Optimize PLM Operations!

PLM is people! It is a living, breathing ecosystem that needs nurturing, feedback, and correction. Too many times I have seen PLM systems treated like a project - one and done. It is sad, because decay sets in, and demoralization, and before you know it you have a legacy system on your hands. It is even worse because all of this is preventable.

PLM is important

PLM is a prime mover in your company. It is the keeper of the future - all your current and future products reside in PLM and that is where they are developed or enhanced. Up to 80% of future profitability and business performance is decided there. Despite this, many PLM systems are treated like “out of sight, out of mind”. This is a terrible waste and a huge risk to the company’s success.

Key topics

I will address the topics we mentioned in reverse order. From the most urgent and acute to the more subtle. This is probably the best way to proceed as these activities build on each other in some cases.

Key Topic: Correction

The first activity is correction. The PLM should be the single source of the truth and if the truth is wrong, it needs to be corrected. There should be a data correction policy in place and a robust method for reporting data defects. Data corruption can happen in many ways, but you need one solid way to fix it.

Corruption of Data - Users

PLM data is corrupted in a variety of ways. Users may just enter bad data. Ideally, we can prevent bad data entry with edit checks and release checks, but these are not always robust enough to catch all errors.

Corruption of Data - Systems

Data can also be corrupted by bad code and system failures. Automated data operations can fail in edge cases or when the underlying system has glitches like out of memory errors. These errors are hard to find and may persist for a long time. It is good to do some data verification if there is a code error or system degradation.

Corruption of Data - Management

Another disturbing source of data corruption is the management team forcing admins to release bad data to meet some deadline. These should be logged and remediated at the earliest possible opportunity.

Corruption of Data - Migration

Another source of data corruption is raw data loads during data migration that bypass rules checks. Conversely, we can have changes in data validation rules that invalidate released data that was fine before the rule change.? Periodic data audits - either manually, or with some AI-based crawler program - can help find these, as well as errors I attribute to ‘cosmic rays’ or 'gremlins’.

Correction of Data - Coordination

All Data corrections should be tracked and logged. Notifications should be sent out when these data correction changes are made.

Key Topic: Feedback

The next activity is feedback. PLM data should be useful to the entire organization. All upstream and downstream users of the data should have a robust method to report when the system is wrong or hard to use.

ALM for PLM?

One way to think of this is that we need Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) for PLM. We need a strategic plan, architecture, and user stories to enhance the usability of the PLM. This activity needs to be staffed and monitored to ensure the PLM system continues to evolve to be more powerful and useful over time. This is on top of addressing the issues of the day. This is also on top of adapting to new challenges and strategic priorities.

Feedback on chronic issues

The PLM needs a system to convert incidents and chronic issues into problem tickets that are recorded, prioritized, and resolved. Many times, incidents that happen over and over are ignored as ‘resolved’ even when the root cause has never been identified and eliminated. Chronic issues like performance or intermittent failures may persist forever because they are ‘resolved’ before the incident process even gets started. After a while, users stop reporting issues because they know that they will never be resolved.

User Satisfaction tracking

PLM systems should have periodic gathering of user satisfaction scores. From leadership to the line worker, we should know if the system is usable and fit for purpose. The feedback gathered should feed the strategic plan and drive increases in satisfaction with the performance and usefulness of PLM.

Key Topic: Nurturing

Last, we have the activity of nurturing the PLM. As we said, PLM is people, so how are we nurturing them to make PLM more valuable?

Reward system

The first thing we should consider is the reward system. People want to know that what they do matters, both to the organization and to themselves. Make sure the PLM team and users are getting good feedback on the improvements that they are making and on the positive impact of their work.

Tangible rewards

Also look at the tangible rewards for the PLM team. Is there a chance for career advancement, is good performance rewarded with raises and promotions. Is the PLM team's contribution monitored and recognized by the leadership team?

Improvement Activities

Most PLM professionals like to see that their ideas are valued and applied. A great way to engage the PLM team is to do Value Stream Mapping as a basis for improvement activities. Ask them to map the processes and find opportunities for improvement. Then give them some resources to execute the improvements.

Process integrity

A source of frustration for PLM professionals is when the formal process says to do one thing, but the Leadership Team informally tells them to violate the process. These bootleg processes are very frustrating and pose a serious risk to the PLM team if something goes wrong and they have no formal documentation for why they violated the process.

Process exceptions embraced

Take time in the value stream analysis to document ‘alternate’ processing paths and define how they should be initiated, documented, and executed. In an ideal world, you would enhance the system to execute these ‘alternate’ processes as normal processing with an appropriate approval loop.

Disaster Recovery Planning

Another stressful area for the PLM team is Disaster Recovery and Business Continuance. Make sure to plan out in advance what will happen to recover a system that has gone down, also work out the plan for how business will continue after the disaster has happened. Do you just stop, or move to pencil and paper, or is there a full automated backup available? Don’t forget to document how to transition back to normal operations after the disaster is over. Addressing this issue up front allows the PLM team to operate with assurance that they are ready for anything.

Professional Education

Another area of concern for PLM professionals is their ongoing professional education. Make sure that the team has training opportunities to increase their skills and knowledge. This may be formal training classes or an opportunity to attend a conference or seminar to meet with their peers. This exposure to peers can help generate new ideas as well as build a network of people who can provide guidance and insights as future issues pop up.

Summary

A PLM system is its People. It is a living breathing organism that needs nurturing, feedback, and correction. By taking some time to ensure your PLM is getting what it needs, you will increase its value to the organization and ensure it does not prematurely become a legacy system.

Conclusion

How do you nurture your PLM system? Does your PLM team feel highly valued and respected, or are they looking for other opportunities to escape a career dead end? We would love to hear about your experience in the comments.

Digital Guideposts is written by Mark Pendergast – retired Data Junkie, Deep Thinker and Innovator. He worked with product data for over 30 years of his 41-year career in Automotive Components Manufacturing. His background includes work in Engineering, Operations and Information Technology. He is also an Electrical and Computer Engineer (BS-ECE) and a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP). In his spare time, he mentors a High School FIRST Robotics Team, reads and plays on his computer.

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