BATTLING!ENGINEERING S!! ERODING!PRODUCTIVITY:!!

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1 BATTLING!ENGINEERING S!! ERODING!PRODUCTIVITY:!! FUELING(DESIGN(WITH(THE(NEXT(GENERATION(OF(PDM(! Design is only getting more complicated, not simpler. Today, engineers must collaborate across more locations, following more processes and coordinate with more suppliers than ever before. New technology is needed to combat the erosion of engineering productivity. Published(by:(

2 Engineering's!productivity!is!eroding.! Its no fault of their own, mind you. The product development process is getting more complex. Products are so complex that no engineer designs them alone. Instead, specialists in different engineering fields collaborate together as a team to make decisions. Each engineer has to coordinate their work with an everincreasing number of suppliers, each with their own field of expertise. Products must now be designed taking broader enterprise considerations into account, meaning more stakeholders from manufacturing, procurement, service and more need to get involved. Manufacturers as a whole are instituting more processes to mitigate legal and regulatory risk. It's no surprise that engineers simply can't get as much done as they have in the past. Their time is now splintered across a thousand tasks. Engineering's productivity is eroding. Executives and managers have long wracked their brains on how to reverse the trend. Product Data Management (PDM) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems offer hope by automating and managing some of this operational complexity. These two kinds of systems can potentially work. However, there are drawbacks to each, especially for large engineering organizations. Some software providers, however, have begun to take notice and make changes. A new wave of Configurable PDM systems are starting to emerge that are right sized for the task at hand, easily deployable and require minimal planning. This ebook delves headfirst into this topic by examining three trends that are eroding engineering s productivity and technologies that counter those trends, specifically with a focus on this new wave of Configurable PDM. So sit back and take it in. The erosion of engineering productivity isn't as irreversible as you might think. page(2(

3 The!3!Trends!Eroding!Engineering!Productivity! Before we dive into how traditional or new technologies help reverse the erosion of engineering productivity, it makes sense to understand exactly what is causing the issue in the first place. That context is important to understanding which technology capabilities counteract the root of the problem. The!Fragmentation!of!Technical!Design! The increasing complexity of products is well documented. However, design is getting more complicated. The technologies used in products are becoming increasingly specialized. The size and scale of today's products are factors as well, both in increasing complexity and miniaturization. The impact of that trend on engineering productivity, however, isn't quite as well documented. Simply put, products aren't designed by individual engineers anymore. The transition from individual decision makers to groupthink design amongst teams of specialized engineers has already happened. Furthermore complicating the matter, these teams are spread across the globe in different technical centers, whether those are engineering teams internal to the company or in suppliers, partners or even customers. While necessary, this fragmentation of design shifts an engineer s efforts from design to communication, collaboration and building consensus. In order to combat the erosion of an engineer s productivity that this trend represents, organizations need a few critical enabling capabilities. All engineering teams need to access the same single source of truth. Given the resulting emphasis on communication, collaboration and building consensus, all technical team members need to be looking at the same product information and data for their recommendations. Participants need to securely share product information and data. Given the supply chain nature of design, some participating organizations will need to selectively and securely share only part of their designs with others to protect their intellectual property. Accessibility of product information and data is paramount, regardless of format. Specifically, no design chain is homogeneous in its use of CAD applications. The resulting multi-cad data representing the design needs to be viewed and managed in the design chain. page(3(

4 The!Democracy!of!Enterprise!Design! Design work today isn't just fragmented; it's also democratic as well. Products are no longer just developed with form, fit and function in mind. Other enterprise considerations are given weight as well. Expense and ease of manufacturing affects design decisions. Cost of goods and preferred suppliers affect the parts that are used. Service feasibility and resolution rates must be taken into account as well. This increasing trend of democratic design in the enterprise undoubtedly erodes engineering productivity. It requires engineers to act as the hub of collaboration amongst all enterprise stakeholders. They must communicate their design intent and then weigh all of the enterprise considerations in trade off studies. But furthermore, they must enable the participation of all those enterprise stakeholders; further reducing the time they can dedicate to design. Some organizational capabilities, however, do counteract this trend, including: All enterprise stakeholders need access to product information and data. This enables a self-service model where they can find what they need and participate in design reviews. Engineers need access to product information that exists in other enterprise systems. This enables them to make better holistic decisions in the design process as well. The organization needs to automate, track and manage the enterprise design review process. This enables a closed loop process that reminds and enforces enterprise participation. page(4(

5 The!Burden!of!Process!Compliance! Markets for products today are fraught with regulatory and legal risk. Some industries require documentation of a product's progression through design and test. Other industries require detailed reports on a product's composition. Yet others require proof of design due diligence. In response, many organizations have defined and documented detailed processes that engineering must follow. It's often simply seen as the painful cost of doing business. Yet the impact of compliance to these processes on engineering productivity can be profound. Process steps must be followed closely, requiring familiarity from engineers. Engineers must generate documentation, often in very specific formats, as well. All in all, time dedicated to these tasks is less time applied to design. Organizations can minimize the impact of this trend, however, with a few capabilities: Engineers need to access and modify product information and data related to the process. This enables them to make the right decisions in the process. The organization needs to automate, track and manage individual s activities in the process. In this way, compliance to the process can be ensured. page(5(

