The Year in Review: PLM/QMS and Everything Between

As we bid farewell to 2022, let’s take a moment to look back at key industry topics that were top of mind for our readers along with a few of Arena’s highlights and milestones.  Since the pandemic, supply chain disruption still tops the list. Many industries continue wrestling with inventory challenges, product availability, higher prices, labor shortages, political and industry mandates, or bracing for softer demand in some cases.

Throughout the year, Arena has helped customers solve a wide range of manufacturing, operations, and quality challenges aside from supply chain concerns. Arena business development reps (BDRs) (prospects’ first point of contact) took notice that companies are not only concerned about product lifecycle management (PLM) and quality management system (QMS) issues but also fearful of a recession—should they invest in technology now or wait?

Attention-getters

In addition to providing Arena customer support and educational resources on solving product development challenges, we publish an in-depth blog article every two weeks. Blogs cover a broad spectrum of industries and manufacturing issues/solutions from supply chain collaboration, PLM/QMS, industry compliance requirements, and manufacturing issues.

Ensuring resilient supply chains

This year’s most widely read blog, “Three Ways to Ensure Resilient Supply Chains” by George Lewis, VP of Corporate Strategy for Arena, delves into the cause and effect brought on by the pandemic and the systemic reaction felt across multiple industries from common household and raw goods to consumer electronics.

George offers customers three tips on how using Arena’s PLM can help teams collaborate more efficiently and prepare for future disruptions. If your company is wrestling with supply chain issues, using George’s three tips is a smart way to begin your restructuring supply chain journey.

The history of QMS

Quality management was another important topic that ranked high in readership, written by Shelly St. Hill, Arena’s senior writer. “History of the Quality Management System” explores the origins of QMS. The blog traces quality concepts back to medieval Europe and moves into new approaches during the 19^th century.

From post-war to quality management practices during the 1950s/1960s, to QMS in the digital era featuring cloud technology, Shelly illustrates how digital technology enables product-centric QMS solutions like Arena QMS to connect training records, CAPAs, and other quality records to the product design in a single system.

Product development for EV manufacturing

Our third most popular blog, “Overcoming Product Development Challenges in EV Manufacturing, ” also by Shelly, addresses the growth opportunities that lie ahead for electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers and the product development hurdles due to shorter driving ranges and low battery charging capacity.  With all the complexity, parts, and compliance requirements needed to build EVs, manufacturers need to look to an enterprise system like cloud-native PLM software to bring the entire product record into a centralized platform.

Cloud-native CAD connection milestone

In September, PTC announced, “Connecting Cloud-Native CAD, PDM, and PLM With One Button.” This new functionality connects cloud-native Onshape CAD and Arena’s PLM solutions to deliver a seamless experience for design and supply chain collaboration with the click of a button. The Onshape-Arena Connection also helps companies accelerate the product development process and simplify collaboration with supply chain partners.

Cloud-native applications are extremely attractive to companies where speed-to-market innovation, security, and quality are priorities. They allow teams to quickly scale up or down without all the costs and lead time to acquire IT infrastructure and new software installation.

Agility factor

With the Onshape-Arena Connection, companies can adopt an agile product development strategy to help minimize risks and respond rapidly to change throughout the new product development process. Many companies adopt cloud-native PLM and QMS solutions to facilitate real-time, frequent collaboration across internal teams and external partners. As a result, everyone remains on the same page and on schedule for completing important projects. Additionally, teams have better visibility and can act quickly when there are design flaws, part shortages, or other problems that affect the release of the final product.

What’s trending for Arena in 2023

Organizations must prioritize sustainability if they want to be relevant and competitive in today’s marketplace. Driving sustainability demands firms to reinvent every aspect of their business, much like digital transformation does.

More companies are focusing on developing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies, particularly those focused on product development. Companies need to make sure that sustainability requirements and regulations are incorporated into the design of their products while taking the whole carbon footprint of their sourced materials into account.

In 2023, Arena will continue to offer solutions that help product companies deliver on their ESG and other corporate initiatives. Enhancements to compliant component sourcing will help companies address design and manufacturing questions, including adherence to environmental regulations.

Helping manufacturers get products to market faster in the New Year

Start your New Year off right.  If you haven’t worked with Arena, now’s the time! Arena is ready to help you overcome economic impediments and become more efficient in optimizing product development, speeding up time to market, and reducing product issues, mistakes, and costs.