PLM implementation guidelines – relevance and application in practice: a discussion of findings from a retrospective case study

Abstract

In this paper, a recently conducted product lifecycle management (PLM) implementation project is analysed. The aims are to investigate whether published product lifecycle management (PLM) implementation guidelines are relevant to and used in practice, and, if so, to assess how useful they are for guiding project execution. This paper presents an examination of how a real PLM implementation project was conducted, mapping out the rationale for different courses of action and the effects they had. This paper evaluates the degree of relevance and application of existing PLM implementation guidelines. It is found that while most of the guidelines were highly relevant to the project, they were not applied in full. Potential reasons for why the guidelines are not followed are discussed. It is suggested that projects review their plans with the guidelines in mind, evaluating their degree of relevance and including a plan for how to apply the guidelines.

A Method to Identify Risks Associated with a PLM Solution

“…The guidelines summarised by [14] worked to some extent, although an insufficient coverage was identified. More guidelines (e.g., in literature, at seminars or through communication with PLM experts) should be searched for in order to improve the assessment base.…”

“…In this paper, LM solutions has not attracted much attention from the ver, analysis could be based on guidelines for PLM so an be defined as a directional recommendation for wha specific context. Bokinge and Malmqvist [14] summari uidelines (among other PLM implementation guidelin e Table 1) and evaluated the guidelines' relevance and dustry. They found that most of the guidelines were hig uggested that PLM projects should review their plans w d and including a plan for how to apply the guidelines.…”

“…elines, a subset of PLM implementation guidelines, summar d from [14]) If a model of an organisation's PLM solution can be constructed, it should be possible to assess whether the elements of that model correlate positively or negatively with existing guidelines for PLM solutions. Thereby, it should be possible to identify risks associated with a PLM solution.…”

“…The risks can, in turn, be used to generate a range of proposals. In this paper, we are building on the work presented in [10] and [14] to construct a method to identify risks with a PLM solution. 1) Document the PLM solution in a layered PLM architecture model [10].…”

“…3) Map correlations between elements of the architecture model and PLM solution guidelines summarised by [14] in a correlation matrix. We propose to analyse correlations in terms of agreements (meaning an element contributes to fulfilling a certain guideline) or conflicts (meaning an element counteracts the fulfilment of a certain guideline).…”