Manufacturing success with PLM

Industrial manufacturing is a competitive business sector that is highly sensitive to economic development and other external factors. In Australia, the strong dollar, high cost of labour, rising cost of energy and competition from overseas have been cited as some of the key factors behind the decline of the country’s manufacturing sector, which has seen contraction in at least the last twelve quarters and is at its weakest in nearly three years, according to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Westpac.

A company’s ability to survive within such a challenging landscape is dependent on numerous factors. Some manufacturing companies have been so badly impacted; they have had to shut down operations. Yet, at the same time, there are companies that are surviving well, or even thriving. These industrial manufacturing heroes that are doing well have one thing in common - they recognise that in order to be competitive they need to constantly add value to what they are doing by boosting productivity through innovation. These companies have come to accept that the strong Australian dollar is here to stay, and are looking at ways to constantly evolving while leveraging innovation to drive a sustainable and highly-productive work environment.

Industrial manufacturing needs in a challenging world
Manufacturers of industrial products that supply to both domestic and international markets are now looking at ways to efficiently manage the global supply chain and the innovations that it initiates. These innovations almost always require the management of multiple processes, coordinating the participation of disparate disciplines and facilitating collaboration between internal and external stakeholders. How these are managed greatly impacts productivity, and ultimately, the bottom-line.

The management of risks is also crucial for the survival of any manufacturer. The need for the management of risks that typically arise in a globally or regionally distributed business needs to be addressed by optimising the innovation process. To facilitate market alignment, reduce risk and provide on-time product delivery, management teams need to have total visibility into the status of innovation initiatives, while managers need to be able to fully understand the impact of rising changes to identify and address potential bottlenecks.

Making an impact on the bottom-line
Successful innovation requires open technologies that enable access to the organisation’s knowledge resources, and facilitate seamless collaboration with internal and external stakeholders. Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) enables enterprise-wide access to a common repository of product information and processes.
PLM is different from other forms of technology in many ways. Analysts agree that PLM has joined the ranks of enterprise resource planning, supply chain management and customer relationship management as one of the “Big Four” mission-critical IT investments. However, while the traditional IT initiatives have been adopted to wring surplus cost out of the operational side of businesses, they have not been able to increase a company’s revenues or control expenses associated with managing products across their active lifespan.

PLM, on the other hand, acts as a multiplier that delivers huge dividends for today’s global enterprises because it brings people, processes and product knowledge together to deliver competitive advantage. Ultimately, PLM is all about transforming the process of innovation by closing the gaps in the product lifecycle and optimising the enterprise’s varied resources.

In fact, PLM is the only mission-critical business initiative capable of helping manufacturers to organically grow their revenue, as well as materially reduce their opeNike Kyrie 5