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:: Product Introduction Management |
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The Product Introduction (PI) business process encompasses the myriad tasks, processes and decisions that must be executed to bring products to market. PI business processes exist in many forms to support completely new products, new revisions, as well as changes in location, logistics or scale of production. Examples of tasks and processes encompassed in PI are: design review, sourcing, DFM, DFA, DFT, BOM development, manufacturing process development, and many, many more. While a classical view holds that product introduction occurs in a very specific segment of the product lifecycle, market-dominating companies understand that the PI process should extend throughout, improving the design process as well as capturing production and service experience to improve the next generation.
Companies have attempted to manage PI using existing solutions within the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) space such as Project Management and Product Data Management (PDM). Unfortunately, these tools typically do not support the flexibility and velocity required for the PI process. To be competitive, decisions and changes must occur in hours, not weeks. Companies often find that these tools hinder more than help, and revert to using spreadsheets and email as a result. A major new complication, the dramatic rise in multi-site engineering and supply-chain outsourcing, adds critical challenges to PI process execution — including more complex communication requirements, overcoming geographic barriers to teamwork, and delays due to people and information residing in different places.
A new solution category has emerged within the PLM space — Product Introduction Management (PIM), in which Collaboration Suite has established an early lead. Collaboration Suite PIM solutions allow companies to effectively orchestrate and track collaborative PI processes across a multi-site product team. Creation, visibility and tracking are provided for documents and drawings, tasks, processes, issues and action items as well as visualization and interrogation of product information within structured or ad-hoc processes. Collaboration Suite PIM solutions integrate project, process, and product information to provide rapid access, context and understanding to all team members. Collaboration Suite PIM uses the technology and philosophy of the Internet to support the flexibility and velocity required for PI while enabling companies to reduce costs and time to value and improve quality. |
Some of the business applications for Collaboration Suite solutions include:
New Product Introduction (NPI) — Manage a complex matrix of documents, processes and tasks across a geographically and functionally dispersed Product Introduction team, when manufacturing and even design are outsourced. PIM solutions orchestrate, track and make these processes more collaborative in order to maintain margins, reduce costs, increase quality, and deliver products to the market on spec and on time.
Strategic Sourcing — Efficiently evaluate and select suppliers to provide custom components. PIM streamlines the communication and RFQ process so that all potential suppliers are better informed, turnaround is faster and quotes are more complete. It also enables companies to easily and quickly involve suppliers earlier in the design process when input can have the greatest impact.
Design Review — Simplify the process of conducting periodic meetings to appraise development activities and completion milestones. PIM enables customers to hold more frequent, productive design reviews in less time than traditional methods—regardless of where the participants are located. PIM also centrally records action items and meeting minutes, and provides process, task and status visibility to all members of the extended product team.
Product Transfer — Manage the many tasks involved in moving a product from design to manufacturing or from one manufacturing site to another. PIM improves efficiency by providing a centrally visible location and on-line process for managing any number of tasks, statuses and projects. All participants update the status of the tasks they are responsible for and can instantly see the current state of all other activities.
Data Exchange — Confidently deliver sensitive information securely to one or more recipients via the Internet. PIM not only provides secure and reliable transfer of large data sets, it can also provide tracking and notification, as well as collaborative tools to aid in understanding and using the data.
Collaboration Suite PIM
Collaboration Suite Solutions, which augment and extend existing CAD, PDM, ERP and other information systems, include:
Collaboration Suite Project Navigator™
Create on-line collaborative project spaces that serve as central hubs for orchestrating Product Introduction processes. Hierarchical task management is provided, which encompasses participants, roles, permissions and data.
All Collaboration Suite collaborative functionality is available with the ability to link any Collaboration Suite process solution directly to tasks and relevant data. Status rollup and tracking with Gantt chart display is provided within, and across, projects and subprojects.
Collaboration Suite Quick Collaboration™
Quickly create on-line collaborations where members of the extended product team can access, understand, collaborate on and resolve issues. A secure central repository provides access to all types of data and allows participants to view, markup and interrogate even native product data (MCAD, ECAD) with only a Web browser. Discussion threads, decision polling, action item management and history tracking are provided in an extremely easy to use user interface.
Collaboration Suite Quick Conferencing™
This module adds real-time collaborative capabilities. Live application, desktop and document sharing is provided along with whiteboard and conference recording capabilities. Includes automated management functions such as scheduling, invitations, meeting summaries and action item capture.
Collaboration Suite Viewer
Upload 3d CAD files in a compressed format for viewing, measurement and markup. The built-in viewer allows users to view 3d files without a CAD system. Markups can be stored in the project attachments section for future reference.
Collaboration Suite Document Management
Making sure your co-workers, suppliers and customers have the correct file version has never been easier. Built in document management capabilities allow you to track your version history, lock files and secure documents.
Collaboration Suite delivers significant business value to the Product Introduction process:
- Faster and better decision-making shortens time-to-value.
- Eliminating missed or repeated process steps speeds development cycles.
- Easy reference to latest versions of documents eliminates errors in design, purchasing and manufacturing
- Greater visibility into design processes increases customer confidence and management tracking
- Greater accountability for tasks improves on-time delivery across all programs
- Earlier and more effective collaboration between design and the supply chain enables reduced and more accurately understood costs.
- Flexible process templates ensure that quality process protocols are documented automatically
- Better management of process steps and knowledge of issues improves product quality.
Collaboration Suite provides these benefits through its unique PIM technology:
A streamlined and simplified user interface supports broad adoption across widely divergent functional roles and technical expertise. Integration between project, process and product data enables rapid understanding of information and its context. The thin-client architecture efficiently handles large complex product data enabling effective collaboration across a globally distributed product team.
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