Product development is a long road for a company in the manufacturing sector. The first step is often the concept and design of a product. But the market launch is not the end of this road. That’s because sustainability is an important keyword for industrial production and means that companies need to keep track of their products even after they have been sold – to recycle, dispose of, or refurbish them. Maintenance and servicing are, however, also increasingly becoming the main business model for manufacturing companies. Companies therefore need applications to develop, manufacture, distribute, and provide long-term support for the product using digital tools.
The first step is a conceptual drawing or a model using computer-aided design (CAD). The corresponding software is far more than just a digital drawing tool. CAD is an important pillar in modern product development that includes visualization, simulation and analysis.
Manufacturing is an important stage in the product lifecycle. PLM systems do not cover this task since it requires a process-oriented solution for enterprise resource planning (ERP). This software helps to integrate and manage all the key business processes, from procurement and production to sales and beyond.
One or more of these software solutions can be found at most companies. The minimum requirement is an ERP system, which companies these days can barely do without. It plays a central role in business success and is a data hub that communicates with all the other systems in a company. Modern ERP systems incorporate a variety of functions such as finance, human resources, procurement, sales, marketing and more into a single, comprehensive platform.
These systems are already integrated and allow companies to share and analyze data in real time, thus linking a key area of the product lifecycle with all the other specialist departments at the company. An ERP contains information about resources, materials and capacities in a company, making it easier to plan production processes.
At many companies, PDM and PLM have the status of flanking applications that support ERP. This primarily concerns parts lists, which can be used to manage the composition of the different product generations. Efforts to achieve greater sustainability have ensured that the product lifecycle has been extended to the downstream post-sale phase. In addition, CPQ systems supplement the ERP at many companies. The abbreviation stands for “Configure Price Quote” and refers to software solutions that support the sales department in bid preparation. They do so by accessing data from ERP, PDM and PLM.
The solutions briefly presented here are individual elements in the complex process chain that is crucial for a manufacturing company. For efficient product development and smooth collaboration, these systems must be integrated with each other. This is where an integration platform such as the “Revalize Integration Hub” can help. Its key feature is that it has thousands of ready-to-use connectors and workflows for well-known ERP and CRM solutions. Companies thus save time during integration since they can connect most of the applications directly. The workflows also help automate processes.
One challenge for the entire manufacturing process and lifecycle of a product is providing everyone involved with the right information at the right time. Thanks to the integration platform, companies can better streamline production and share knowledge throughout the company in real time. The transparent data flow alone increases productivity considerably. Developing a product normally entails several iterations of phases such as brainstorming, design and production. This generates volumes of data that must be moved to the individual steps in the lifecycle.
The PLM system covers a large part of the data transfer, but the ERP system also constantly requires up-to-date information. In addition, the product lifecycle extends beyond production, for example, into sales and marketing. This is where CRM systems come in and use the current data for automated marketing campaigns.
