In any manufacturing organization, you need the right software to stay competitive. Between getting products to market faster and reducing costs, you need solutions that streamline processes across all operations. You need product lifecycle management (PLM).
Having a PLM for your manufacturing operations is just as essential as your ERP.
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
Product lifecycle management (PLM) centralizes and manages all product information. It is the key component to keeping data updated and organized throughout an entire company while also improving collaboration. Without the latest information, teams and individuals could make critical decisions that drastically impact the business based on incorrect information – resulting in additional costs and potentially wasted time. At each stage of product development, PLM includes:
- Design stage: sketches, notes, and models
- Sell stage: written processes, manufacturing instructions, and product components
- Support stage: maintenance notes and disposal instructions
Manufacturing PLM helps improve organizational collaboration with complete and up to date product information.
Benefits of Manufacturing PLM
Improve Product Design
Manufacturing PLM handles all the documentation for your products including the bills of materials (BoMs). They help organizations cut costs by promoting the reuse of existing parts which cuts down on the number of unnecessary items in inventory and the problems that can cause. A manufacturing PLM solution can also manage change and configuration management, so if you work in an industry where your products are more volatile; like high tech, medical devices, or manufacturing equipment, it is much easier to track those changes. Lastly, PLM ensures profits are maximized by optimizing the manufacturing process for production and cost-efficiency.
Optimize New Product Introductions
Introducing products into the market smoothly can be the difference between success and failure. Using a manufacturing PLM provides you with the tools you need to manage the introduction from scheduling, to collaboration, to customer testing. All are managed together to maximize profits by coordinating the timely introduction of new products with the retirement of the products they are replacing.
Minimize Product Retirement Costs
It’s challenging to determine when you should introduce new products, while also ensuring you don’t get stuck with an inventory of obsolete components from retired products. You could manage all this information in a spreadsheet – but that would require you having a spreadsheet wizard on staff with tons of extra time on their hands. They would need to be able to monitor the demands for components in relation to production quantities and then analyze the margin trends. Even if you did have this person, their estimations would only be that – estimations.
Instead, manufacturing PLM makes it easy to analyze the demand and compare that to the inventory you have on hand. This allows you to order the exact quantity required to bridge demands between product retirement and new product introduction without leaving extra inventory in stock.
Utilize Digital Transformation Strategies
Many organizations today are looking to use digital transformation strategies and are implementing new technologies like connected devices, digital twins, augmented reality (AR), and more. Manufacturing PLM solutions like Windchill 11 are specifically designed to help with this transformation. These solutions integrate with other connected systems, so using these platforms as the backbone of your Industry 4.0 strategy makes a lot of sense. Windchill 11 specifically integrates with the entire family of products from PTC including Vuforia, ThingWorx, and Creo – all of which have specific tools that enable the digital transformation.
You Need a Manufacturing PLM Solution
Why Windchill 11?
Windchill 11 is the manufacturing PLM solution you need to streamline and optimize manufacturing operations. It has all the tools and features to help increase profits while implementing your digital transformation strategy. Some other solutions claim to have everything you need but make it hard to integrate with other solutions – requiring proprietary file formats or add-ons to get the latest technology.
Windchill 11 integrates with the PTC family of software, providing you with the latest technology, tools, and solutions.
Windchill 11 Benefits
Using Windchill 11 for your manufacturing PLM provides you with a platform that is:
- Smart: Windchill 11 connects all of your systems so information can run freely through your organization for improved collaboration and decision-making. This allows for regular part reuse and subassemblies so not every product needs to be completely redesigned, significantly saving time and money.
- Connected: This manufacturing PLM helps move your digital transformation strategies forward by including tools that make it easy to connect smart devices. Windchill 11 even includes the ability to connect to support sites so system issues can be addressed quickly and efficiently.
- Flexible: Windchill 11 includes every type of deployment option your organization could need whether that’s cloud, SaaS, or on-premise.
- Complete: Windchill 11 integrates into the entire family of PTC software so you can truly have a complete solution with everything you need for manufacturing including 3D CAD, IIoT platforms, unite technology, and more.
Windchill 11: The Essential Manufacturing PLM for Your Organization
As a PTC reseller, we may be a bit biased in our selection of Windchill 11 as the top manufacturing PLM. At the same time, we have been in the industry for many years and have helped numerous organizations switch from previous solutions to Windchill 11 for its superior tools and features. If you’re interested in purchasing Windchill 11 or have any questions, fill out the form below.