Supply Chain Management: Boosting Transparency With Cloud PLM
Despite our transition to a post-pandemic era, the global supply chain is still fragile. Labor shortages, natural disasters, regional conflicts, and other supply chain disruptions continue to pose barriers to new product development and introduction (NPDI).
According to a recent manufacturing report1, optimizing supply chain management and minimizing risks are top priorities for companies in 2024. This is primarily fueled by:
- Inability to quickly source high-quality materials for low-volume builds
- Extended production times stemming from slow feedback loops with manufacturing partners
- Poor cross-functional visibility into projects
We recently caught up with Arena Vice President of Product Management, Kraig Clark, to gain his perspective on supply chain management and the role that digital technologies like cloud product lifecycle management (PLM) play in helping companies succeed.
WHAT IS SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AND WHY IS IT SO CRITICAL IN TODAY’S ENVIRONMENT?
Kraig: Supply chain management is the coordination of sourcing, procurement, production, and logistics throughout a product’s lifecycle.
It is a critical aspect of product development, as manufacturing companies rely on various suppliers and contract manufacturers (CMs) worldwide to assemble their products. Supply chain partners support manufacturing activities from limited prototype runs to high-volume production. Knowing your suppliers, their capabilities, and approval status is essential to meeting your quality, cost, and delivery targets in today’s dynamic and regulated environment.
WHAT ROLE DOES CLOUD PLM PLAY IN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT?
Kraig: Cloud PLM connects with enterprise resource planning (ERP) or manufacturing execution systems (MES). It is the single source of the entire product record, including approved suppliers, documentation, and components. Companies typically manage their approved vendor and supplier lists (i.e., AVLs, ASLs) as part of the product record in Cloud PLM. Manufacturing and design engineers reference these lists to determine which suppliers are suitable for new and mass-produced products. The information is pushed downstream to ERP and MES so operations and purchasing teams have the product specifications to buy the physical goods. With access to these records, they know exactly what suppliers and components are approved for the product that is being built.
HIGHLIGHT SOME OF THE UNIQUE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT CAPABILITIES IN ARENA PLM. WHAT IS THE MOST EXCITING CAPABILITY FROM YOUR STANDPOINT?
Kraig: Arena allows you to control which users can create, edit, and manage suppliers within the system. Once users are set up in Arena, they can manage the supplier lifecycle or status. “Approved,” “Disapproved,” and “Unrated” are examples of information that can be assigned to the supplier status.
The supplier status functionality gives you a clear snapshot of your suppliers across all your product lines. You can easily assess:
- Which suppliers are being used for different product assemblies or bills of materials (BOMs)
- What components are being sourced from different suppliers
- Which products are associated with a particular supplier
Managing suppliers at this granular level creates greater transparency and visibility for your product teams. Plus, information is easier to find in Arena as compared to traditional spreadsheets or shared drives.
The most unique capability and key differentiator for Arena is supply chain collaboration. Supply chain collaborators from outside your organization can be invited into Arena to view information and participate in product development activities. These individuals only see the information that is made available to their organization. For instance, if a single subassembly, like a PCB, is shared with a supplier, then their employees will be restricted to seeing just that subassembly in Arena.
With secure and controlled access to Arena, supply chain users participate in critical processes such as product specification creation, bill of materials (BOM) assessments, corrective and preventive actions (CAPAs), and engineering change reviews. Bringing suppliers into the loop early on gives them visibility into changes that impact production. Furthermore, they can help troubleshoot issues and offer invaluable insights to optimize design for manufacturability (DFM).
In essence, Arena keeps your internal teams and supply chain partners connected throughout every stage of the product lifecycle, from the early-stage napkin sketch to end of life. This approach leads to enhanced product quality and cost-effectiveness.
WHAT WERE THE KEY DRIVERS BEHIND THE ADDITION OF THE NEW CUSTOM SUPPLIER STATUS FEATURE IN ARENA’S LATEST PLM AND QMS SOFTWARE RELEASE?
Kraig: We received feedback from several customers who wanted the ability to create supplier statuses that mirror their unique business processes.
Arena’s custom supplier status feature enables you to create distinct subcategories. For example, under the “Approved” status, you can designate categories such as “Approved for Prototyping,” “Approved for Production in China,” or “Approved for Global Production.” Similarly, under the “Unrated” status, you can build categories like “In the Qualification Process” or “Pending Approval.”
The different status values are color coded and easily searchable, providing a quick and clear indicator of your approved suppliers and their specific authorizations.
WHICH PRODUCT TEAMS ARE MOST IMPACTED BY THIS ENHANCEMENT?
Kraig: The operations team, specifically those involved in selecting contract manufacturers or purchasing components, will leverage the supplier status functionality. Design engineers will also find it a valuable tool in helping them identify various suppliers for prototyping.
HOW WILL ARENA CUSTOMERS BENEFIT FROM USING THE SYSTEM’S UNIQUE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT CAPABILITIES?
Kraig: The ability to quickly access supplier information and gain a transparent view of their status will save our customers considerable time and speed product launches. Additionally, it empowers customers to choose suppliers and vendors that align with their cost constraints. Lastly, proactive engagement with suppliers throughout the entire product development process will mitigate quality issues.
WHAT FEEDBACK HAVE YOU RECEIVED FROM CUSTOMERS SINCE THE RELEASE OF ARENA CUSTOM SUPPLIER STATUS?
Kraig: We’ve received positive feedback from several customers since releasing the custom supplier status feature. They have quickly embraced the new functionality, praising its flexibility and ease of use.
WHAT IS THE FUTURE OUTLOOK FOR ARENA WHEN IT COMES TO SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT?
Kraig: We’ve already established a strong foundation for supply chain collaboration, which remains a key competitive advantage for Arena. Looking ahead, our team will continue to expand Arena’s supply chain management capabilities to meet customers’ growing needs.
To this end, we actively seek feedback from our customers to help inform future Arena enhancements. By engaging with customers, we keep a pulse on what matters to them most.
EXPLORE ADDITIONAL PLM AND QMS INNOVATIONS FROM ARENA
Arena’s latest software release included many more features and enhancements, including a refreshed Homepage, updated Analytics, Watermarking, expanded process Automations, an optimized 3D Viewer, and more API calls.
For a full overview of our latest PLM and QMS software release, customers can visit our Tour Doc in Help, watch the recording of the Sneak Peek, or consult with your Arena Coach.
Not an Arena customer? Schedule a demo to learn more.
References
Shelly St.Hill