PTC Global Services Consulting

Strategic Alignment

Companies that experience the best results with their PLM programs are much more likely than others to have business leaders drive the initiative, use detailed implementation roadmaps that link business objectives to process improvements, and ensure accountability with program scorecards.

Few people would dispute that building cross-organizational alignment is essential to any complex solution initiative. But it is the depth and breadth of that alignment that truly matter. There must be clear understanding and agreement across all key stakeholders on:

• Key business objectives
• The sequencing and implications of a phased implementation program
• Detailed alignment of business need with technical feasibility
• Clear accountability for program governance and decision making

Three guiding principles are at the heart of an effective approach to strategic alignment:

• A cross-organizational approach to identify the business value to be achieved through process transformation
• A roadmap for deploying technology solutions to transform processes and realize business value
• A decision and oversight process to ensure the program stays on track to reach business value goals

To learn more about how PTC addresses strategic alignment and other key success factors, view the presentation Planning PLM Deployment and Adoption.

Process-Based Solutions

Companies that achieve the most successful PLM implementations focus first on process improvements, and then on technology capabilities that can support those improvements. Which processes have the greatest impact on top and bottom line results? Where is the greatest opportunity for standardization and improvement? Where are the greatest gaps between current process and industry best practice? Process improvement drives the functionality of the implemented solution, not the other way around.

The most effective approach to solution design emphasizes three principles:

• Don’t try to change everything at once. Identify the most important opportunities for process improvement first and focus on moving those toward industry best practice.
• Ensure that technology can indeed support the necessary process change. Pressure test the technology to avoid unworkable solutions.
• Tie process change directly to business value and organizational constraints. Implement changes in ways that minimize operational disruption and maximize short- and longer term value.

To learn more about how PTC addresses process-driven solutions and other key success factors, view the presentation Process-Based solutions.

Off-the-Shelf Configuration

Deploying off-the-shelf technology is commonly desired but rarely achieved in full with complex enterprise solutions like PLM. As organizations and their needs grow and change, however, they typically layer their information technology systems and processes with custom code and procedures. Excessive customization creates systems that are slower to deploy, more expensive to maintain, and less flexible when it is necessary to upgrade or integrate new functionality.

An important key to successful PLM programs is to minimize customization and instead configure the existing capabilities of the PLM software. Clearly this requires software that has the necessary capabilities built in; it also requires implementation teams with deep understanding of the best ways to configure built-in capabilities to optimize essential business processes.

To learn more about how PTC addresses off-the-shelf configuration and other key success factors, view the presentation Off-the Shelf Configuration.