PLM Blog - Aras Corporate Blog

Know Your Requirements and Prioritize

2012-02-10T12:10:00Z

Once you’ve defined your business objectives, work backwards to identify the related processes that will be involved. For example, if achieving faster time to market is your priority, identify all the things that go into the new product development and introduction process. Include stage-gate project management, resource planning, marketing, compliance, change workflows, etc. When you know all the elements, you can prioritize and phase your roll out to get the greatest business benefit for...(read more)

Can I Afford to Grow my PLM Implementation?

2012-02-08T19:35:00Z

GROWING PAINS Often PLM starts with one group in a corporation, such as engineering. While this can be a great way to get started, when properly implemented PLM should be accessible to everyone in the company. The real benefits and ROI come from providing access to 1,000s of users across the company and the extended supply chain. When everyone has access to the latest information; whether that be change requests, drawings, new HR documents, or the ability to review a quality report on supplier goods...(read more)

A Flexible PLM User Interface Leads to Success

2012-02-08T15:52:00Z

The user interface for your PLM system is the second most important facet to your user adoption, right behind roll-out . A user in the Quality department doesn’t need to see the same screen as an Engineer and neither of them have the same requirements as someone in Procurement. Take it a step further and technical people won’t use an interface that doesn’t meet their needs and non-technical users will reject a system they see as unnecessarily complicated. The fact is, every user...(read more)

If You Don’t Know Where You’re Going, You’ll Never Know When You Get There

2012-02-06T16:14:00Z

NO VISION / NO ROADMAP It’s not uncommon for C-level executives to have one vision for PLM and engineering to have another, with a gigantic gap in between. The execs, who finance and approve PLM, are thinking about profits, innovation and getting new products to market. Engineering, who usually selects and implements PLM, is worried about managing the right version of the CAD files, which has little or nothing to do with innovation or generating profits. Nobody takes the time to map the strategic...(read more)

PLM Quotes Can Be Hard To Swallow

2012-02-03T20:30:00Z

STICKER SHOCK It's a classic buyer scenario. The project has been scoped, the demos have been done, and you're really sold on a specific product that you're sure will meet the company's needs. But with most PLM vendors now using a named user licensing scheme, which requires individual module pricing too, the upfront licensing costs alone can stop a PLM initiative before it even starts. But NOT getting that PLM license can cost you dearly too. What are the viable options for moving...(read more)

One Small Step for PLM, One Giant Leap for Users

2012-02-03T13:39:00Z

1 GIANT STEP PLM Implementations are a recipe for disaster. You can’t turn on 15 modules of PLM over the weekend, effectively changing the way people do everything overnight, and expect them to accept it. It's the fastest way to overwhelm users and ensure system failure. The technical folks won’t use a system that doesn’t perfectly meet their needs and non-technical users will likely get over-whelmed and reject the system entirely. Both user types end up creating workarounds...(read more)

Are Implementation Consulting Cycles Churning Out of Control?

2012-02-01T17:39:00Z

Why do PLM initiatives get stuck? FALSE STARTS Implementations stall for lots of reasons. Some, such as politics, may be out of your control. But the biggest mistake happens before the implementation even starts and it is much easier to avoid. The problem? Choosing the wrong technology. Everyone says they want an out of the box PLM solution. What we believe they really want is a solution that works, and is up in running in a reasonable timeframe. They believe out-of-the box will reduce their risk...(read more)

Are Point Solutions Holding You Down?

2012-01-31T16:40:00Z

Every initiative starts with the best intentions. Requirements are defined and a team sets out to select the best tool to fix the problem that's causing the biggest headache today. While every company wants to look at “the big picture”, the reality for most is that they only have the time, money and / or manpower to fix the problem at hand. This approach can and does work. For a while. But what happens when you get the next headache? Ultimately, you either end up with too many systems...(read more)

Aras in 2011: Growth & Innovation Around the World

2012-01-05T02:03:00Z

Happy new year to everyone! We’re looking forward to a great 2012, and looking back at 2011 it was another record breaker. I n addition to achieving record sales and double digit growth again (that’s 5 years in a row for anyone counting), we increased our customer base by over 43% to 296 worldwide. Our success this year continues to reinforce our position as the industry’s next generation PLM platform, and it underscores the power of our out-of-the-box solution suite to address...(read more)

NEW: Aras EPLM for SolidWorks Enterprise PDM

2011-11-11T15:48:00Z

Recently we introduced a new commercial offering designed specifically for companies that run SolidWorks ® called Aras EPLM for SolidWorks Enterprise PDM . It's built on top of SolidWorks best selling EPDM system to provide packaged functionality out-of-the-box for global PLM business processes. This is a big deal if your company uses SolidWorks because now you can get full scale enterprise-wide PLM functionality without disrupting your SolidWorks design processes or sacrificing your EPDM...(read more)

PLM – Back To The 80s?

2011-11-09T21:12:00Z

When I read in the Twitter feeds from Oleg and Jonathan Scott at The Dassault Systemes Customer Conference that it is taking Dassault 4 years to implement V6 at a customer and they are rolling it out “big bang” style, I had to check my calendar to see if we had somehow returned to the 1980s. After all, that’s about the last time anyone boasted about a multi-year PLM implementation. 4 Years is a long time. In a multi-year implementation, what are the odds that the business requirements...(read more)

Upcoming ACE Germany in Bad Soden; Interview with Peter Schroer

2011-10-07T15:42:00Z

ACE2011 Germany is less than 2 weeks away. Hosted at the Ramada Hotel, Bad Soden, this free, day-long PLM event features a variety of Global Corporations speaking on everything from process improvement to PLM solution selection, and solving tough, real world challenges. In keeping with the ACE International theme earlier this year, Aras's own Peter Schroer will present on the World of the Possible. Register now and be there as Peter discusses the biggest challenges facing PLM users today, including...(read more)

Open-Source and PLM Marketplace Maturity

2011-09-29T19:57:00Z

This month there was a good article by CIMdata on the PLM/CAD community web sites titled “ Open-Source and PLM Marketplace Maturity ” which explains the benefits for companies and the implications for the PLM market that are resulting from the business model innovation inherent in open source. It’s got some important information in it about the transformation going on in the PLM marketplace so I’ve included some excerpts along with related comments from my perspective. State...(read more)

Open Co-opetition?

2011-02-14T19:08:00Z

Following SolidWorks World 2011 , lots of people have been writing about the cool stuff they saw on the show floor and in the sessions, myself included. Today, I am not going to talk about cool. I am going to talk about impressive. And what impressed me most on the floor at SolidWorks World was COMPETITON… what I mean is the openness of the SolidWork’s management team to openly allow add-on solutions that in some cases compete with Solidwork’s own products. I counted at least 5...(read more)

PLM Isn’t Sexy, but It Could Save Your Life

2011-02-07T14:48:00Z

Walking the floor at SolidWorks World 2011 in San Antonio I saw some outstanding examples of cool product design, and heard more cool stories and great discussions about 3D design and product innovation in the breakout sessions. But what really got my attention was the NASA story. Jim Lovell and Gene Kranz shared the incredible story of the Apollo 13 Mission, where Commander Lovell made the now infamous statement, “Houston, we have a problem.” In 1970, two days into a mission to the Moon...(read more)