PLM Systems:
Document
-centric or Data-centric?
Companies are being constantly
challenged in this global marketplace to innovate and quickly bring their product or service to the market. Companies are always looking at ways to provide better quality product or service at a price point that the customer is willing to pay. Some of the key business benefits companies will be looking for are
y Innovation management y Reduce Time to Market
y Improve Quality and Compliance y Top Line Growth
y Operational Efficiencies y Cost Savings
A well implemented Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system capturing all New Product/Service Development’s (NPD) artifacts, starting from
innovation, development, production till obsolesce helps companies achieve these benefits. PLM systems capabilities
and concepts have evolved from earlier systems that were created to keep control of documents or files created outside of PLM. Now companies are more concerned with the meta data and knowledge contained in those files and how they relate to each other i.e. data traceability. The key question this paper will answer is should PLM systems follow a Data-Centric model? This paper will cover the following aspects of this statement:
y Definition of PLM y Evolution of PLM
y What is Document Centric model y What is Data Centric model y Benefits of Data Centric Model y Summary and Conclusions
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PLM Definition
Product lifecycle management (PLM) represents an
all-encompassing vision for managing all data relating to the design, production, support and ultimate disposition of manufactured goods.
What is PLM? It is the process of managing the entire product lifecycle from its conception, through design and manufacture, to service and disposal. PLM integrates people, data, processes and business systems and provides a product information backbone for companies and their extended enterprise.
PLM can be thought of as both (1) a repository for all
information that affects a product during its lifetime, and (2) a communication process among all product stakeholders: principally marketing, engineering, supply chain or manufacturing, and field service.
The essential elements of PLM: y Manages design and process
documents
y Constructs and controls bill of
material (product structure)
records
y Offers an electronic file
repository
y Includes built-in and custom
part and document metadata
(“attributes”)
y Identifies materials content
for environmental and other regulatory compliance
y Permits item-focused task
assignments by creation of projects
y Enables workflow and
process management for
communicating and approving changes
y Controls multi-user secured
access, including “electronic
signature”
y Exports or is the source for
data for downstream ERP systems
Evolution of PLM
Computer systems are often derived from the systems that they are replacing, thus retaining the familiar objects of the previous way of operating and minimizing the training involved in the transition to a new system and changed procedures. This tendency to replicate the familiar into the new system extends further back to the first computerized system for accomplishing the task. The first computerized system usually is based on the manual process that came before. In many cases, this manual methodology involved the use of a filing cabinet for storage of paper documents. Filing cabinet contained drawers, drawers contained folders and the folders contained documents. Thus, the document-centric computer system is quite common, especially in firms that deal in the medical field and its intense regulatory aspects, where audit trails are extremely important.
As this document-centric
(enhanced filing cabinet) system exists for a period of time, the concepts/objects become ingrained into the thinking of the company and evolve to be part of the culture and vocabulary. Over the years, it becomes very difficult to think of changing the concepts, as the mindset is “that is the way things have always been and is the way it should be.” Personnel begin to think, “This is how we do things, and all the aspects of it are important to someone in the company.”
Document-Centric Model
The document-centric approach implies that you create the document outside of the PLM application. The key information
is contained within the confines/ structure of the document. The document may be attached to an approval workflow in which the approvers open the attached document, review it and then either approve or reject in the workflow.
The document is the central data concept of this application type; many companies today still follow this simple attach a document, review and then approve or reject. This process will work for industries where the need for a physical document is high. Many of the government and regulatory filings still require a physical document. There are companies that still use a two dimensional drawing print as a Bill of Material. There are some shortfalls using this process, and the following discussion about a Data-centric model will highlight them.
Data-Centric Model
In a data-centric approach the user enters key information to already defined data attributes. The reviewer will have enough information contained in the data attributes to make a decision on whether to approve it or not. . The data in this case is the central data concept of the PLM application; if there are attached documents then they will provide more details and are treated as supporting artifacts.
Revolution to Data Centric
Look INSIDE the Container!
