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, the focus shifts from chasing paper and rework to true transformation and innovation.
Unfortunately, many companies don’t think about the true PLM license costs when they are building their initial budget. What's affordable for a department may not be affordable enterprise wide. All too often companies realize too late that they can’t give everyone else across the company and down into customers, partners or suppliers access to the PLM system they've rolled out in engineering. The hard costs of named user and module licenses often outweigh the softer costs or projected savings from extending PLM company-wide.
If you’re stuck: Ask yourself, can I provide fully functional PLM access to all the people who need it? If the answer is no, you’re stuck. You may need to expose your PLM data to another, more cost-effective system so everyone can get to it. Custom portals, Microsoft SharePoint, and open source PLM provide options in these situations.