Best Practices for Cloud PLM Implementation

When it comes to product development, organizations face a wrath of challenges from market uncertainty, evolving customer needs, and time to market pressures, to resource constraints.

With the advent of digital transformation, businesses are utilizing the latest technologies like product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions to help them manage complexity and work with better efficiency throughout their organization.

Cloud PLM provides a scalable, adaptable solution that capitalizes on the cloud environment to optimize processes, manage information, facilitate collaboration, and minimize errors and costly rework. Recent data reports show a significant rise in cloud usage yearly. To date, 94% of major companies worldwide utilize cloud computing in their operations.¹

Organizations implementing Cloud PLM solutions are having success in creating an implementation plan and securing buy-in from all stakeholders. A well-structured plan is important as it ensures everyone across the organization understands the purpose of the new system and how it aligns with the business goals and objectives.

Key Reasons for Creating a PLM Implementation Plan:

• Define clear objectives and goals: Setting clear objectives for the PLM implementation allows the team to focus on achieving specific outcomes and measure success accurately.
• Secure cross-functional collaboration: Involve key stakeholders from different departments (design, engineering, manufacturing, sales, etc.) early on. The plan can address their specific needs and ensure everyone is aligned with the new system.
• Reduce resistance to change: Gaining buy-in from teams mitigates resistance to adopting the new software, making the transition smoother and increasing user adoption rates.

Prior to implementing a Cloud PLM solution, businesses must evaluate their unique requirements and establish some common operational goals and attainable objectives. The pre-implementation phase should involve key stakeholders. This ensures the PLM solution is in accordance with the overarching business strategy and effectively addresses the appropriate obstacles. Plus, it helps identify which processes need to be more formalized and which ones can be addressed later. Establishing clear objectives and goals allows teams to measure the success of the PLM implementation process and the success of the new PLM processes and/or systems.

Key Stages of Implementation:

Project Management
A successful Cloud PLM implementation requires effective project management. Select the project team, including members from various departments to collect input and feedback from all business perspectives. Reviewing processes ahead of time helps for a faster, smoother implementation.

The project manager is essential in ensuring the implementation aligns with the business objectives, budgetary requirements, and scheduling. Knowing what gets done, who does it, and who is impacted is an important part of the PLM implementation process, both in the planning stage and the buy-in stage.

Data Migration
Data migration is a critical part of a PLM implementation. It requires thorough planning to guarantee data integrity and security.

Strategies include:

• Thorough information assessment

• Information cleansing

• Establishing compatibility requirements

• Validating migrated information

• Backup strategy, and more

In addition, if existing bills of materials (BOMs) and information are managed in spreadsheets, allow time to review files and decide what information needs to be migrated or not, and whether any information being migrated is accurate and current. With everyone in the organization on the same page, the likelihood of information inconsistencies and errors is reduced, leading to better decision-making based on accurate information.

Systems Integrations
Another implementation consideration is—integrating your PLM system with existing upstream and downstream systems. System integration can help you increase performance and reduce complexity while maximizing your existing operations.

By connecting PLM with systems like enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and computer-aided design (CAD), organizations can automate processes, streamline operations, and make informed decisions based on real-time data.

Consider the integration options provided by the Cloud PLM platform and their partner ecosystem to ensure you can easily integrate with your existing systems when ready. This will allow for the creation of unified workflows across your systems, which enhances collaboration and reduces errors caused by manual data entry.

Training and Assistance
The effectiveness of the PLM solution across the organization depends on comprehensive user support and training. Customized training programs and ongoing support can maximize the system’s utility and adoption. Getting users access to training material early in the PLM implementation process will help maintain momentum and contribute to better results.

User Adoption Techniques
User adoption is one of the most significant obstacles to the successful implementation of new technology. Efforts to promote adoption include early team involvement in the implementation process, providing sufficient training, and transparent communication of the benefits and modifications that the PLM solution brings. Recognizing end-user concerns and addressing team resistance through supportive leadership can also help to facilitate a smoother adoption.

Quality Assurance and Testing
Before going live, it’s important to conduct testing to guarantee that the Cloud PLM system functions as anticipated. To identify any potential issues at an early stage, quality assurance processes should incorporate both functional and user acceptance testing. This phase facilitates the confirmation of the system’s ability to meet all specified requirements and real-world operational demands.

Go-Live Strategy
Any PLM deployment has a critical period during the go-live stage. A pilot implementation is often helpful as it tests the PLM system with a small group of users to identify potential issues before full deployment. Teams should consider a thorough checklist and a support system as part of preparation to handle problems when they come up. Post-go-live support is equally important in ensuring that the system runs smoothly, and users get the assistance they need during the transition.

Unlike traditional on-premises PLM solutions, which take longer to deploy, cloud-native solutions deliver a shorter time to value (TTV), often in days or weeks. And as your company grows, a cloud-native PLM solution can scale to support future expansion.