With the appropriate use of a modern PLM (and other systems), a paradigm shift is possible and advantageous to make. This paradigm shift leads to much greater efficiencies, shorter
timeframes for new products, more timely communications across the organization, and better control
over data and changes to that data. The company that wishes to make a leap in productivity in the handling of product data must make the shift to a Product-Project and Data-Centric orientation in its cultural thinking about PLM. The thinking process must change from looking at the PLM as a storage place for containers/documents (a filing cabinet) to one that holds valuable corporate data (which is used to recreate documents on demand) which facilitate Projects (which can be of several kinds) that develop Products
The Product/Project objects also contain linkages to data that is stored elsewhere in PLM or other systems. With this orientation, the system becomes a model of the way that business is actually done – Projects are initiated for development of new products or
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modifications of existing products and its related processes. With the accompanying workflows and approvals, the company ensures control of the process. With the system data structures paralleling the real world, personnel will find it easier to work within the concepts of the system and communication across the enterprise and its partners will be enhanced.
Benefits of a Data-Centric Model
y Machine-readable format of
data
With the visibility and availability of electronic data formerly
contained and hidden (except to the authoring tool and, potentially, a viewer application) within the containers/documents, more functions can be handled within the system without manual intervention and more use can be made of the data.
y The Value of Search,
Analytics and Reporting functionalities in a data-centric PLM system
In this day and age, with
companies looking for advantage in the market, data analysis forms a very key part of that advantage. If the product information is in machine-readable data form with attributes that describe its characteristics, it is easier to analyze and will yield more beneficial information. Part re-use promotes design re-re-use in a manufacturing environment and its benefits are it reduces time to market. With a data-centric model a company can easily search through the data and find Parts
that have the same characteristics as the one being designed and re-use those parts. Part used in different products and sourced from different vendors. Once the volume of parts sources is determined, this information can be used to negotiate with the vendors to source parts from one vendor at a lower price point. The financial benefit of this process can easily be reported to management to use in financial planning. Additional reporting capability is available with a PLM system that is data-centric to analyze Impacts of Change and Planned versus Actual costs, and to do Cost/ Benefit Analysis prior to making changes to a part.
A data-Centric model implemented in a modern PLM system easily provides an ability to produce alerts of changes to data. An automatic alert to appropriate personnel can be set up to communicate changes either to critical data or to communicate a change in status. This capability helps in timely notification and goes a long way in reducing time to market.
y Drives Standardization
With improved search ability due a data centric model the PLM system will help drive standardization in process and procedures. There is always a battle between R&D which likes flexibility to drive innovation and Supply Chain that requires standardization – Flexible inputs, standard outputs. A data-centric model allows a certain degree of flexibility in the process during early stages of product development and yet can
be tightened up once the product enters the production phase.
“
With the visibility
and availability of
electronic data...
more functions can be
handled within the
system without manual
intervention and more
use can be made of the
data.
”
y Integrations
The data centric model also enables the PLM system to talk to other enterprise applications like ERP, CRM and MES. The EBOM is no longer a “drawing file,” but a database entry with links to other information - all of which is machine-readable from within the PLM and other systems.
As the product is transferred to Supply Chain/Manufacturing for production, the MBOM (Manufacturing Bill of Materials) is created from the EBOM. Any subsequent changes either to the EBOM or the MBOM, must be communicated to all affected areas via an automatically triggered approval workflow.
y The Importance of Data
Governance
One of the pain points often listed by companies is having inaccurate data that is not cleaned out of the system in a timely manner. This situation is exacerbated by having data mastered/updated in more than one place and not having clearly assigned responsibility for the data objects. The company seeking this visibility needs to implement data governance principles during data initiation, extension and maintenance, to establish clear responsibility for key attributes, object types and to implement a proactive data quality management process.
y Engineering Bill of Materials In a document-centric system an Engineering Bill of Materials (EBOM) is quite often a CAD drawing. The intelligence (data) within that document is only visible for use if someone enters the data manually (and redundantly) as metadata attached to the drawing file. Some PLM systems have developed the capability to pierce the container/CAD file and extract data automatically, but not for all CAD systems.
