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Product Lifecycle Management

What is PLM?


Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) includes all data and information of the stages from demand, specification, R&D, engineering, manufacturing, sales, service to maintenance. From the technical point of view, PLM is the internal management, control and operation for products data, information and related operation of an enterprise via the use of information system.

Definition of PLM

Broadly speaking, from the enterprise point of view, PLM is product database and process management. PLM is a concept or a method to help enterprises manage their data and process. In a narrow sense of the word, PLM is the application from R&D to engineering planning. It focuses on how to integrate and manage product information (blue prints/ documents) and operation processes from R&D to engineering planning. It also focuses on how to integrate back-end systems including ERP, MRP, MRPII, SCM and CRM systems.

The Scale of PLM

The scale of PLM is based on traditional PDM while emphasizing on product lifecycle, adding project management (PM) to the concept and integrating internal related information. The integrated information can be provided to customers through an information exchange platform, so the scale of application for PLM is larger.

Using PLM to Manage R&D and Prolong Product Lifecycle


R&D is the key of the competitiveness for an enterprise and is hard to manage. All enterprises want to control R&D and know its updated information, including the project schedule and updated situation, task complete rate, delay schedule, ….and so on. Therefore, enterprises can have plans to improve those delays, issues, as well the efficiency and quality for R&D. Traditional PLM manages product information such as images and documents, products, materials, BOM, version control for forms in the process, eProcess of applications and authorization management. Now, PLM improves project management for product development to realize the project management of product development, collects different information, provides updated information and analysis for high-level executives.

Advantages of Agile PLM for Enterprise Managers


Ares uses the Product Lifecycle Management (Agile PLM) of US-based Agile for the product lifecycle management of its customers. Agile PLM provides solution for the high-tech electronic industry, whose product lifecyle has become shorter. In addition, Agile has the best references for international electronic vendors.

PLM can help increase the transparency of R&D project management, improve the efficiency of R&D department, and ensure a great R&D quality. Its BOM management can avoid repeated naming and is easy for R&D to search from. All material tables, BOM and documents can be centralized. It’s easy to search, update, manage, and synchronize with the ERP system. The advantages of time-to-market and time-to-volume help to improve the competitiveness of an enterprise.

Agile PLM Product Solutions


Agile is for those need to manage product lifecycle, collect records, integrate different systems and technologies, with suitable users from industries such as aerospace, national defense, automobile, consumer, electronic and life science industries. Agile can provide worldwide enterprises with a larger vision for their products to improve their competitive edge and margin while helping them to plan their product roadmaps.

Agile can go on line anytime. It is an expansion-based solution – the solution is based on PLM and can be added with more functions according to various needs. Agile has hundreds of customer-oriented features such as the following:

Agile Product Collaboration (PC, Product Collaboration)

Agile Product Collaboration provides product record covering the whole supply chain, increases visibility, as well as offering a complete solution that can manage and coordinate internal records. With Agile Product Collaboration, each shareholder in the extended design & supply chain has secure access to critical product record data - including bills of materials, attributes, manufacturers, configurations, specifications, documents, models, work instructions, revisions and more - and can easily initiate and approve design, manufacturing, customer and supplier-driven changes.

Agile Product Portfolio Management

Agile Product Portfolio Management enables organizations to optimize their product development investments, provide tightly-synchronized program and product information, maximize resource utilization and cross-program visibility and offers decision support throughout the product lifecycle. Agile Product Portfolio Management maximizes profits by providing enterprise with visibility and coordination of product development deliverables, metrics, timing and resources across a portfolio of programs, organizations, sites and the global product network.

Agile Product Governance & Compliance

Agile Product Governance & Compliance™ helps organizations to manage product and program compliance amid industry standards, environmental and regulatory requirements, making possible an effective compliance throughout enterprise operations. The solution enables environmental compliance of products, provides lifecycle capabilities to meet environmental regulation standards such as the Waste of Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) directive and the Restrictions of Hazardous Substance (ROHS) regulation.

Agile Product Cost Management

Agile Product Cost Management enables companies to manage product costs throughout the product lifecycle and make informed sourcing decisions beforehand, synchronize product cost intelligence and manage design, sourcing, manufacturing and supplier sectors throughout the product lifecycle. The solution extends the enterprise product record with a rich and reusable repository of risk data, current and projected cost information, enables major shareholders to evaluate the best sourcing strategies and continuously analyze products for total costs throughout the lifecycle of each product.

Agile Product Quality Management

Agile Product Quality Management drives the improvements in product quality and customer satisfaction by tightly integrating customer, product, quality and regulatory information within a closed-loop corrective action system. Agile Product Quality Management extends the enterprise product record by presenting an actionable, enterprise view of quality events, status and issues that facilitates making the right product decisions at the right time.

Agile PLM Platform

Agile PLM Platform delivers the next-generation enterprise PLM architecture, enabling leading companies to reliably scale and rapidly expand their PLM deployments across their global product networks. The n-tier, standard-based, service-oriented architecture leverages web services, J2EE, XML, ESB, BPEL, Portal and analytics technologies.

