feature story
PLM 2.0: Reinventing Product Design
In the next evolution of product lifecycle management solutions, the customer is the designer
By Oleg Shilovitsky
I
n the manufacturing industry, we’ve never been
known for our turn of phrase, catchy slogans or
social movements, so it may strike some people
as odd that I’ve become such a passionate advocate
of what’s now known as “PLM 2.0.” Like some sort
of movie sequel, many “non-techies” have shunned
terms like “Web 2.0” and “Office 2.0” because software
upgrades don’t represent real life; this is the same reason
these people wouldn’t line up to see films with alternate
titles for the same terms – “The Return of the Office”
and “Web Strikes Back.”
At this point you may have forgotten my initial
Product Lifecycle Management
premise – PLM 2.0 – and are busy daydreaming about
what a giant spider web would look like if it took over
a city or how your office cubicle would look wearing a
three-piece suit. What if I told you that your daydream
was illustrating my exact point? What if I could tell you
– and show you – that product lifecycle management
(PLM) is more than what you’ve been taught? PLM
isn’t just about streamlining the supply chain, keeping
information organized, or maintaining central reposi-
tories of data. PLM isn’t a mathematical process or a
formal set of algorithms, nor is it a lesson to be taught
or a skill to learn. It’s simply an idea.
October 2009 | www.SDCExec.com 14
 feature story
Where Humanity and Technology
Meet
PLM itself is broadly defined as the efforts and
processes involved in managing a product from
inception to end-of-life, encompassing design,
manufacturing and supply chain management
along the way. Though many people have defined
PLM 2.0 differently in the past year or so, it can
Customers have expressed
their desire to have real-time
collaboration capabilities at their
disposal 24 hours a day for an
affordable price. Vendors who sit
back and ignore this momentum
are bound to be left behind.
be best understood as PLM with an emphasis on
the collaboration between humans and technol-
ogy, while channeling the potential of 3D tools
and concepts to enable users to create a lifelike,
interactive experience. This is achieved by ap-
plying the concepts of advanced physics to 3D
models to make them move and function as they
would in reality.
What’s truly remarkable about PLM 2.0 is that
October 2009 | www.SDCExec.com 15
Your supply chain is changing.
it will prove to be truly revolutionary for engineers,
designers and really any type of user. Unlike other
REACH
particularly intricate technical processes, like finite
element analysis or mechatronics, the ideal audience
for PLM 2.0 solutions isn’t limited to those directly
involved in product modeling. Because PLM 2.0
is inherently similar to Web 2.0, it encompasses an
element of social networking that renders it acces-
sible to most people with a foundation in computer
science or architecture, even students.
The technology can link people of all kinds to-
gether in an interconnected world, by allowing users
to develop products collaboratively and by giving
them the power to merge their ideas on design, engi-
neering and manufacturing — no matter where they
are located in the world. People in China, Australia
and Germany can all work together on the same
design and seamlessly exchange information with No data. No market. Our insights. Seamless transition.
everyone in their supply chain, including partners,
outsourcers and compliance experts.
Implications for the Future
The magic of PLM 2.0 also extends to the con- Get the experts on your side.
sumer world. Any regular, non-technical consumer
Whether you realize it or not, your supply chain IHS is a leading provider of critical information and
with access to the Internet can view a variety of is changing. EU REACH regulation concerns the insights. We offer a unique approach to enable
3D simulations and images on a company’s Web Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and compliance, mitigate supply chain disruption, and
restriction of Chemicals. It’s not just a compliance address the fundamental reality that your partner
site and then provide feedback and insights to issue. REACH poses serious potential threat to relationships and their capabilities are vastly
the company. For example, say Company XYZ the unprepared when chemical transitions ripple different. Our proven ability to enable green
throughout industries. “No data. No market.” is the performance in areas such as RoHS, REACH,
manufactures umbrellas and is coming out with industry mantra, yet adequate data is not available Climate Change, and Total Chemical
as the supply chain prepares itself and Management helped us earn the SDCE 2008
requirements are designed to evolve. Green Supply Chain Award.
