{"id":3557,"date":"2022-03-02T17:02:40","date_gmt":"2022-03-02T17:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durolabs.co\/?p=3557"},"modified":"2024-06-13T20:22:16","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T20:22:16","slug":"how-cloud-native-plm-flips-downstream-processes-to-upstream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durolabs.co\/blog\/how-cloud-native-plm-flips-downstream-processes-to-upstream\/","title":{"rendered":"How Cloud-Native PLM Flips Downstream Processes to Upstream"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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By bringing downstream processes such as purchasing, upstream directly into engineering, disruptive hardware startups are launching revolutionary new hardware products much faster than thought possible before. Eliminating some processes entirely rather than just speeding up the existing ones, is now possible. This helps manufacturers to dramatically shorten time-to-market (TTM), lower cost, improve quality, design re-use, and product innovation.<\/p>

Over decades, numerous studies correctly identify that mistakes made early in product design are very expensive to correct later when production starts. \u201cMistakes\u201d range from poorly designed use cases to product unreliability to complete product failure. Manufacturers sometimes knowingly ship compromised products then make improvements in subsequent revisions. PLM promised seamless closed-loop, digital threads, connecting all stages of a product\u2019s lifecycle to ensure that the highest product quality and fastest Time-to-Market (TTM) were virtually guaranteed. The reality is far different. Traditional PLM is still very hard to use and expensive to get working and to maintain. The original vision is rarely realized. What went wrong?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Traditional manufacturers built up organizational silos over decades, each focused on their own needs. IT systems were developed by solution vendors to support each silo. The combination of rigid organizational structures and unique IT systems perpetuated an \u201cOver the Wall\u201d mentality with inflexible processes. Radical change to up and downstream processing is essential because the globalization of product development, the supply chain dependency, and demand for more innovative products at lower prices, means the traditional structures can\u2019t cope. Continuous improvement methods such as LEAN and Industry 4.0 make incremental improvements by reducing waste embedded in existing processes. Incremental improvements aren\u2019t enough anymore.<\/p>

When engineering releases a design to manufacture, many things happen. The procurement department consolidates requests for sourced standard components and subcontractor contracts, from across the company. Driven by commercial metrics, procurement seeks to consolidate sourced items into as few brands\/models\/styles\/specifications as possible, to maximize their volume purchasing power. Unfortunately, this results in churn between engineering (who specified it) and procurement (who wants to change it). Churn causes friction because this usually happens well after engineering releases the design to manufacturing.<\/p>

The benefits of PLM in the cloud are compelling and include the following:<\/p>