A CASE STUDY ON

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT

SUBJECT: DESIGN FOR MANUFACTURE, ASSEMBLY AND ENVIRONMENTS

MASTERS OF TECHNOLOGY SEMISTER -1

In

PRODUCT DESIGN

BY

JAYA KRISHNA VIPPALAPALLI 20751D8001

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

(2021-2023)

SREENIVASA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

STUDIES, CHITTOOR-517127, A.P.
(Autonomous – NAAC&NBA Accredited)
(Approved by AICTE, New Delhi & Permanently Affiliated to JNTUA,
Ananthapuramu)
 A Case Study on Product Lifecycle Management

Abstract — This paper explores the role of Product Life-cycle Management (PLM)
systems in industry by evaluating their impact on business process improvement. In
addition, future trends of these systems are also analyzed. A literature review and three
case studies are used to answer specific research hypothesis, reflecting the suitability of
qualitative research methods in this field. The case studies employed detailed
questionnaires to support the literature review. Research findings indicate a strong
correlation between PLM systems implementation and business process improvement.
This is identified as a clear benefit for their deployment in engineering/manufacturing
companies.

INTRODUCTION

The Indian Commission online magazine has established beyond doubt that
manufacturing industry in the Indian and occidental countries is facing increasing
pressure due to competition from low-cost countries such as China, where its recent fast
adoption of new technologies contrasts markedly with its previous image as a low quality
product manufacturer [1]. “The China Price” is an expression, which strikes fear into
many Indian manufacturers [2]. In the future, it will be essential to get a competitive price,
often requiring innovation in the manufacture of their products. The occidental
manufacturing industrial companies are trying to improve their business processes to
produce more within less time and with high quality. The objective is to remain
competitive by decreasing their price, producing more with less waste. Fortunately, they
are finding many different ways to achieve this benefit and process improvement through
the deployment of PLM systems is an increasingly significant initiative being pursued by a
range of engineering companies [3].

I. PRODUCT LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems evolved from earlier Product Data
Management (PDM) systems [4]. Now PDM can be seen as a subset of a PLM. In
the1980s, engineers had recognized the need to manage the increasing volumes of
design data produced by, and contained in, a range of automated and semi-automated
systems, such as Computer Aided Design (CAD) files, specifications and requirement
documents, Computer Aided Manufacture (CAM) programs, and Computer Aided
Engineering (CAE) analysis. PDM allowed them to store and control all product data,
manage document issue levels, maintain Bill of Materials (BOM) and immediately
visualize the relationship between parts and assemblies [5].

However, being able to manage the data alone was not enough. There was the clear
need to manage the entire product lifecycle, of which product development is just a part.
According to reference [4] a product lifecycle can be divided into 5 stages: imagine,
define, realize, use/support and retire. The first three stages are part of product
development but engineers needed a more comprehensive system to support both
product development and the full product lifecycle [6]. PLM can be defined as a general
plan of the product lifecycle in a particular business or product area. It is a compilation of
business rules, methods, processes and guidelines as well as instructions on how to
apply the rules in practice [5]. The PLM concept encompasses several systems.
Reference [3] describes change management, document management, workflow
management and project management as PLM systems that support concurrent
engineering and streamlined product development processes. PLM seeks to extend the
reach of PDM beyond design and manufacturing into other areas like marketing, sales
and after sales service, and at the same time addresses all the stakeholders of the
product throughout its lifecycle.

PLM extends PDM functionalities to include the creation of product definition information as
well as the management and control of such information. Looking at this another way, PDM
is focused on the management of data created by information authoring tools, whereas
PLM also includes

Fig. 1. Product Lifecycle Management subsystems and which business levels each one
sits.

the authoring tools themselves. PLM seeks to fill the gap between enterprise business
processes and product development processes [3]. Fig. 1 gives a summary of PLM sub-
systems.
 II. METHODOLOGY
PLM systems vendors claim that this technology can improve the whole product
lifecycle, including new product development and change to existing products. This paper
answers 3 research questions:
 Can PLM systems deliver business process improvement?
 What are the real benefits of a PLM implementation?
 Is the integration between PLM, CAD and CAM systems with Computer Numerical
Controls (CNCs) and Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMMs) a growing trend in
manufacturing industry?
A. Research Method
Reference [7] highlights that qualitative and inductive research can be done in different
ways encompassing case studies, grounded theory, and ethnography, for example.
Reference [8] also agrees that case studies are likely to be used as part of an inductive
research approach. Reference
[9] defines case study research as a “detailed investigation … of one or more
organizations, or groups within organizations, with a view to providing an analysis of the
context and processes involved in the phenomenon under study”.
The research method employed here is based on a number of case studies of PLM
systems in industry. A multiple-case design consists of a diverse range of organizations,
which can increase the validity of generalizations [10]. Beside, Reference [11] suggests
that a single case study is vulnerable, and there may be substantial analytical benefits of
having multiple case studies.
The evaluation of results was done comparing relationships between evidence from
case studies. This was analyzed in conjunction with the findings of an extensive literature
review, allowing empirical generalizations and a series of clear statements to be
developed [8].

