| 
- Identify the project champion
Product-data
management systems can provide benefits across an enterprise. But these are not
easily won. Putting in a PDM system, by its very nature, affects many different
departments and functions and this makes it a challenge. Most people are uncomfortable
with change so you will need to work hard to make a PDM a success. Understanding
your business needs careful planning and good communications and will reduce resistance
to change. Acquiring a PDM system should include the following steps: "It
must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful
of success, or more dangerous to manage, than the creation of a new system. For
the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the
old institutions and merely lukewarm defenders in those who would gain by the
new ones." Niccolo Machiavelli, circa 1513 ![[Go to top of page]](http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dti.gov.uk/graphics/up.gif)
Your
reasons for installing a PDM must be clear to all. Everyone must understand the
business problems you expect the PDM system to tackle. Further, you should:
- define what you expect the system to do,
- how you want to use that
functionality in your business,
- what impact it will have on your people
and organisation.
If you cannot define clearly how the PDM system will be used in your firm and
for what purpose, you will not be able to communicate your needs either to a potential
vendor or to the system's users. You must define a vision of its operation and
how you will determine the project's benefits. Without this, vendors will not
be able to propose a satisfactory solution. Neither can you expect the potential
users to share your enthusiasm.
A detailed
specification of requirements should be the foundation of your process of evaluating
and implementing systems. The requirements document defines your expectations
to users, to managers and to potential suppliers. It should be detailed enough
to allow you to evaluate a vendor's proposed system, but not so detailed as to
prevent several suppliers from responding, or locking you into a particular product.
Most large-scale PDM systems involve more than one company supplying elements
of the total solution. The requirements specification should include: - Functions
- System architecture
- Standards
- Operating environment
- Interfaces
and integration of application and legacy systems
- Administrative tools
and utilities
- Data management issues
- User community
Once
you have defined your need for a PDM system, map the functions to these needs
and define how you expect these functions to be used in your business, by your
staff.
Implementing
a PDM system requires an investment not only in money but in time spent educating
people. Managers will want to know what they will be getting for their investment,
and when. Different levels of management will want different forms of justification,
such as benefits analysis or return on investment. The process of justification
should define the start of the business at present. Justification for the PDM
system should establish the project goals - functional, cultural and financial.
You should quantify the expected benefits in terms of their impact, how each will
be measured, what will be considered good, and the long-term goal. These justifications
must be built on expected benefits that mean something to your management. The
pertinent benefits vary by company and product. Review them with your board sponsor
to ensure that the benefits you plan to measure are those that the board believes
in, too.
First, ensure
that both product and vendor "fit". Examine the supplier's approach to delivering
the proposed solution. This will help you learn if the supplier understands your
business and problems: - Does their proposal meet your schedule for both
time and functionality? Are there any items they cannot address in the short term,
and which they propose to work around for tackling later?
- What is the overall
cost of the proposed package?
- What kind of relationship are they proposing?
PDM systems become part of your corporate culture and you need a responsive, flexible
partner, not a vendor who sets up the system and disappears.
The first
stage is to work out the true cost of buying, installing and operating a PDM system.
The calculation will include many cost elements, each of which may have internal
as well as external costs. For example in the case of software, the external cost
is the price of the program, the internal cost is time spend on learning to use
it. Be sure to include all components in your justification. Some cost-elements
will happen only once, for example tailoring user-interfaces to the firm's standard.
Others, for example maintenance cost and licence fees, will occur throughout the
system's life. Costs will be incurred early in the project and benefits will
come later. Direct savings will come from time saved carrying out the PDM's functions.
Additional savings will come from reducing the numbers of engineering changes,
shorter design cycles, earlier market entry and improved quality of products.
Both the justification and the overall analysis of the cost of ownership should
be based on the benefits that are measured. This provides quantifiable returns
that are relevant to your business and management.
Implementation is
the real test of your planning and preparation. How quickly you are in production,
the acceptance of the system and the type and size of the benefits depend on your
implementation strategy. Almost all successful implementations have followed these
guidelines for best practice: - Develop a plan of the complete project
- Establish reasonable goals
- Do not change the scope
- Involve end-users
- Use pilots to test each area of implementation
- Implement large projects
in small, orderly phases
- Establish meaningful and practical parameters
to measure
- Do not expect or promise miracles
- Seek and obtain the
support of senior managers
Define how each
expected benefit is to be measured and quantified: what is good, what is industry-standard,
what is world-class. You must establish a base-line for comparison so you can
track changes to performance. In many cases, companies do not have this baseline
as a starting point, which becomes an excuse for not collecting appropriate data.
If you are in this position, start collecting that information immediately. While
you may be unable to compare changes directly with old methods, you can track
changes and improvements under the new system. When establishing what qualities
to measure, consider the whole business, not just one function. You will need
to gather long-term metrics such as the time taken to introduce new products.
When choosing items to measure, the following guidelines are useful: - Reflect
performance measurements positively
- Choose a metric oriented to your customers
- Use few - say five to seven - but well-understood metrics
- Tie the metrics
directly to your organisation's strategic goals
| 
