Requirements analysis in the implementation of integrated PLM, ERP and CAD systems

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system implementation is a major investment when the technology is used in manufacturing companies. This paper provides an analysis of the requirements for the integration of PLM systems with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems incorporating the design aspects of Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) within the product development process. PLM implementation deals with various existing product data and information generated over years both from CAD and ERP systems. Data integration is very challenging and has important impact on future decisions while creating new processes. The information management plays very important role not only in PLM implementation but also in the way this will be used in future production. Therefore it is very important to analyse how product information is transferred to PLM system. It also need to be investigated that what, when and how the data will flow from and to PLM systems

A modular product structure based methodology for seamless information flow in PLM system implementation

Product development process deals with large amount of information generated from market survey, concept design, manufacture, test, limited production, production, service, and obsoleting. The information should be stored systematically so that it is easily traceable and reusable for future product development. This paper presents a methodology for seamless product information flow between the three main enterprise information systems such as Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD/CAM), Product Data/Lifecycle Management (PDM/PLM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) used in the process of innovative product development while implementing PLM. PLM implementation deals with various existing product data and information generated over years both from CAD and ERP systems. Data integration is very challenging in multi-national engineering companies and has important impact on future decisions while creating new processes. The aim is to define a modular product structure that can be used to connect the product information throughout the life cycle that can be reused effectively and efficiently for future similar products

Integrating product knowledge with modular product structures in PLM

The changes in world economy are changing very fast and the company knowledge assets and processes are becoming primary source of organization which is intellectual property that need securely stored and maintained. Challenges that companies are facing today such as need to reduce time-to- market, the development and manufacture costs, or to manage complex products with advancing technology. Due to recent global financial crisis price competition in the market has led companies to fight with competitors for limited orders. The external pressure on delivery time has increased, which again has put internal pressure on bringing down development time, which leads for collaborative work environments. Modularisation of product structures will facilitate in collaborating design activities between a diversity of disciplines in global companies, which again involves supporting computer based tools for enhancing interaction, communication and design management. Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) serves as particularly useful tool for product data and knowledge management. The deployment of a PLM tool has been seen as an important facilitator for achieving success with the modular design strategy. One of the biggest challenges in implementing new techniques is how to handle existing knowledge and / or information. This paper describes how modular product structure can be implemented in PLM and connects relevant product knowledge at different levels when the product is generated in the process of new product development. This will enable to trace the information across products to compare existing information and reuse for future products

Incorporating modular structure principles for global product development knowledge management in PLM system implementation

Translating a market opportunity into a new product normally requires approximately 15% innovation, while the remaining 85% involves previously learnt processes, similar product information and knowledge that often are undocumented and undisciplined. Therefore, the need for improved knowledge sharing and the capturing of lessons learnt during product development is currently at its highest. Most engineering information is stored and retrieved from many locations in different file formats in the process of product development. One of the main issues is the traceability of product information, which takes a lot of time to find, sometimes no connection due to traditional hierarchical data storing methods and systems. This paper presents an integrated modular product structure methodology when implementing a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system, which gives traceability and accountability of product information and knowledge generated in the process of product development