In-depth analysis: Remember to “blindly follow the trend” in the selection of PLM system

With the continuous development of information construction, the domestic PLM market is undergoing a new round of reshuffle. Under the new pattern, what are the main factors that dominate the selection of domestic enterprises’ PLM? How can enterprise users better weigh product price, quality and other factors when selecting software?

Compared with ERP, the market penetration rate of PLM system is still very low. In addition to the domestic market, software giants continue to enter the PLM market by acquiring third-party software. The addition of these ERP vendors with strong local advantages will inevitably affect the recombination and arrangement of the domestic PLM market structure.

It can be seen that PLM selection needs to be “rational” and cannot be blindly followed. The enterprise evaluation team needs to evaluate the superiority (technology leadership), applicability (compatibility, integration capability), scalability, ease of use, and reliability of PLM products. A comprehensive assessment of all aspects can ensure the stable implementation of PLM to the greatest extent.

This article sorts out the five elements of PLM selection:

(1) Product function

Before implementing PLM, the company has a preliminary understanding of the company’s requirements for each functional module of PLM. Therefore, when selecting PLM software, customers can select functions based on the analysis results, and schedule the necessary and optional software according to the priority of the required functions. Function.

(2) The openness of the system

It can be seen from the development of PLM system that an excellent PLM system must have a good underlying architecture to meet the requirements of heterogeneous computer systems.

(3) System integration

A mature PLM solution should have the following capabilities to integrate with the company’s existing applications, namely enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management (SCM), computer-aided design (CAD), catalog management, e-commerce (EC), and Common office automation products, components, e-mail, etc.

(4) The scalability of the system

PLM system suppliers should continuously improve their products and introduce new features. As business requirements increase, application companies usually want to evaluate and use these new features. Therefore, PLM system suppliers should build their PLM system suite to expand the functions of basic data package and BOM management to include options and variable management, product-related analysis, product information release and other functions. As an important enterprise investment, the PLM environment should be easily expandable to meet the ever-increasing business needs.

(5) System security

In today’s global economic situation, all companies have to deal with employees, partners, suppliers and customers scattered in a huge supply chain. Therefore, all companies need to have the ability to collaborate efficiently and at the same time to protect their own intellectual property rights, and sometimes even cooperate with competitors on certain specific projects. In short, it is essential to understand the security features that PLM solutions can provide.