The EBOM represents the As-Designed form of the product. This key structure (in skeleton form) should be one of the first entries into the PLM System after the development plan for the product is produced. This structure should contain the part numbers for the parts that will be needed to the lowest level possible with the knowledge at the time. The part numbers are assigned before the
detailed drawings are made for the individual parts.
y Traceability and Linkage The reporting capabilities
discussed in the previous section depend upon the linkages of data objects in a manner that reflects external world objects. Each part/object has many attributes associated with it and resides in one or more product/project objects and BOMs. The part may reference specifications, requirements, regulatory documents, testing results and many more constructs/ objects. It is this linkage that allows the system to produce the reports that are required and to accurately reflect relationships.
y Product Hierarchy and Part
Classification
Part of the linkage above is
concerned with Product Hierarchy and Part Classification. These two concepts have the potential to be efficient and save cost. Without a part classification and product hierarchy, it would be tedious to find and reuse identical parts from one product in another product, thus saving engineering, purchasing and supply chain time and expense. This classification scheme needs to be kept under centralized control and the allowable entries in a “part classification” field must be kept to a minimum to make them usable. This field cannot be a free-form field or else what is a “screw” to one engineer might be a “fastener” to another, limiting the potential reuse of that part. A drop-down list controlled by a small group is the recommended way to handle this situation.
The concept of a product hierarchy takes on a much richer meaning when the data is no longer a connection among BLOBs (Binary Large OBjects or “Black Holes”) but
is an actionable relationship among data elements in a database.
Summary and Conclusion
Every piece of data has one master location/system, regardless of whether that system is PLM or not. If the data is required elsewhere, the system that needs the data goes to where the master data is located to get the most current information. Although there may end up
being different PLM systems in the various divisions of a large company, the guiding principle is that there is only one place where a bit of data resides as a master and only there can it be changed. There is an old saying in the computer business, “If data resides in two places, at least one of them will be wrong.” Clear ownership of
data elements is critical to keeping the information clean and relevant. Someone (or some organization) must be responsible for the validity of each data element or the data will become out of date and its value will diminish quickly. A governance group must ensure that these responsibilities are taken seriously and cleansing takes place on a regular basis.
The day-to-day functioning of the system is controlled by the creation and modification of Product and Project objects/records. Other data links into (or from) these controlling entities. All PLM focus areas need to be Integrated/Linked to each other and PLM needs to have real time integration to other applications like ERP and MDM.
Workflows are kicked off and approvals obtained by changes in the state of those two objects (Product and Project). When a project reaches a stage gate, the change in status kicks off a workflow to gain approvals (via electronic signatures) to proceed beyond that point. These automated approval workflows and document templates to promote standardization will promote efficiency and data quality.
In a Document-Centric PLM system data traceability and linkage cannot be done. It will also not help companies heavily invested in business analytics and its benefits will not be realized. Enterprise systems like CRM, ERP are all data centric and with a Document centric PLM system will hinder the flow of information in between Enterprise systems. Other benefits like electronic Product hierarchy or EBOM will be difficult to promote with a document-centric PLM.
A company should Implement data centric PLM as part of their complete Enterprise Landscape. MDM, Governance, CRM, Vendor Management, etc. are all are data-centric systems. There are information needs/links to other systems that PLM must respond to. Since all the other systems are data-centric, PLM should be also. Being data centric elevates the data from being in a black hole to being valuable information for running the business, i.e. data contained in those containers/documents
are important company assets and need to be made visible and used to manage the business efficiently and effectively.
About the Authors:
John B. Pressly, MBA, PMP, CDP, CCP, Green Belt – Over 30 years
delivering information systems, strategies, marketing, and training to enhance value for companies, mainly in the manufacturing arena.
Enoch Suhas, PMP - A PLM
evangelist with passion to deliver value-add consulting such as PLM strategy and roadmap. He has more than 19 years of experience with nearly 15 years delivering PLM projects.
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Vice President of Product Engineering Services
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