Building a Case for CPQ Operating on PLM

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Building a Case for CPQ Operating on PLM

No Other Platform Provides the Needed Single-Source-of-Truth like PLM.  CPQ draws on a wide variety of data and is critically process dependent.  If ever there were applications that could use “single source of truth,” it is CPQ.  But, for many companies, spreadsheets, file folders, email exchanges and various home grown and internally maintained applications are their “CPQ-lite.”  On top of all of this, the “change train” keeps barreling along.  Data is never static.  Change does not stop.  Time-outs don’t exist.  And, undoubtedly, the “intervention cycles” will be high and unsustainable.  Let’s recall the presentation from an earlier issue as a step toward making the case...

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How Do You Get Senior Management Buy-in

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How Do You Get Senior Management Buy-in

PLM inherently touches multiple departments and areas of responsibility.  It can start at sales, but at a minimum will involve engineering, planning, production and segments of manufacturing.  If your responsibilities are in engineering, then getting other departments to buy-in can be challenging.  Executive sponsorship cuts across these boundaries.  So, the real question is “how do I get the bosses to buy-in?”  The short answer is, in part, by identifying the business values at the P&L level.  PLM values can be tied to one or all of three areas on the P&L: revenues, cost of goods sold (CoGs) and overhead.  Thus, doing more for less will most likely be found in CoGs and overhead.

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Developing Workflow Components in Aras

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Developing Workflow Components in Aras

By Ben Desmarais, vdR Group Senior Implementation Manager

I’ve been doing PLM solutions for nearly two decades now.  Crafting workflow solutions are essential for most any implementation effort.  I was recently involved in designing and configuring workflow processes for a project, and a couple of things occurred that prompted me to want to share some thoughts.

First, lifecycle stages go hand-in-hand with workflows.  Think of workflows as moving a collection of items through a process.  As an item moves through the process, it is likely to change states.  For example, if an item is being changed, then once a change process is activated for that item, the lifecycle state might be assigned to “work-in-process” or WIP...

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Self-Serve Reporting Module

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Self-Serve Reporting Module

An Interview with Lopa Subramanian, Aras Product Manager

Martin: Before we start, give us a quick background of your experience and what you are responsible for today.

Lopa: I’m a mechanical engineer by education, and I have been in PLM and the enterprise software space for my whole career.  I started in services with SDRC Metaphase and then moved to Aspect Development/i2 in their supplier relationship management area. I gained great experience in both services and presales working with utility companies, high-tech, apparel, retail, industrial and the auto industry.  Prior to joining Aras, I spent a number of years at Siemens PLM working with Teamcenter. 

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