B. Data Collection Methods

There are several ways to collect qualitative data that have a multiple-case study
research framework. Examples include questionnaires, interviews and observation [7] [8].
After carefully analyzing data collection methods, questionnaire was selected for data
collection. Observation was deemed unsuitable due to the nature of the research
questions. It is not possible to observe the past and current impacts of the deployment of
a PLM by visiting organizations. Although future impacts could be observed, it would
require spending significant time within each organization; therefore this was considered
inappropriate.

C. Case Study Selections

13 companies were identified as being potential case studies. After collating and
 analyzing responses to an initial pre-questionnaire enquiry, the three most complete case
studies were selected to participate in the research. Few of the others had enough data
to support the
research analysis.
Following the selection of appropriate organizations, a member of staff was identified
within each organization and asked to participate in the study. ‘The suitable subject’ was
deemed to be a person who had a comprehensive knowledge of the business, and who
would be in a position to identify the impacts that the PLM deployment had had on the
organization and its business processes. Reference [12] suggests that subjects must be
in a position to generalize about business behavior. Only employees at the level of
manager or higher were considered for participation in the study.

III. FINDINGS

A. The Company Case Studies

All three case studies were based on business units categorized as large-size (251-
1000 employees) or very large- size organization (More than 1000 employees). These
three companies had more than one strategic business unit (SBU) or branch. According
to their websites, two of the companies are considered as group companies with divisions
or SBUs operating across the world. The case studies were based in three different
countries - the Indian, the United States and Brazil. The three case studies showed that
the companies concerned had a good understanding of their basic business processes.
All of them plan their product development before manufacturing it, which shows an
appreciation of time to market and product quality issues.

B. PLM in the Company Environment

Different kinds of PLM systems were used in the three case studies, with different
features in their business environments. The first company has a commercial stand-alone
version of software; the second uses a customized concurrent integrated version. Finally,
the third company is different again, deploying a system that has been somewhat
customized to their requirements. The number of licenses, quantity of PLM users and
time span since implementation were also different in each case study. This helps in the
validation of hypotheses because if they can be proved in these different environments,
they will probably be valid in similar environments. The results also reveal that just two
main functions of PLM were found in all three case studies: the deployment of a data
vault and the use of embedded CAD. A vault is a safe place for storage of electronic
information (files and metadata). Vaults are used to control and secure information
regarding version handling and access control. It manages the access of those
documents [14].
 In addition, a vital part of the management of formal product data is to integrate the data-
generating applications that are the most important ones in the product development
process. Applications with a one-to-one relation between application file and "print"
document, which is the case for typical word processors and low-end and primarily
drawings- based CAD systems, are preferably tightly integrated with the PLM system.
Application files should be treated as original data and thus adequately vaulted [13].

Having the CAD integrated with the PLM means that all product information, including
customer specification and requirements, can be stored within the data vault. This can
easily be accessed using just one source rather than opening many computer programs
or getting hard copies to work in front of the computer. Reference [15] supports this
integration when the author says, “The users of application programs are of course much
more interested in real objects such as products and parts, than in the structure and
format of data in files. Very often though, the information on the products is only available
after wading through and understanding many sets of files. Again, this represents a waste
of time. 'Bridges' need to be built so that information can be moved from one Island to
another e.g., part specifications and engineering changes must be transferred from the
CAD Island to the ERP and PLM Islands. Bridges often need to be company-specific, and
are time- consuming to build and maintain. Even when the bridges are in place, it will
often be found that the information needs additional conversion, interpretation and
synchronization”.

Another six PLM main functions were used in two of the three case studies. They were
configuration management, product workflow definition, workflow control, revision and
version control process, CAD embedded and CAM embedded. In addition, one company
have change management functionality and another, which has the most complete PLM
system, contains within their PLM lessons learned, bill of materials,
CAE embeddedand communication/notification. In all three case studies, the design and
production engineering departments shared the experience of use of the PLM. One
company deploys the system across different departments including purchasing,
production planning, quality and shop floor. It means that possibly the information flows
on a process using a single or most likely few systems helps on productivity and
generates a more organized business environment [16].

C. Business Process Improvements

The case study analyses showed the following:

 “Increased transparency and better information flow” was ranked in first place as an
 impact after deploying a PLM system.
 “Higher reliability” was strongly supported as a result of PLM system implementation.
 “shorter cycle time” and “shorter implementation time” were also strongly supported as
outcomes of PLM systems implementation
 “Increased organizational flexibility”, “improvement of organizational structure”, “positive
impact on business strategy” and “better application of management style” were supported
as outcomes in the majority of question responses across the three cases.