Contact IHS to prepare yourself: REACHinfo@IHS.com.
www.ihs.com/reach
 feature story
a new line of specially- shaped umbrellas
made of an experimental fabric. With access
to 3D models of the umbrella, along with
simulations of how it performs under dif-
ferent weather conditions, consumers can
About the Author:
Dr. Oleg Shilovitsky interact with the design, changing the quan-
tity of rain falling or the miles per hour of
Dr. Oleg Shilovitsky is the wind gusts. They can see how the sun would
chief technical officer
reflect off the umbrella and whether or not
at Dassault Systèmes
ENOVIA SmarTeam, where it would affect their view of the street. They
he oversees product could change the concentration of materials
planning, design and
used in the umbrella to make it lighter and
innovation. His blog, Daily
PLM Think Tank, can be easier to hold, then watch a simulated video
found at: of extreme conditions and determine which
of the two elements – comfort or strength –
www.plmtwine.com is more important to them.
Just imagine the difference that level of
user feedback could make in designing cut-
ting-edge products.
How often have you seen admirable com-
panies release questionable products that
fail to gain market traction because there’s
something about them that doesn’t quite
appeal to the average consumer? By allowing
consumers to interact with your products in
the design phase and make recommenda-
tions, they become part of the development
team – a marketplace of ideas that can be
used to your advantage. Unlike surveys or
questionnaires, 3D is visually appealing and
engaging. People don’t need to be enticed to
provide their opinions on design; they’ll do
so willingly and enthusiastically. PLM 2.0
can enable a lifelike experience for them —
and more importantly, an incredible level of
detailed product insight for you.
Another beneficiary of “social PLM” is
small businesses, which face significant chal-
lenges in product development and supply
chain management because of limitations
in personnel and restrictions of scale and
budget. The recession has especially exacer-
bated the disparity between small and large
manufacturers in terms of expenditures on
software solutions. With SMBs often lacking
the funds to purchase expensive product data
management solutions or to hire additional
designers and engineers, product develop-
ment can devolve into an overwhelming,
disorganized and inefficient process. PLM
2.0 will allow them a more affordable and
convenient solution: the ability to access
cutting-edge tools online and collaborate
with experts virtually.
Breaking down Barriers
Nonetheless, not all vendors will embrace
PLM 2.0 and its implications for an on-de-
October 2009 | www.SDCExec.com 16
mand software subscription model. Manufac-
turing is not a boutique industry; even a small
manufacturer or supplier deals with hundreds
of thousands of deliverables produced at regu-
lar intervals. Part of the reason that PLM has
been able to grow so rapidly is that vendors
have offered large-scale solutions capable of
addressing any foreseeable customer need. A
software -as -a -service (SaaS) model removes
that requirement. With PLM 2.0, customers
would ideally be able to subscribe to and use
only the specific elements of a solution that
they wanted.
PLM is at a crossroads in its evolution. The
two proverbial forks in the road are value and
cost. While once set aside as an unnecessary
luxury, most players in the manufacturing
industry have come to realize the value and
return on investment that PLM provides.
Conversely, they’ve also realized the expense.
There’s no doubt that PLM solutions can be
financially costly, but given the breadth of
functionality they provide and the propensity
for ROI, the cost is completely mitigated.
Unfortunately, not all companies view it as a
long-term investment. This creates a barrier
on the PLM road to success. In the current
economic situation, cost is the major driver
of adoption. Vendors who are able to lower
Product Lifecycle Management
the cost of their PLM solutions in some way,
while retaining value and quality, will domi-
nate the new era of product development.
Despite how scary this may seem to advo-
cates of traditional manufacturing principles
for product development, there’s no turning
back now. Customers have expressed their
desire to have real-time collaboration capa-
bilities at their disposal 24 hours a day for an
affordable price. Vendors who sit back and
ignore this momentum are bound to be left
behind. The recession has taught us that ro-
bust industries are never immune to changes
in consumer demand — and despite our
best intentions, we cannot sustain a market
by the quality of established products and
practices alone.
Embracing PLM 2.0 means having faith in
the intrinsic value of human interaction and
manipulation of stimuli. Creating a lifelike
3D simulation experience in which products
move, function and evolve exactly as they
would in reality; enabling every individual
on the supply chain (and beyond) to provide
input and interact with the product in its
formation; and leveraging PLM’s ability to
seamlessly automate processes throughout
the product lifecycle — this is the definition
of PLM 2.0. ■
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