PLM integration has become extremely necessary in recent years. Your company has a multitude of IT systems supporting the product development process, which is a state of affairs that can cause as many problems as it solves.
The connections between all those people, processes, and systems can introduce costly errors and delays. Sooner or later, when the costs of the current environment outweigh the benefits, you will decide to integrate those systems.
How should you proceed to avoid getting lost in the details?
Software vendors, IT departments, and PLM consultants have spent years debating the pros & cons of all-in-one integrated systems vs. a stitched together conglomeration best-of-breed point solutions.
All their valid arguments aside, Total PLM would like to make it easy on you. There are just three factors you must consider during PLM integration planning.
As an example, we'll use the common case of integrating a PLM and an ERP system together as we explain the three areas.
Master Data Location
Define where the "master data" is managed in your PLM integration. More than likely, there's a fair amount of data replication in your environment. As you share and distribute product data, the number of copies grows exponentially. Ask yourself:
Where are the originals stored? For each type of data, choose which system will be the "system of record." Some data will be mastered in PLM, some in ERP. Figure out what makes sense for your operation based on the capabilities of the systems, preferences of the users groups, and your IT infrastructure plans.
Document the upgrade path for both systems and confirm that future versions of the software are able to support all the integrations you implement.
How will files be updated and disseminated to the enterprise? Once you know where the master data will reside, plot out all the ways that it will be used: transferred, viewed, copied, changed, revised, and re-stored.
These "use cases" describe how users will interact with the data. They are fundamental to determining the scope of your PLM integration.
Direction of Data Flow
Define how data should move between the PLM and ERP systems in your PLM integration. In general, greater freedom of information flow means higher implementation cost, but lower cost to operate.
One-way. This is the simplest option. New versions of a specific data type can only be created in one system and are passed downstream to the other system. For example, you might create new part numbers in PLM, then pass them to ERP.
Bi-directional. This option is more complex and requires more expensive integration and software release/version synchronization. If you decide you need to create new part numbers in both ERP and PLM, for example, then you must support bi-directional updates.
Automation Level
Define how the PLM and ERP systems will accept and synchronize changes between their respective databases in your PLM integration. In general, greater automation means higher implementation cost, but lower cost to operate.
Manual transfer. System administrators or data owners move the data when they make changes. This would likely rely on text files, CSV files, or spreadsheets to transfer the metadata, and FTP protocols or other secure file sharing applications to move the bulk data. In essence, workers physically "cut-and-paste" data from one system to the other.
Manual transfer has the advantage of being low-cost to implement up front, but as you might guess, it is time-consuming, tedious, and prone to errors on a daily basis. Companies generally restrict which users have access to this functionality.
Scheduled Batch Job. This method adds basic automation. System administrators or data owners schedule updates for a certain time of day, likely overnight, and all the changes are made between the systems at that time.
This has the advantage of reducing errors from manual entry, but the disadvantage of delaying updates until a predetermined time.
On demand. This method is fully automated. The systems are highly integrated with extensive data model logic mapped between them.
This is the tightest, most expensive level of integration, but is the most efficient system in operation from the user perspective.
With the answers to these questions in hand, you are well on your way to implementing the most effective PLM integrations for you business. Remember to consult professionals when in doubt.
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