The results suggest there is a correlation between PLM functionalities and the
characteristics of process improvement.
No negative impacts on business processes were detected after PLM implementation
and, surprisingly, relatively little up-front investigation was necessary to implement these
new systems successfully. Positive results of PLM implementation included speeding up
many processes and one company specifically cited some processes that they’d
improved. At one of the other companies, PLM resulted in discussions about how to
control better their artifacts and their internal processes. They stressed the positive
opportunity that the new PLM systems represented for achieving improvement in other
functions. Another of the three companies commented that “the PLM has been deployed
worldwide to improve and accelerate the Company's product lifecycle.”
The only negatives concerned “Improved innovation capabilities” and “Increased know
how” neither of which received majority support as outcomes.

D. PLM and Machines Integration Analysis

In past years integration between CAD and CAM systems usually meant buying the
same brand of CAD and CAM products. These products typically provide data, interface
and application integration. Given the problems of integrating CAD and CAM products
from different suppliers, no mixing and matching of products were generally pursued if the
user wanted to retain the advantages of full integration [17].
One feature of some PLM systems is that they provide industry standard manufacturing
features to intermediate CAD file formats, that enable the controlling devices on
manufacturing machines to read these features more efficiently with Numerical Controlled
machines and dynamic re-planning. In essence, one sends a CAD file directly to a
controller, bypassing the NC programming function.

The questionnaire analyses revealed that two out of three case studies already had a
CAD and a CAM integrated to the PLM. This, combined with the results of the literature
review, support the third research question, suggesting that there is a trend of integration
between PLM systems and machines such as CNCs and CMMs.

In addition, one company reported that they have included in their PLM system a
 module that associates the product components with required tools for manufacture and
within these tools, CNC tares are stored. In this way, the information needed by the shop
floor can easily be retrieved so that tooling can be stored in an organized way.

Two of the companies did not have any integration between PLM systems and machines
but they recognized that it would be useful to have.

IV. CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the three case studies support the view that PLM systems
implementation brings a relative improvement in business processes. The improvement
was mainly evident in processes used by departments and functions that directly used
the new systems. Results strongly suggest that PLM systems adoption has a positive
impact on business processes within industry.
Reference [13] asserted that an analysis of business processes needed to be done
before implementing a PLM system. The results of the study showed that none of the
companies analyzed did any significant business process analysis before implementing
the PLM system. However, in all case studies, some process improvement was achieved
by just deploying the system, which challenged the suggestion contained in reference
[13]. However their study was conducted a decade ago when the impact on the market of
PLM systems was more limited due to restricted nature of PLM functionalities at that time.

The questionnaire, interviews and observations that were at the heart of this study
confirmed that improvements were delivered in the three case studies by PLM
implementation in a number of activities, including:

 increased transparency and better information- flow

 shorter cycle times
 increased organizational flexibility
 increased customer satisfaction
 shorter implementation time
 improved innovation capabilities
Overall, the product life-cycle was better managed and many core business processes were
improved after the implementation of PLM systems.

A trend of integration between PLM solutions and shop floor machines was also
revealed in this study. The results revealed that some case studies had already CAD and
CAM integrated to their PLM solution. The purpose of CAM is to generate a standard
code that is amended by the machine’s post-processors before being used in the
machine. Therefore, a process can be followed just using the PLM system. It can store all
customer requirements and any internal documentation, with CAD embedded it helps to
produced 3D modules which can be used by the CAM embedded to produce the
 standard codes. Those codes are used by the machine’s specific post-processors and
finally downloaded to the machine. This supports the view that there is a trend of
integration between PLM systems and machines such as CNCs and CMMs.

In addition, another kind of integration was found. A module of a PLM that associates
product components with required tools for manufacture and within these tools, CNC
tares are stored. It means that information needed by the shop floor can be retrieved
using this module and probably other modules of a PLM solution. It is also worth noting
that software developers and engineers are still striving to integrate CAD in a faster and
better way with machines. Reference [18] was studying the possibility of cutting out some
steps in the process, integrating the CAD modules directly with machines. It would
possibly remove the CAM altogether from the process and perhaps the post-processor
steps as well.

In summary, the following statements have been developed in response to the research
questions:
 1: PLM systems adoption has a large positive impact on business processes within
industry
 2: The impact of PLM adoption is mainly on New Product Development and changes on
existing products but it can also have an influence on other processes in the product
lifecycle
 3: Integration between PLM systems and machines (for example CNCs and CMMs) is
now a standard feature of these systems albeit via an indirect process linking product
specification to machine code.

Overall, a better understanding of the role of PLM systems in industry was achieved
showing that these systems will allow an engineering based company to be more
competitive in today’s market. The deployment of PLM is one way to achieve process
improvement and their integration with machines accelerates time to market, reduces the
risk associated with human error thereby improving product quality.

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