For today’s manufacturer, including those in the automotive sector, globalization means managing diverse regional requirements, multiple approved manufacturer lists (AML), and varying local supply chain partners – not to mention development teams dispersed around the globe.
The challenge is to provide a secure, connected, and collaborative environment for promoting efficient product development.
Those organizations meeting the collaboration challenge have turned to a new approach to PLM. The approach lets companies move away from complicated email trails and standalone communication methods.
The companies we speak to find that real-time collaboration is critical when managing product information during the development process. Users throughout the extended enterprise should have the ability to easily view and comment on parts and documents, with security, control, and context to day-to-day product development discussions. In a global product development environment, manufacturers gain tremendous benefit from threaded discussions with comments and replies, configurable discussion forums, and the ability to easily view and graphically comment on file content, including 3D models, drawings, and Office documents.
A Closer Look
A recent Desktop Engineering article entitled “Next Generation Collaboration” hits upon these same topics, and points to the challenges many organizations still face when it comes to effective collaboration. The article notes:
“The sharing of data related to areas such as requirements management, project management, quality and production is still done largely via spreadsheets. Communication is still spread across multiple largely disconnected channels and tools, resulting in barriers between different disciplines (including mechanical, electronics and software) and business functions such as engineering, manufacturing, quality, testing and procurement. These barriers are particularly evident when attempting to collaborate across the extended enterprise with suppliers and customers as is required in today’s business environment.” Read full article here.
The companies that are able to achieve faster input across roles, disciplines and through the supply chain deliver better products faster. In this environment, product teams can review new design concepts in less time. With a new approach to visual collaboration and PLM, manufacturing and support issues can be identified and rectified before a product goes into production. Teams can review and diagnose customer problems can be reviewed and diagnosed more quickly.
Learn More
As today's manufacturer knows, when designing and developing highly complex products within increasingly speedy cycle times, a secure, connected, and collaborative environment helps drive efficient product development. How well global product development teams collaborate is emerging as a key differentiator. Learn more about PLM and collaboration here.