IDC Manufacturing Insights Offers Roadmap to Achieve World Class Product Lifecycle Management

Manufacturers are moving to the next generation of product lifecycle management (PLM) – a product innovation platform that uses product data and information as its core and integrates with other related data and processes across the enterprise. Next-generation PLM is not only an extended internal approach, it is a product innovation platform approach to designing, developing, manufacturing, and delivering products that encompasses the entire value chain so partners, suppliers, and even customers can collaborate iteratively. A new IDC MaturityScape from IDC Manufacturing Insights, IDC MaturityScape: The Product Innovation Platform (Doc #US40541016), identifies the stages, critical measures, outcomes, and actions required for companies to effectively develop a PLM strategy that extends across their organization and value chain.

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The extension of PLM outward to the enterprise and beyond is not a new discussion, but the market has rapidly changed and accelerated over the past five years driving manufacturers to take steps toward a product innovation platform. For example, manufacturers face increased complexity – in products, processes and value chains – driving the need for this next-generation platform. In addition, by extending PLM, manufacturers are in a better position to achieve a balance of vitality and stability. That is, produce quality products that provide a steady, predictable stream of revenue (stability) but also innovate new products and product improvements (vitality) to accelerate growth.

IDC Manufacturing Insights asserts that, ultimately, a full product innovation platform, extended across an internal and external value chain, provides the following value:

• Open innovation: inclusive of the global team of internal and external constituents
• Product lifecycle economics: business and cost rationalization of product decisions
• Decision support: Visual decision making across extended value chains
• Systems engineering: across multiple engineering, and manufacturing domains
• Quality management: improvement of complex products and processes

To achieve these benefits, IDC Manufacturing Insights presents the product innovation platform IDC MaturityScape, a roadmap to help guide manufacturers through their current and aspirational approach to designing, developing, and manufacturing products, as well as enhancing customer experience with those products. Organizations can use this study to identify where they stand in relation to product innovation platform excellence and create a path toward achieving world-class PLM: from ideation, to portfolio management, to product data management, to collaborative design & engineering, direct materials sourcing, and service. Additionally the study explores the characteristics of the different dimensions in each maturity level, as well as related sub-dimensions.

While 3rd Platform technologies such as cloud, mobile, social, and analytics provide the technology that leads to faster design, collaboration, and development, and enables better product experiences and service, IDC Manufacturing notes that there are five critical pieces that all manufacturers across industry need to have in place to achieve a product innovation platform. These include:

• Unified, secure, single instance of product data for the global team, internal and external constituents.
• The full spectrum of PLM: ideation, PPM, requirements, cPDM, collaborative design, integrated manufacturing process planning, and visualization.
• Enhanced collaboration between engineering and manufacturing: Currently this means visual work instructions, and in the near future, augmented and virtual reality will become more prevalent.
• Integrated quality management and compliance management, for tracking and improvement of products and suppliers, as well as development and manufacturing processes.
• Product and service lifecycle integration, for effective service planning, execution, engineering and service collaboration when necessary.

"The complexity of products, supply chains, and demand will continue to increase, so the platform upon which products and customer experiences are designed, enabled, and serviced will need to evolve as well. A product innovation platform provides that foundation for the global team of internal and external constituents responsible for product success," said Jeff Hojlo, Program Director, Product Innovation Strategies, IDC Manufacturing Insights. "That said, manufacturers cannot roll out a product innovation platform in one fell swoop; it should be in phases, depending on company size, industry, primary business need, as well as level of product, demand, and supply chain complexity."

For additional information about this report or to arrange a one-on-one briefing with Jeff Hojlo please contact Sarah Murray at 781-378-2674 or sarah@attunecommunications.com. Reports are available to qualified members of the media. For information on purchasing reports, contact insights@idc.com ; reporters should email sarah@attunecommunications.com.

About IDC MaturityScape

IDC MaturityScape reports are used by IT executives and their enterprise partners to have a structured way to identify their current level of maturity, and the gap between where they are and where they want to be to maintain competitive balance or achieve industry superiority. Using IDC MaturityScapes is a way to reduce the friction of change, to make more precise investments, and to identify the details of governance, process, technology, organization, and other factors that can derail the best-laid technology initiative.

About IDC Manufacturing Insights

IDC Manufacturing Insights assists manufacturing businesses and IT leaders, as well as the suppliers who serve them in making more effective technology decisions by providing accurate, timely, and insightful fact-based research and consulting services. Staffed by senior analysts with decades of industry experience, our global research analyzes and advises on business and technology issues facing asset intensive, brand oriented, technology oriented, and engineering oriented manufacturing industries. International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology market. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology, media, research, and events company. For more information, please visit www.idc-mi.com, email info@idc-mi.com, or call 508-988-7900. Visit the IDC Manufacturing Insights Community at http://idc-community.com/manufacturing.