Product Life-Cycle Management

As HTE companies become increasingly global, their engineering teams become increasingly distributed. Often, engineers who are not collocated need to work together on design projects with very short timelines. They need to communicate with each other and ensure that they all have the latest version of the product design.

Solutions from Microsoft and its partners allow real-time collaboration via e-mail, instant messaging, audio, video, Web conferencing, and voice mail. SharePoint provides enterprise portal solutions that help provide role-based access and real-time visibility to consolidated product and business information.

Employees in every department of a high tech company need product information. Procurement needs to know what to order. Manufacturing requires a bill of materials BOM to prepare for production. Salespeople have to understand new products as they become available. And all these employees need the latest, most accurate information.

PLM systems give people role-based access product information across the enterprise. Members of the organization who need real-time access to product information (e.g., for documentation, budgeting, procurement, maintenance) are able to access this information through Microsoft's technologies.

Engineering changes are a way of life, but if not managed, they can be nightmares. Unless everyone affected by engineering changes is made immediately aware, time and money can be wasted using old information. Especially in a globally distributed enterprise, everyone must be kept current when things change.

Using PLM from its partners based on Microsoft technology, all members of the enterprise can be informed in real time about engineering changes. Products having shared components are immediately flagged if one of the components changes. In-production changes are tracked, so the effectiveness of these changes is known. Production schedules, pricing, and procurement can be immediately adjusted, and technical documentation can be flagged for updating when engineering changes occur.

Product engineering does not and cannot occur without deep connection to the rest of the corporation. All departments, from manufacturing to service, depend on receiving early and accurate information from engineering to properly plan a new product rollout. Engineering requires pricing, availability, and vendor information from an enterprise resource planning system to evaluate the suitability of components for products. Without networked systems, information is lost, products are delayed, and costs are unnecessarily high.

With PLM solutions based on Microsoft technology, your company is connected. Information from disparate systems can be aggregated and viewed by engineering, enabling the best decisions in the shortest timeframe. In all departments, planning that requires product information can begin early. Changes in schedule can be immediately communicated. And changes in external conditions that might affect product design decisions can be made readily available to engineering.