Expanded compliance functionality grabbed the starring role in two new PLM releases launched this week by rivals Agile Software Corp. and Arena Solutions Inc.
Agile and Arena -- both of which have a strong following among high-tech and electronics companies -- folded compliance management features into their latest upgrades to help manufacturers comply with emerging environmental regulations such as RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) and the European Union's new WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment.)
While Sarbanes-Oxley has cast a spotlight on financial compliance, and compliance with Federal Drug Administration regulations has long been an agenda item for medical device companies, upcoming environmental regulations are putting pressure on manufacturers to adopt systems and business processes to ensure their products are up to snuff.
Most of the leading PLM vendors, including PTC, Dassault, and UGS Corp., have taken steps over the last few months in the area of compliance, including forging partnerships and introducing new modules. (Check out Managing Automation's three-part webcast series on regulatory compliance by clicking here.)
Making PLM the keeper of compliance makes sense, especially for those regulations that have direct bearing on what is allowed in a product's makeup. "PLM systems provide a nice cross section in [that] they're already the keeper of the bill of materials, they already track master data of what's going into a product, and designers are already accessing [the systems]," says Eric Karofsky, senior research analyst for AMR Research Inc. (Boston). "It's a logical place to store [compliance] information."
Agile (San Jose, CA) is billing environmental compliance as the highlight of its new Agile 9.2 release. The software's Product Governance and Compliance module now fully integrates the Bill of Substance within the Bill of Materials (BOM), adding improved supplier and regulatory information to ensure effective compliance throughout the enterprise and with suppliers.
For its part, Arena's new Fall 2005 version of Arena On-Demand PLM can create a compliance BOM, allowing manufacturers to track and report on compliance initiatives, gain visibility into non-compliant products, and make better decisions regarding product inventory and supplier relationships, officials there said.
Manufacturers, faced with a June 2006 deadline for compliance with these new environmental regulations, need to get their products and product systems of record in shape now, otherwise they run the risk of large fines or having their offerings blacklisted in the EU and other areas like California and Japan, said Bryan Stolle, Agile CEO, in an interview with Managing Automation. Given that this information has to be part of the product record, PLM is the logical place for it, Stolle argued. "You could use a standalone system to track this stuff, but then you'd have all the problems you've always had with non-standard, non-integrated systems," he explained.
Agile already has capabilities to address some areas of FDA compliance and the company is also working on features for End of Life Vehicle compliance (appropriate for the automotive industry) and export control compliance. "Compliance is not just about environmental issues, but that's the big hot-button now -- it's almost like Y2K for manufacturers," he said.
Agile 9.2 also features improved analytics, including those in the area of Product Portfolio Management, for helping organizations optimize their product development investments, maximize resources, and do more scenario planning around product introductions. The Product Service and Improvement module has been renamed Agile Quality Management and there are new analytics capabilities that can help companies better track and stay on top of quality issues, both internally and with suppliers. Support for Linux and enhancements in the area of collaboration round out the improvements.
For Arena's Fall 2005 release, the compliance focus is augmented by new point-and-click customization capabilities for tailoring the on-demand PLM solution to match a company's unique product data and business processes. This enhancement addresses early criticisms of the product.
"This is a big step forward for us and pushes back at some of the FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) put out in the marketplace about the inability to customize an on-demand PLM application," explained Eric Larkin, chief technology officer for Arena (Menlo Park, CA).
To facilitate collaboration, Arena has added the Arena Supplier Marketplace to the mix. The Supplier Marketplace is an online directory of product design firms, contract manufacturers, component suppliers, and fabricators trained on Arena PLM that is accessible directly from within the Arena application to help manufacturers more easily find and connect with new suppliers.
"From a manufacturing standpoint, when you're looking to establish a supply chain, it's a good thing to know that this supplier is already trained to participate in your supply chain management processes," Larkin explained. "For suppliers, it provides an aggregation of potential customers."