PLM future topics

Lots of potential: PLM in the cloud

More and more customers and system providers will rely on cloud PLM in the future. Integrated product lifecycle management offers a number of clear advantages - especially for the use of 3D data - and is also the basis for sustainable products.

If you want to develop a product sustainably, you have to know what materials the product is made of and what substances the individual components are composed of. Another decisive factor is what happens to the product over its entire lifecycle: what is the environmental balance of a product from development to disposal or scrapping? Through the integrated management of all components, PLM makes an essential contribution to sustainable products.

Myths surrounding Cloud PLM

Based on Intelliact's experience with existing implementations, some myths surrounding Cloud PLM can be refuted or put into perspective:

• Speed: Cloud PLM is not slow, but the system performance is comparable to the performance of on-premise installations - and this with less system complexity.
  Customisation: Customisation is certainly possible, but this requires good system know-how and an operations fee is charged.
• Security: Thanks to professionally maintained hosting environments, cloud installations tend to be even more secure than local ones.
• Costs: Cloud PLM is not cheap, but the costs of running the operating system are eliminated. In addition, specialized know-how is no longer needed in the own company, which also saves costs.
• Dependency: Dependencies are always present with large systems - with cloud solutions as well as with "on premise". Accordingly, a well-founded system and partner evaluation is important.

3D data increasingly important

The integrated use of 3D data will become increasingly important in the future, and new technology and digital process chains will make completely new applications possible. Many companies already use 3D data to create their production documents or in assembly processes. However, the use of 3D data also offers a lot of potential for other departments such as marketing, quality, or service. The prerequisite is always that the meta-information is made available in a suitable manner.

Three examples for the use of 3D data

One area of application is the configuration of complicated products in a webshop (for details see EAO Case Study). Here, back-end systems (PIM, PDM, CAD, and ERP) can be used with web applications to present information such as 3D geometries to users directly on the screen or via augmented reality app, which is not available from classic lists or web shops.

Another area that offers a lot of potential in the future is the monitoring of assembly processes via image recognition and matching with meta information from a PDM database. This makes direct feedback possible in order to accompany and control real assembly. Assembly processes can also be supported via augmented reality and image recognition - e.g. via the camera of a mobile phone. This will make the time-consuming work with paper instructions and documentation in maintenance and service processes much easier and more efficient in the future.

Another central topic for years has been drawing-free product generation, i.e. the complete mapping of information in a 3D model. With model-based engineering or model-based definition, all information is integrated into the 3D model and transmitted digitally. For example, this data can be interpreted and used directly in a 3D measuring system - time loss and misinterpretations due to multiple manual data entries are eliminated.

What information can be integrated into the 3D model?

Information such as texts, notes, references, setting and test dimensions, materials, tolerances, surface qualities, etc. are nowadays usually also mapped in PDM systems. This means that it is important to think carefully about what information you want to map and pass on in your own process chain. Today it is possible to use PMI information from the 3D model to directly control the software of the measuring machine and to set up the measuring programme with the dimensional, form and positional tolerances.

PLM Open Hour: PLM future topics

In our PLM Open Hour you got an overview of the trends in PLM and an insight into other exciting topics. Direct link to Slideshare and download (in German)

Or click through the presentation here (in German):