? In what way should it support your business goals and challenges? There are many hindrances to development and profitability: organizational silos, quality issues, and time to market are just a few examples. Start by analyzing your industry’s present and future critical issues.
Many solutions might sort your initial short-term challenge. But with a longer horizon, you will need a broader scope of functionalities and integration, allowing you to scale your business. Not all solutions offer that.
Being clear about your challenges and goals will make the journey much faster, smoother, and more profitable.
Be clear in your position!
What is your horizon, and from what position are you starting your PLM journey? If you need to address an issue right now, any tool can probably help you, even spreadsheets like Excel. But by letting short-term issues determine your choice of platform, you will paint yourself into a corner. After a year or two, you cannot scale and keep up your development.
If you rather need to deal with a strategic challenge, keeping pace with or even getting ahead of your competitors, you need a potent, scalable end-to-end platform with all functionalities that meet your specific industrial needs–a platform that integrates well with your existing digital infrastructure as your ERP for example.
Look behind the functionalities curtain!
All PLM platforms compete with their functionalities. Of course, this is the core of every platform, the sugar and spice that will add flavor to your everyday life and make your organization excel. Here, it is essential not to be blinded by all claimed functionalities. Look behind the curtain and widen the horizon. Will the solution provider be able to solve not only today’s challenges but also embrace an entire vision–your vision? You should require a solid organization with a passionate engagement and vision for the future. In a wide sense, PLM should be at the core of the provider’s operations. Require an innovative technology leader that always is ahead of you. Your solution should be at hand when you need it. Choose a supplier that can help guide you through your entire digital journey with an end-to-end solution.
Prepare for a long-term partnership!
Investing in a PLM platform also means investing in a long-term partnership with experts who will guide and help you on this strategically important digital journey. Do not order just an implementation and then wave goodbye to consultants and invoices. That is equal to saying hello to trouble. PLM platforms comprise advanced and complex technologies that are rapidly evolving, covering more and more aspects of the business.
Your chosen and trusted partner should profoundly understand your business and your customers’ situation. Your partner should inspire, educate, challenge, and guide you, not only to do what they have been told to.
Take your time for due diligence: how experienced is the supplier? Don’t underrate this factor. 1 000+ implementations is a fair requirement, as it takes a lot to implement a PLM platform. It covers so many aspects of the operation and is so important for your success. Of course, it is beneficial if they have experience from your specific industry, but also from a broad range of industries, as it can contribute with valuable insights.
Last, but not least: PLM platforms are no longer a matter for R&D only. Today it is cross-functional, something your supplier should be experienced in–which leads us to our fifth advice.
Are all stakeholders onboard?
Make sure you anchor the decision to invest in a PLM platform within your organization, upwards and downwards. As mentioned in our first advice, make this a strategic decision with an impact on your over-all business. Therefore, it is crucial to get all involved onboard: R&D, production, service, marketing, suppliers and, of course, the management. Getting to know the needs of the entire organization, involving all concerned, should be part of the process of choosing a PLM platform.
Summing up
Start by investigating yourself, your needs and your challenges–not only for today, but also look ahead at what might wait around the corner. Having a long horizon and a strategic perspective are keys to finding the right PLM platform.
Next–don’t let a thousand dazzling functionalities seduce you. Of course, they are important; your chosen PLM platform must be potent and meet all your demands, even the ones you didn’t know you had.
But most important of all is the partnership you are about to enter. Do the solution provider have the muscles, engagement and insights to guide you through your digital journey and support your vision? Taking this aspect into consideration will separate the wheat from the chaff, leading you to the right stuff, adapted to your business realities.
Learn more about Windchill, PLM
If you want to learn more about the difference between PLM and ERP system or discover more about Windchill, PLM system watch our latest webinars about the topics here:
- PLM and ERP- Their Respective Roles in Manufacturing Enterprises
- Introduction to Windchill, PLM System
You can also get in touch with our experts here!
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