6 Technologies!for!Engineering!Productivity! As is the case with many challenges today, technologies can be a big part of a solution. There are a number of well-known technologies, such as Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Engineering (CAE), which are pervasive in engineering. However, here we ll explore technologies that more directly address the three trends that are eroding engineering productivity by enhancing an organization s ability to: Access and share product information and data, regardless of where it exists. Automate and manage development processes. !and!Shared!Drives! Does it take an enterprise system to collaborate with product data and run development processes? Actually, the answer is no. At the most basic level, organizations can accomplish both of these tasks with two basic technologies. Product data can be accessed and shared using network shared drives. Processes can be driven using . However, there are disadvantages to using these technologies, including. Accessing and sharing product information and data via networked shared drives requires extensive manual effort. Access rights must be set on files and folders for specific users and groups. s routing process approvals and tasks can be ignored, deleted or lost in inboxes. Using such an approach requires manual tracking of the process by an individual to keep it on schedule. All in all, these technologies actually add to an engineer s workload, not decrease it. Cloud!Services! New services based in the cloud are coming out every single day. There s no doubt that the compute power and space available on the cloud is compelling. Furthermore, sharing with others is very easy. However, that s doesn t mean these services are without flaws. There are a few such drawbacks that stand out, including: Generic cloud services do not understand product data. That means anyone that wants to view engineering data, such as a CAD model or CAE results will need specialty applications. These services often act as a file repository, meaning there is no interface to browse and access textual product information. As a result, it would have to be captured within text files, adding another step into the process. Such services also do not offer technologies to automate and manage processes. In this case, organizations would have to rely on , and encounter the disadvantages associated with it. Generic cloud services are an upgrade over shared drives, however many of the same detriments still exist. page(6(

7 Content!Management!Systems! An alternative to , shared drives and cloud services is to use a Content Management System (CMS). This kind of server-based software can manage a wide variety of files and information as well as automate and manage processes across a company. It can provide the ability to access and share product data and information in more of a hands-free manner. It can also drive processes as well. However, there are some disadvantages, including: A CMS does not understand the product information packed into CAD files, so engineers still have to manually publish it to the rest of the company. A CMS also does not understand the structured nature of product data. This includes how documents, CAD files and other descriptive documents connect to a Bill of Material or product structure. A CMS does not provide capabilities to visualize 3D models outside of the CAD application. This is critical to enabling the rest of the company to view, interrogate and review design data. A CMS also does not understand CAD files in multi-cad formats. As a result, engineers will need to manually track and integrate supplier s multi-cad changes as well as propagate intelligent change across CAD files. A CMS is an enterprise system that often requires effort in terms of planning, installing and maintaining. There are some advantages to using a CMS over the other technologies discussed so far, however its inability to understand engineering product data and information limits the impact it can make on recouping engineering productivity. page(7(

8 PDM!Systems! A different server-based software system frequently used in engineering organizations is Product Data Management (PDM). Like a CMS, a PDM system centrally manages product data and information. However, it has advantages in a number of other areas as well, including: PDM systems understand product data, structures and information. These systems provide visibility of the information in the CAD file to anyone in the company. It also means the structure or Bill of Material (BOM) can be extracted and used across the company as well PDM systems provide visualization of CAD design data. This enables anyone across the company to view, interrogate and even markup 3D models for their own purposes or design review. These kinds of systems, however, aren t the ideal fit for larger engineering organizations. Notably, the following capabilities are missed: PDM systems do not integrate closely with other enterprise systems other than a BOM handoff. That means engineering must login to each enterprise system for enterprise design efforts. PDM systems to not track, manage or automate processes, forcing engineering to fall back on as a means to run development processes. PDM systems are often specialized in a single CAD application, forcing engineers to manually integrate supply chain changes that come in the form of multi-cad design data. PDM systems certainly address the core needs of engineering organizations: the management of design data. But PDM systems do not provide the capabilities to support engineering s expanded role in the enterprise. PLM!Systems! Another server-based alternative to CMS and PDM systems is Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). These kinds of systems very frequently provide the capabilities of PDM systems as well as integrations with enterprise systems, running processes, support for multi-cad design data and much more. At first glance, a PLM system would seem to meet the needs of engineering organizations. However, there are some drawbacks to such systems, including: PLM systems often require time and effort for deployment and maintenance. These systems include expansive capabilities and are highly configurable and customizable. Deploying such systems often includes mapping those capabilities up to the organization s processes and practices. Integrating PLM systems with other enterprise systems is effort intensive. These systems include powerful integration capabilities that can connect and exchange information with other enterprise systems. Ultimately, the deployment and ongoing maintenance of PLM systems and their integrations is costly in terms time, effort and money. Most engineering organizations do not need all of these expansive capabilities or custom integrations. They simply need a faster path to value. page(8(

