All Product Lifecycle Management questions

• 
  What are the challenges for the growth PLM solutions? What will be the future trends in PLM?

• How Many BOMs Needed?
  We currently have Teamcenter Engineering as our Design management tool and SAP for PDM and ERP. It has been suggested that we must now only have one BOM in SAP which is only one view so the design view and manufacturing view of the BOM is the same. Designers will effectively be creating the manufacturing BOM as their design. Do you know of any other organisation that does this and can it work efficiently?

• Migrating to 3D
  Dear Mr. Amann, What do you think about the replacement of 2D drawings by 3D models for product assembly/manufacturing? Thank you,

• Suggested Reading
  Hi Ken, I work for a PLM VAR but do not have much direct industry experience of design and manufacturing. Are there any books or articles you can direct me to to learn about basic best practices, e.g. in some of your answers you refer to where and in what phases of design to get part numbers or things like releasing and revising designs and assemblies, master BOM's etc? Thanks,

• Make-to-Order Integration?
  Dear Mr. Amann, What is your opinion on SAP's MTO/MTS concept? If it is necessary to create integration between an ERP and a PLM system, shall the MTO/MTS concept be reflected on PLM?

• Bridging ERP and PLM
  I am looking at the requirements for PLM and ERP integration. Can you please explain how these two applications are integrated? Is there software available for the integration?

• Information Recycling for Catalogs
  Dear Mr. Amann, Several PLM suppliers highlight the reuse potential of manufacturing information. Have you seen any case of manufacturing information reuse for preparation of customer manuals? Thank you

• Will SAP Collaborate?
  Dear Mr. Amann, What is your experience with SAP IPPE as a collaborative tool? Thank you.

• Integrating PLM and ERP
  Dear Mr. Amann, What are the main points to be taken into account in a PLM/ERP integration? Thank you.

• Sorting Through Revisions
  Hi, Each time a design change (ECO) is needed, the same question pops up: Is the modified item a rev-up of the old, or a new item? The most common way to answer that question is to find out whether the old and modified items are still interchangeable. When in the design phase, engineers like to release the current state of their design to ease communications. However, these released documents may still need to be changed. So, when in the design phase, the interchangeability criteria don't seem pratical, as most changes are not interchangeable, meaning that a new item number shall be assigned to the modified items most of the time. Do you think it's OK not to use the interchangeability rule while still in design and keep the item numbers unchanged following revision of items? If so, how would you manage prototypes? Would you generate complete product trees for the various prototypes built throughout the design phase? Thanks!

• SAP PLM Training
  Can you please tell me where I can get the SAP PLM training and certification in India. Thanks

• Airbus 380 Lessons
  Dear Mr Amann, Which are the lessons learned of A380 delay from a PLM point-of-view? Thank you.

• PLM Product Pluses, Minuses
  I would like to know good sources that expose the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of the different PLM software that are available such as Windchill, Smarteam and Teamcentre. I would really appreciate your help and look forward to hearing from you.

• Connecting PLM & ERP in Item Generation
  Dear Mr Amann, I'm working for a small company (200 employees). We do have a ERP system in place and are looking for a PLM. In my mind, because of its financial nature, the ERP shall master the creation of any item numbers that are to be used for engineering purposes. Therefore, I would expect the ERP to generate all of the item numbers required by engineering for identification of documents, parts, assemblies and products. On the other hand, this seems to complicate things as engineers now need to ask for new item numbers. How is the item number generation best accomplished when both ERP and PLM are involved in the same processes?

• PLM Implementation Challenges
  Dear Mr Amann, PLM solution implementation model may vary depending on the business type, company size and so on. What do you consider the state-of-the-art on a PLM solution implementation? Which are the main issues to be taken in to account before implementation? Thank you.

• Multiple BOM Views
  Dear Mr Amann, Based on your experience, which are the advantages of "Single BOM" and "EBOM/MBOM"?

• PLM Justification
  How to justify a PLM implementation? There are intangible gains that are not easily measured.

• Operation Management Challenges
  Hi. I had a question relating to operations management. As the operations manager of a company, what are some of the key challenges you would expect to face and how would you deal with them?

• PDM Assistance
  My company is looking for a Product Data Management system but I need some help narrowing down all of the choices. The company has about 125 employees with approximately 100 million in sales annually -- we custom engineer/build process equipment for the pharma industry. We are looking for a system that will manage our Autocad and Inventor drawings, as well as PLC program files, HMI files and all Word documents associated with a project (Functional Specifications, etc.). We need to institute standards and be able to track changes per revision. I'm looking into AM Meridian, GE Proficy Change Management and Autodesk products, but would like a few more choices -- any suggestions?

• Remote Access Capabilities
  Are users of PLM systems facing a need or pain point with providing remote access to all of the components that comprise a PLM solution?