Autodesk has put a modern face on the PLM category by officially rolling out its Autodesk PLM 360, which it touts as a next-generation cloud-based alternative to traditional platforms.
Autodesk officials on hand for the announcement tossed out every major new technology buzzword to describe the capabilities of their admittedly late-to-market PLM entry. Autodesk 360 PLM is a true multitenant cloud offering, they said, which means a single code base serves multiple installations, so the application is always up-to-date and users don’t have to worry about upgrades or broken customizations.
Autodesk PLM 360 ships with 140 applications, including those for specific processes like new product introductions and program and project management. (Source: Autodesk)
Since it employs a built-from-the-ground-up cloud architecture, Autodesk 360 PLM can be accessed via the Web from any type of device, be it a traditional engineering workstation or a mobile device in the field. Autodesk also talked up a social community around the new release, including crowdsourcing capabilities for sharing ideas and customizations, as well as an app store where customized business process templates can be accessed, many for free.
Where Autodesk is really blazing new ground is in its positioning of the cloud as the true enabler for breaking down barriers that have inhibited the adoption and value proposition of PLM.
“Our savior was the cloud -- it became real, apparent, and workable, and it led to the idea that we can now build something from the ground up that’s dramatically different from the rest of the market, which is what we needed to have,” Buzz Kross, Autodesk’s senior vice president of design, lifecycle, and simulation, said during the press conference.
Beth, this is interesting considering the discussion on SolidWorks. Much of PLM is concerned with lifecycle issues. Once a product is released and has the necessary protections for IP, the public will want to know details. It also helps to have collaboration with the user community to further evolve the product and increase adoption. All in all, it looks like they have their act together when it comes to configuring this.
@naperlou: This riff on PLM is less about opening up the discussion to users or the general public about the product or the evolving design, but more as a collaborative bridge for all of the various stakeholders involved in product development beyond product engineers.
Quality engineers need access to original designs, but not necessarily the full CAD models with geometry; procurement specialists need drawings and tolerances to zero in on sourcing the right parts; marketing people need detailed drawings and specs to create the marketing and collateral materials. The entire value chain needs access to key product data, but they don't necessarily need the engineering/3D model guts of the design IP. That, Autodesk contends, still belongs behind the firewall secured by a traditional PDM system. The cloud-based PLM system and processes is for sharing and collaborating with the other stuff in a more open, easier to use fashion.
@Ken E: Sorry Ken. I didn't mean to make that assumption. PLM stands for Product Lifecycle Management and as a discipline and software technology, it's really about orchestrating the processes and data sharing mechanism so that all product-related information is readily accessible to all the various stakeholders around a product throughout the different stages of its lifecycle.
So what that means is that not only do engineers have access to the same product record, but that information is readily available to different functional areas with product responsibility like marketing, for example, for creating sales collatoral materials or maintenance and support, for having the proper information for repair and maintenance, and even procurement, who has responsibility for sourcing the proper components and materials to build the product. This approach is contrary to the way organizations have traditionally maintained product-related data, in siloed systems and with disconnected processes. By having an integrated process and a so-called one version of the truth product record, organizations can optimize development, reduce rework, improve quality, and foster better collaboration leading to efficiencies in delivery cycles. That's the goal, of course, if implemented properly. Proper implementation--that's a whole other story!
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