Why PLM Has CFOs Seeing Dollar $igns

Here’s a business riddle for MBA grads: What solution helped a lighting manufacturer reduce engineering change order (ECO) cycle times by 75%, a networking company improve ECO cycle times by 70%, and a digital processing business accelerate time to market by 20%?

The answer?

Product lifecycle management (PLM) software.

While the executives of the aforementioned companies knew the answer to that question, many manufacturing business leaders, especially CFOs, remain unaware of the profound financial benefits of PLM.

For years, a Product Lifecycle Management solution has been seen as a solution that makes the lives of engineering and operations teams easier. But more strategically minded CFOs now see PLM as a solution to maximize business results. In fact, many C-level executives are finding greater financial and business value in their PLM solution than even in their ERP systems.

A recent Gartner report reflected a growing consensus among manufacturing analysts that the business impact of PLM may soon surpass that of ERP. “In addition to PLM’s inherent value, PLM decisions have strong influence on the business model and benefits that can be realized by ERP, Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications in downstream business processes; in that sense, PLM is the most fundamental business application in manufacturing.”

Arena’ whitepaper explains the return on investment for Arena PLM and QMS solutions. While each industry has its own set of pain points, when it comes to product development there is a myriad of ways to achieve a strong ROI, including reduced engineering change order (ECO) cycle times, lower direct materials costs, and improved product quality. Our research was derived from a combination of proprietary analytics and industry leaders (and Arena customers), including Philips, Ruckus Wireless and Pixel Velocity.