• The ever-increasing complexities of products and product design
• The added time and effort of working with geographically distributed design and manufacturing partners
• The fragmentation of company IT systems, which can isolate product development from purchasing, finance and other information
• The increasing need to includethe regulatory and safety requirements of multiple regions and countries into product design

Implementing a product lifecycle management (PLM) solution can help companies manage the complexities of today’s product development environment. PLM provides the capabilities to manage collaboration processes, deal with and control product data, and share the decisionmaking processes with everyone. In a recent study, The Best Kept Secret of Top SMB Product Developers—Finding the Shortest Path to PLM Value (July 2008)—the Aberdeen Group noted that PLM adoption among SMBs will grow by by 200 percent over the next two years and
SMBs with PLM will report 18.5 percent improvement in profit margins.Let’s have a look at some key considerations in evaluating a PLM solution.

The first step
The first thing any business, large or small, needs to do when looking for software to help improve its product development process is to evaluate its business. This means review business objectives for the next 5-10 years, look at the products being developed today and consider future products, to determine the long-term vision of the company’s goals. Also, it is important to note that the product development issues facing SMBs are the same issues that large companies have to address. Although SMBs often do not have the same resources and infrastructure as that of larger companies, they can adopt the same solution and achieve the same benefits.

Recognising the resource constraints of SMBs, vendors of product development software such as PLM, MCAD and CAE offer products that can be easily deployed and maintained, yet deliver the benefits and capabilities that are required in the product development environment. MCAD and CAE software are now almost universally accepted as the required tools for any SMB manufacturer. PLM has traditionally been viewed as a tool for large enterprises. However, as vendors develop PLM solutions that take advantage of platforms that can be more easily deployed and environments that can be more easily tailored to the needs of smaller manufacturers, the use of PLM is gaining momentum among SMBs and is becoming a part of the landscape of product development solutions being used by companies of all sizes.

The next step is to evaluate the current product development environment to identify strengths, weaknesses and areas of improvement. The improvements can then be prioritised in alignment with the company’s goals and used to develop a roadmap for implementing PLM software. For example, if a company is planning to pursue a globalisation strategy, it might choose to prioritise deployment of a collaboration tool that prevents team members in different locations from overwriting each other’s work as a higher priority than upgrading its teleconferencing system.

Focus on product development
While ERP software can help a SMB manufacturer become more efficient in resource planning and CRM can help manage customer relationships, neither solution improves product development. Software such as MCAD, CAE and PLM directly help different areas of product development, which include design, engineering, data management and collaboration. When a customer evaluates a product whether in hand, in a catalogue, online or in a store, the use of product development software may have directly contributed to the success of the product and the SMB. Many SMBs supply products that become parts of other products. In this situation, along with meeting the supplier’s own rigorous development standards, the supplier must be able to demonstrate that the product meets the requirements and standards of the customer. PLM software, when used in conjunction with other closely aligned product development software such as MCAD and CAE, helps ensure that all the requirements are met and the customer is fully aware of the production stage that the product has reached. Customers are a part of the development process, and it helps to ensure that they come back to you time and again for more components in the future.

Choosing a PLM solution
Two primary characteristics of accessibility and flexibility should be considered when selecting a PLM solution. Firstly, the software has to be accessible to all. A long period of implementation due to complex and costly customisations is undesirable for any company regardless of whether it is a large OEM with a huge IT department or a SMB that could be swamped by such an initiative. The key objective should be to deploy a solution that will immediately add value to the product development process. Accessibility also applies to the usability of the product.

SMBs do not have time to keep vital members of the development team offline for long training sessions. Therefore, software, whether it is MCAD or PLM, is being made easier to use for all members of the team. The byproduct of making the software easier to access is that it allows vital information to be shared with a wider team. The second key consideration is flexibility. Choose a solution that will support the company's strategic plan for 5-10 years. Consider using a software that can accommodate growth of the business and provide the capabilities to support future demands and requirements.

Most software solutions can be implemented in many different bundles, packages or even products. Choose a solution that is characterised by flexibility so that it can be deployed in a way that best accommodates the company’s needs. If the greatest need is for change control, the company will not immediately benefit from deploying an engineering calculation tool first. Selecting a solution that has multiple points of entry offers an SMB the flexibility to add any capability when required.

Joshua Fredberg is the Senior Vice President, Product and Market Strategy, PTC