9 Configurable!PDM!Systems! Fortunately, a new generation of PDM systems has emerged that offer serious promise. Such new systems deliver the right mix of capabilities of the PDM and PLM systems covered so far. However, they also lack the drawbacks of such systems. Specifically, they are different in the following areas. Quick!Deployment!with!Minimal!Effort! Given the effort required to plan, deploy and maintain a PLM system, it is no surprise that the next generation of such systems is markedly improved in this area. Specifically, this includes the following characteristics. Minimal need upfront consulting and planning: Re-engineering the entire product development process is rarely required. Such systems come with out-of-the-box data management practices and development processes built in. Practically hands-free deployment: All of the necessary software components and integrations not only come out-of-the-box, but also work together once installed. Furthermore, installation of these software components is highly automated. Out-of-the-box adoption ready: Usability has become a paramount focus driving improvements in these systems. As a result, new and casual user finds the functionality intuitive. Additionally, users do not need to be out of the office for classroom training. Such systems rely on online training that is integrated into the system and available ondemand. Expandability for the future: These systems are not limited, however, to purely out-of-the-box functionality. If an organization does need more formalized mapping of their specific product development process, these systems can support that effort. These characteristics translate into very real advantages for an organization. Internal teams, not external consultants, can plan, deploy and manage these systems with minimal effort. Furthermore, the time to go live with the system is counted in mere hours or perhaps a day, not weeks, months or years. All in all, this means there is minimal impact to the organization's budget and schedule. page(9(

10 Flexible!Integrations!in!the!IT!Ecosystem! Another target pain associated with PLM systems is the difficulty of connecting with the rest of the enterprise. Configurable PDM systems provide a number of other advantages through specific functionalities that include: Availability of out-of-the-box integrations to other widely used enterprise systems. These integrations can be configured to exchange information back and forth with other enterprise systems in support of development activities. Capabilities to quickly and easily connect to various other enterprise systems using known protocols. This provides a way to connect to other enterprise systems that are not covered by out-ofthe-box offerings. Don t be mistaken: engineers and other enterprise stakeholders have and always will be able to get information from other enterprise systems. The question becomes how taxing will the effort be on their product development responsibilities. The capabilities offered by Configurable PDM systems make it far easier, and frankly, far more feasible. Configurable PDM systems, however, are progressive in that they offer a range of data management capabilities that address today s multi-cad reality. Management of design data from a variety of CAD applications. This enables Configurable PDM systems to understand the product information embedded in them, regardless of CAD format. Furthermore, they can manage product structures composed of multi-cad design data. Visualization of design data from a variety of CAD applications. This allows users to view, interrogate and markup a 3D model without requiring a CAD application. Dealing with design data from a variety of CAD applications can be a source of pain in the product development process. These capabilities ease that burden by managing the complexity of multi-cad design data for engineers. Management!of!MultiRCAD!Data! There s no way around it: almost every engineering organization has to deal with CAD data in a plethora of formats. Some PDM systems focus on managing data from a single CAD system. And while they do it well, that simply means that multiple PDM systems can be required to manage all of the design data in a supply chain. That s a source of pain for everyone. page(10(

11 Summary!and!Conclusion! It's an unfortunate reality: engineering's productivity is eroding. Three major trends have combined to put more responsibilities on engineer's plates than ever before, taking more time away from design. The Fragmentation of Technical Design: Engineers must make groupthink design decisions with technical specialists across technical centers and the supply chain. The Democracy of Enterprise Design: Engineers must also involve a variety of other stakeholders in design decisions to make products viable from an enterprise perspective. The Burden of Process Compliance: Regulatory and legal risk is driving the need to comply with more rigid and documented product development processes. Left unchecked, these trends will consume an increasingly unfair share of an engineer s time. However, if organizational capabilities are put in place, those trends can be reversed. Those capabilities include: Engineers, enterprise stakeholders and supply chain participants need access to a single source of product information and data. Engineers need access to product information that exists in other enterprise systems. The organization needs to automate, track and manage processes across the enterprise, including design review as well as regulatory processes. Engineering has used a number of technologies to provide some of these capabilities over the years, including , shared drives, cloud services, CMS and PDM and PLM systems. A new wave of Configurable PDM systems, however, is starting to emerge. They provide the important capabilities of PDM and PLM systems while avoiding their drawbacks, including. Quick Deployment with Minimal Effort: These systems are designed for easy out-of-the-box deployment in hours with no upfront consulting. Flexible Integrations in the IT Ecosystem: Connections to other systems also are available out-of-the-box or can be quickly configured. Management of Multi-CAD Data: Such systems allow users to manage and visualize design data from a variety of CAD applications. Watching these trends, it s easy to feel overwhelmed. But don t give up hope; these trends aren t as irreversible as you might think. For more information on Configurable PDM systems, visit the PTC site. Underwritten in part by PTC, all concepts and ideas developed independently, 2012 LC-Insights LLC. Chad Jackson is the Principal Analyst for Lifecycle Insights, a Managing Editor at ENGINEERING.com and co-host for the Tech4PD show. He researches and writes about software that enables engineering. He can be reached at (512) , , twitter or LinkedIn. page(11(