Building a Case for CPQ Operating on PLM

/
Building a Case for CPQ Operating on PLM

No Other Platform Provides the Needed Single-Source-of-Truth like PLM.  CPQ draws on a wide variety of data and is critically process dependent.  If ever there were applications that could use “single source of truth,” it is CPQ.  But, for many companies, spreadsheets, file folders, email exchanges and various home grown and internally maintained applications are their “CPQ-lite.”  On top of all of this, the “change train” keeps barreling along.  Data is never static.  Change does not stop.  Time-outs don’t exist.  And, undoubtedly, the “intervention cycles” will be high and unsustainable.  Let’s recall the presentation from an earlier issue as a step toward making the case...

Read More

Developing Workflow Components in Aras

/
Developing Workflow Components in Aras

By Ben Desmarais, vdR Group Senior Implementation Manager

I’ve been doing PLM solutions for nearly two decades now.  Crafting workflow solutions are essential for most any implementation effort.  I was recently involved in designing and configuring workflow processes for a project, and a couple of things occurred that prompted me to want to share some thoughts.

First, lifecycle stages go hand-in-hand with workflows.  Think of workflows as moving a collection of items through a process.  As an item moves through the process, it is likely to change states.  For example, if an item is being changed, then once a change process is activated for that item, the lifecycle state might be assigned to “work-in-process” or WIP...

Read More

Pursuing the Promise of PLM – Part 1

/
Pursuing the Promise of PLM – Part 1

Personally, one of my go-to content sources is TED talks.  In particular, I have enjoyed Simon Sinek.  He’s an author best known for popularizing the concept of "the golden circle" and to "Start with Why.”  In one of his talks, Sinek encourages us to understand “why” we pursue an idea, and then dig into the “how” and “what” later.  By doing so, the result is a vision and energy that transcends the morass of tactical details.  A prime example … Steve Jobs is the iconic “why guy.”

Read More