The Challenge
Product complexity is increasing while product lifecycles are compressing. Organizations are being asked to do more with fewer resources. To be competitive, manufacturers not only need to increase the rate of product innovation but also accelerate time to market, while tightly managing costs and relentlessly driving quality.
Globalization, rapid innovation, traceability, outsourcing and mass customization are some of the challenges faced by product development teams. The challenges also include external factors, such as consumer awareness, the proliferation of competing products and the rapid evolution of consumer trends. At the same time, manufacturers must comply with an increasing number of rules and regulations.
The Solution
QI Solutions PLM is a software for Product Life Cycle Management (PLM). It enables companies to manage the entire lifecycle of a product efficiently and cost effectively, from conception, design and manufacture, through service and disposal, in an affordable, easy-to-use, and web-based interface.
QI Solutions PLM software can leverage enterprise-wide data to help managers make better decisions. It increases the optimization of every step of the product life cycle, creating higher quality products, launching new products in less time and at a lower cost, and maximizing profits.
The solution provides a complete product data management tool. It allows users to manage several process aspects, such as design, manufacturing, purchasing, quality/test, and service aspects of product records. Product data can be defined by any product object (parts/components, documents, Bill of Material [BOM], machines/instruments, costs, characteristics, etc.). QI Solutions PLM software manages all product revisions and provides a complete audit trail detailing all historical changes.
With QI Solutions software for Product Life Cycle Management, companies can promote tight integration with their ERP system and CAD software, providing timely and transparent access to the most important product information (assemblies, parts, drawings, etc.), tracking engineering changes, and maintaining the appropriate relationships between the CAD design objects and the product structure. IT managers can take advantage of their current and future CAD tools without having to make sacrifices by committing to a single CAD system.
QI Solutions PLM considers risk management, product quality (including FMEA and SPC tools), process management, reliability, project management, change management, supplier management and document management as a single and unified solution, significantly integrated into the product’s definition and life cycle. It allows managers to work faster and more efficiently by capturing, sharing, managing, tracking, and storing documents, tasks, and product information in a central data repository, fostering standardization across the enterprise.
Product Lifecycle Management PLM
Main Benefits
Reduce product cost and greater profitability.
Decrease time of new product introduction.
Enhance product innovation.
Improve product quality.
Less scrap & rework.
Greater design efficiency.
Improve business and operational processes.
Meets standards and ensure regulatory compliance.
Improve design review and approval processes.
Improve integration and communication with extended supply chain.
Product realization process
Project control
Product definition
Document viewing
Failure analysis
Inspection management
Features
PORTFOLIO: Complete set of tools needed to establish portfolio decision criteria and what-if scenario planning per available resources and strategy.
PROJECTS: Plan, implement and monitor projects specially defined to ensure fully deliverables on time.
PREVENTION OF INCIDENTS: Proactive approach that prevents recurrence of incidents by addressing the root cause, avoiding negative impact on the organization’s operations.
PROCESS MANAGEMENT: Standardization and automation of the change management processes, controlling decisions, deadlines and ensuring product traceability.
RESULTS: Return significant results in planning, covering all aspects of product and process definition at a high level.
METHODS: Support manufacturing processes using statistical control methods, product/supplier inspection and automating tasks and activities.
Solution Overview
Traditionally when enterprise professionals discussed the ROI of an investment, they were mostly thinking of the “financial” benefits. Today, organizations must also consider the “non-financial” benefits of an investment.
Financial Benefits include impacts on the organization’s budget and finances, e.g., reduced costs or increased revenues.
Non-Financial Benefits are the so-called “intangible”, “soft” or “unquantifiable” benefits of an investment. Unlike financial returns, there may be no widely-accepted metrics for organizations to apply. However, the present undeniable potential for producing positive impacts on business performance and mission results. These include improved customer satisfaction, more precise information and a shorter cycle time.
When calculating the benefits offered by PLM, it is important to include both revenue growth and cost reduction. While cost savings are often calculated, many companies choose to reinvest reduced product development costs in product innovation and product development. This provides additional investment for top-line, profitable growth.
Aberdeen research shows that companies that leverage Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) technologies are recognizing significant top- and bottom-line benefits, such as increased product revenue (19% on average), decreasing product cost (15% on average) and reduced development costs (16% on average).
- Accelerated revenue due to shorter design times, earlier market introduction of new products and reduced product development costs.
- Reduced design time by avoiding wasted design effort through immediate, managed access to all design data, collaborative engineering, product development and quality management between multiple business partners.
- Accelerated time-to-market means a larger percentage of revenue from new products, where new products capture premium prices and drive higher margins.
- Accelerated release and change cycles for all product and with design data in a secure and central location, allowing multiple users to have simultaneous access to the data.
- Reduced product development costs that in turn reduce costs associated with inefficiencies:
- Collaboration between design, engineering, manufacturing, marketing, suppliers and customers.
- Optimized resource use.
- Clearly written instructions and high quality technical documentation.
- Easy, security-rich access to current information.
- Reduced Product Costs through:
- Increased reuse of data and knowledge.
- Improved design for both products and processes.
- Reduced variation.
- Reduced scrap.
- Reduced spending on low-value projects through portfolio management.
- Better portfolio mix, boosting the competitiveness of the products in the market.
Investment
- The investment in QI Solutions PLM will depend on the business unit size and implementation approach.
Return on Investment (%)
- (((Total Annual Savings) x n years) – Initial Investment) / Initial Investment) x 100.
Payback Period (years)
- Initial Investment / Total Annual Savings
- Improved focus on innovation, collaboration and change processes themselves as opposed to the data or tool, as well as improved focus on the integration of the business as a whole.
- Improved client satisfaction ratings by reducing manufacturing process defects, reducing the number of returns and recalls and reducing the number of customer complaints.
- Increased customer satisfaction that leads to improved customer retention rate, reputation, market share and revenue.
- Increased innovation rate, part reuse factor, product traceability and ensure 100% configuration conformity.
- Improved regulatory compliance. QI Solutions allows integration of compliance management capabilities into current business processes.
- Less paper work and less paper needed to print out reports, due to customized views and the comprehensive dashboard.
- Reduced project start-up time, a shorter learning curve for project team members and time savings, once the processes, procedures and templates are created and reused.