Key components of the Agile platform include Agile Common Services, Agile Integration Framework, Agile Analytics Framework, Agile Content Framework and Agile UI Framework.

Best Integration Tool for PLM-Link-Agile & ERP


Developed by Ares, the system can integrate and synchronize PLM and Oracle ERP systems, including products, materials, BOM, as well as design and version changes.

Because PLM and ERP are related for daily operations, product information should be transferred to ERP automatically and can not be manually keyed in to avoid mistakes. Ares develops this PLM-Link product by itself. Using PLM-Link, team members only need to set up few parameters with few adjustments. Hence, product information can be automatically transferred to Oracle Temp Table. After that, team members can use the Oracle interface to access to the information and data. The PLM-Link product saves your time and costs.

The same technology can be customized for the use of other ERP systems.

operation Modules
The basic operation model

Executive Presentation Module for Agile PPM


Importance of Enterprise R&D Project Control

R&D is the key of competitiveness and is hard to manage for an enterprise. All enterprises want to control R&D and stay updated of related information, including project schedule, updated status, task complete rate, delayed schedule, etc. Therefore, enterprises can have plans to improve those delay or issues while improving the efficiency and quality for R&D. Traditional PLM manages product information such as images and documents, products, materials, BOM, version control for forms in the process, eProcess of applications and authorization management. Now, PLM improves project management for product R&D to make sure project management gathers all different information while providing updated information and analysis for high-level executives.

If you already implement the Agile Product Project Management module, you are in a leading position. You can control task, schedule, progress, human resource, cost, and status of a project. You know how many tasks have not been completed, how long those tasks would take, and if the project delays, who should be responsible for those tasks.

As a manager in an enterprise, for on-going R&D projects in different Bus, do you have these problems and concerns?

  • Cannot get the updated statistics out of dozens or hundreds of ongoing projects in the company?
  • Cannot not find the problem and bottleneck that are most likely to create delays out of various delayed projects?
  • Finding it hard to get the performance comparison records of BUs, departments and individuals although all project execution records are already collected in the system?
  • Finding it hard to collect and compile operation performance trend out of statistic analysis of closed projects?

Agile Product Project Management Module

When you log on to the Agile PLM system and search for the desired information of a project, if you want to view other projects, you have to log out of the previous project. Let’s take a look at the Agile Product Project Management Module (PPM) standard function. In normal situation, Agile PLM allows you to review projects one-by-one, which is time-consuming for high-level managers.

New Solution - Executive Presentation Module

Designed for Agile PPM customers, the Ares-developed "Executive presentation Module (EPM)" is for high-level managers. Managers can review all projects with just one click and there is no need to search projects one-by-one. This model can provide consolidated information and schedule, as well as important records for analysis.

Through EPM, you can get related project information from the web interface without the need to click back-and-forth in Agile PLM systems. The easy-to-use interface saves high-level managers much time and helps them to stay updated of the actual status of all projects.

Best Services for Customers – Improve Process Management


Facing with competition, enterprises all want to provide more and better services to their customers. All services provided to customers are related to internal information and process, as well as the product & service R&D of an enterprise. Finding a way to provide updated product R&D schedule and status, as well as related documents and data to customers, along with cost down ability, are the goals of an enterprise.

Therefore, building up the web portal for customers to log on from outside is the key. The portal has to be integrated with the PLM system for customers to search from. Moreover, the correct result will help enterprises to improve their competitiveness.

Ares collects the need of its customers, applying various methods such as study, plan and design while providing solutions to help enterprises in achieving better services for their customers.

Modules

Ares PLM Team


Team Characteristic

  • Ares provides rapid implementation for Agile PLM products (four months)
  • Use Agile system and offer design-in service, few staff after maintenance
  • Abundant Agile PLM customization experiences.
  • Complete system integration service, offer self-developed package software integrated with ERP system.
  • Various well-known customers from industries including Internet, mobile, pharmaceutical, notebooks, IC design and many others.
  • Ares consultants own many professional certifications.
  • Ares consultants have abundant experiences.
  • With SOP and strict project control to offer successful implementation for customers.

PLM Customers

Acer, Adlink Technology Inc., Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. (AMEC), Advantech, Altek Corporation, Cameo Communications, Inc., Centron Electronics (Kunshan) Co., Ltd., Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT), D-Link Corporation, EE Design, Fiberxon (Hong Kong) Limited, ICP Electronics Inc., Foxlink, Litestar Corp., Unitech Electronics Co., Ltd., Min Aik Technology Co., Ltd., Mustek Systems, Inc., Netconn Solutions, Promate Co., Ltd., Richtek Technology Corporation, Shenzhen Sang Fei Consumer Communications Co. Ltd., Shuttle Inc., TTY Biopharm, UTStarcom (China) Co., Ltd., Waltop International Corp., Winstar Display Co., Ltd.