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Dassault Systemes Highlights 2014 Trends in PLM and Predictions for 2015
Compiled by John Myers, ConnectPress Editor
PLM’s future is embedded deep within Dassault Systemes’ customer’s business infrastructure.
Rather than serving as a parallel product development platform PLM is becoming more and more of a foundational block in their customer’s business operations. That is the primary take away cited by Andy Kalambi, CEO, Dassault Systèmes ENOVIA, when asked about the most important breakthrough in PLM in 2014.
PLM’s evolution to become a bigger part of the overall product development experience is the core concept in Dassault Systèmes’ opinion on the important trends for 2014 and for the coming year.
In addition to this trend the company has focused heavily on software-as-a service (SaaS) model to expand their customer base. The SaaS model allows Dassault Systèmes to offer PLM to customers who would otherwise be put off by the IT requirements needed for a full scale onsite implementation. Instead the software provider can take responsibility for the hardware, maintenance and updates on the implementation.
From an industry standpoint Kalambi said the consumer packaged goods field will grow in the PLM sector.
Read the following Q & A with Kalambi to get a complete sense of Dassault Systèmes’ vision of 2014 and their plans for 2015, including major trends and expectations for how their technology will respond to the evolutions in the marketplace.
What was the biggest breakthrough in technology or trend of 2014 for the PLM market?
2014 was a significant year in the evolution of PLM. There is now recognition by the industry that PLM has transformed into a true business platform. Several industry analysts (IDC, Gartner and CIMdata) are referring to the PLM set of capabilities as the ‘Product Innovation Platform’. At Dassault Systèmes we’ve not only embraced this evolution but have demonstrated leadership with the release of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.
The 3DEXPERIENCE platform is transformational in the way that it enables Dassault Systèmes' clients to go beyond modeling products to modeling and simulating true customer experiences.
One of the key technology enablers is the Data Driven Architecture that provides the underpinnings for how information is shared and processed between apps. The Data Driven Architecture provides a ‘zero files’ environment where companies can achieve increased collaboration and security by collaborating on data rather than flat files as we know them today.
What technology and/or trends do you anticipate seeing in 2015? For the coming years, we see a continued evolution of the Product Innovation Platform from both a technology perspective as well as a customer adoption perspective. This Product Innovation Platform must be deployable either on premise or via the cloud, depending on each customer’s needs. We also anticipate the definition of PLM to be extended to new technology disciplines such as Internet of Things, Product and Portfolio Management and Supplier Connectivity.
What were your customers’ biggest challenges in PLM in 2014?
Our customers are leaders in some of the most competitive markets in the world and 2014 was no exception. Globalization continues to challenge companies increase profitability. The right products must be delivered at the right time to the right geographies so that maximum value can be established. By transforming from delivering products to the creation of experiences our customers go beyond time to market improvements to implementing change that delivers top-line growth. In order to meet these challenges, customers see PLM as key to driving positive improvement to their operating margins. This is realized through the optimization of product development processes as measured by:
- Reducing products that fail in the marketplace
- Eliminating bill-of-material errors during the transition from design to manufacturing
- Eliminating the need for physical prototypes through the use of virtual technologies - Avoiding process bottlenecks and the resulting delays in product launches - Avoiding data security and compliancy exceptions.
How has PLM software progressed to address? What advancements still need to happen?
Providing PLM software-as-a-service (SaaS) on the cloud is an emerging trend, helping customers deploy new capabilities quickly with minimal IT costs and consumed on an as-needed basis. While it is possible to host servers in a public infrastructure, more needs to be done to ensure a smooth experience to access software and to ensure strong security measures are in place. Security needs to go beyond the typical login and data access mechanisms, it needs to be incorporated deep into the software development process itself. It requires the use of best practice technology and communication protocols, security measures, penetration testing, assessments on potential vulnerabilities, and a constant vigilance and process to monitor and update against emerging threats. The advent of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform is designed with all of this in mind, to help our customers successfully – and securely – embark on this journey into the cloud.
Can you name any trends associated a with specific by industry?
Industries such as consumer packaged goods are recognizing the value of integrated solutions. The consumer packaged goods industry has largely been dominated by niche vendors, but the advantages of bringing together disciplines such as formulation, packaging specifications and artwork and labeling are yielding benefits to early adopters. Similarly, companies in the life sciences space are seeing value in integrating functions such as quality management, formulation, DHF and DMR Solutions for both medical devices and pharmaceuticals.
What industries do you predict will start utilizing more PLM software?
The benefits of PLM are being recognized far beyond the scope of the traditional discrete manufacturing world. We are seeing tremendous interest and momentum in consumer packaged goods, retail, life sciences and natural resources. At Dassault Systèmes our investment strategy is helping to influence the adoption of PLM in these new industries.
Any advice on picking out PLM software? Buying PLM is not like buying other enterprise software. A company’s “product record” must be maintained for many years to properly support customers. This contrasts sharply with ERP or CRM software, which can be replaced relatively easy without worrying about historical data. As such, when choosing a PLM vendor, a company must consider its ability to evolve with the changing business and technology landscape. In other words, does the PLM vendor have a meaningful installed base that has been with it for over the past 10-20 years, and do these customers continue to upgrade and invest in the PLM vendor’s latest offering?
The PLM vendor’s staying power over the years is direct evidence of its ability to deliver to its customer’s a lower total cost of ownership. A PLM vendor that is constantly keeping up with the latest technology and expanding its offering is also a vendor that makes it simpler for its customers to avoid customization and integration. When choosing a PLM technology, the costs are much more than just the initial software purchase cost and/or subscription fee. A customer must evaluate the total cost of deployment and the recurring costs of keeping the PLM solution up to date.
What predictions do you have for the PLM market within the next 10 years?
The business value of PLM as we know it will continue to expand beyond engineering the whole of the extended enterprise. Expect deployment of enterprise applications to be more heavily weighted to cloud hosted solutions so that companies using this technology can focus more on their core competencies and less on managing technology. The lines will blur beyond the definition of a company as we know it today. As we enter the next decade, ‘companies’ will be enabled by PLM to integrate a broader set of constituents into the product development processes. Customers, suppliers and partners will take advantage of Social Collaboration technologies to develop products and experiences that will be more aligned with customer and market expectations.
Is there anything you would like to add?
At Dassault Systèmes, we share a vision for a compelling and exciting future with our customers. We are proud to work alongside companies who are developing the most exciting and important products in the world using the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform. By transforming from the design of products to the creation of Experiences, our customers are poised to for leadership in their respective industries.
Be sure to follow Andy Kalambi on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AndyKalambi
