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Implementation Process of Enterprise PLM System

Conference Paper · January 2008

DOI: 10.13140/2.1.4153.4244

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International Conference on Product Lifecycle Management 1

Implementation Process of Enterprise PLM System

SeHyun Myung
Samsung Electronics, R&D IT Infra Group, Technology Strategy
Office, Corporate Technology Operations
Digital R&D Center, 416 Maetan-3Dong, Yeongtong-Gu, Suwon-City,
Gyeonggi-Do, Republic of Korea 443-742
+82-31-277-6946(Tel.), +82-31-277-7731(Fax.)
sehyun.myung@samsung.com

Abstract: PLM systems have been widely used in the whole industry.

But, in the process of adapting many technologies & solutions to each PLM
area, issues on integration & maintenance have been continuously. Especially
in the case of a company that manufactures a wide range of products, each
business unit of the company needs a customized PLM system that fits for their
own purposes. This is why the enterprise PLM system is hard to implement in
integrated manners. Nevertheless, it is inevitable to establish a full scale PLM
structured at the corporate level in order to reduce system maintenance costs
and ensure efficient operations and real-time KPI analysis. This paper describes
the implementation process of the enterprise PLM system including PLM scope,
solution selection procedure, POC, PLM system development and deployment.

Keywords : PLM, Benchmarking, POC, RFP

1 Introduction
Products define a company[1]. So, manufacturing companies keep on trying to
innovate the way to make products. Product Lifecycle Management (“PLM”, henceforth)
is one of the innovation initiatives. It is not a bunch of IT systems but a philosophy. PLM
has been used also in the electric and electronics industries, with different solutions used
according to the product type. It is not easy to integrate entire engineering IT systems and
build an enterprise PLM system, even in a company that produces a single product family.
Moreover, making an integrated PLM system is a challenge to a company like
Samsung Electronics Co. which produces a variety of products including TV, LCD,
printer, PC, camcorder, mobile phone, semiconductor, washing machine and refrigerator,
because each of the business units requires different PLM solutions that fit for their own
purposes.
This paper describes the implementation process of the enterprise PLM system,
including PLM scope, solution selection procedure, POC, PLM system development and
deployment.

2 PLM scope
The scope of PLM needs to be defined in an early stage of the project according to the
status of the company. In the early years, PLM was defined as a set of CAD, PDM and

Copyright © 2008 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

 SeHyun Myung

digital manufacturing solutions [2, 3]. But recently CAD is no longer a main actor in the
PLM world, but a step of ‘plateau of productivity’[4]. Other emerging technologies are
portfolio management and requirement management. PLM functionality can be defined
in various ways [5, 6, 7, 8]. In this project, we introduced 12 function blocks.
In the a system perspective, each of the 12 function blocks can be defined as R&D
strategy management, project management, performance management, portfolio
management, development engineering, manufacturing engineering, marketing & product
planning, requirements management, development quality management, product
information management, technical asset management and out-sourcing and collaboration.
Figure 1 illustrates the PLM function blocks defined.

Figure 1 PLM function blocks

2.1 Survey of tools and systems in use

Prior to implementing the enterprise PLM system, we need to survey the current PLM
tools and systems used in the company
The company has used various types of tools for S/W configuration, S/W requirements
management, S/W design, S/W development, S/W test, industrial design, Electronic CAD
& CAE, Mechanical CAD & CAE, mechanical quality checks and molds. Tools are
applied in the form of commercial component S/W for specific purposes, but not
customized.
A system has business logics, UI and Databases and can be customized from
commercial S/W or an in-house system from the scratch.
Usually hundreds of tools and systems are leveraged in implementing PLM in a
company. .

2.2 System interface diagram

It is necessary to draw up a system interface diagram for each business unit, define the
same function blocks for them and group the systems, when we build up the enterprise
PLM system.
Figure 2 illustrates high level system interfaces. Based on the diagram, we can define
common function blocks for enterprise use as well as special function blocks for special
use.
Common function blocks are R&D strategy management, project management,
 Implementation Process of Enterprise PLM System

performance management, portfolio management, marketing & product planning, product

information management and technical asset management.
Special function blocks customized for each business unit are development engineering,
manufacturing engineering, requirements management, development quality management,
and out-sourcing and collaboration

Figure 2 System interface diagram

3 PLM solution selection procedure

After defining the scope of the enterprise PLM system, we need to look into candidate
PLM solution vendors for each function block. Figure 3 shows the PLM vendor selection
procedure.
 SeHyun Myung

Figure 3 PLM vendor selection procedure

3.1 Benchmarking other companies

Benchmarking other companies is very important, even though there may be some
difference in situations. Select proper competitors and look into their PLM
implementation status and history. In this stage, focus only on the scope of PLM.

3.2 Benchmarking PLM vendors and solutions

There are several ways to benchmark the vendors - seminars, training and visiting
reference sites. Figure 4 illustrates the PLM vendor selection criteria. PLM market
research report such as Gartner report [9] can be helpful. Especially, the local operation
capability of a vendor is as critical as the headquarter capability. And the availability of
good support and component developers is also an important check point in selecting
vendors, because a vendor may have to take part in several big projects at the same time.
 Implementation Process of Enterprise PLM System

Figure 4 PLM vendor selection criteria

4 Proof of concept
After selecting several candidates for POC (Proof of Concept), we make RFP (Request
for Proposal) required for the POC.

4.1 Request for proposal

RFP provides a guide to proposal, POC scenarios and a function list to meet the PLM
scope. There are two kinds of POC criteria; one is the proof of functions and another is
the proof of implementation. Vendor candidates have to explain and show the evidence to
meet each and every function and show how to implement the PLM system according to
POC scenarios. The proposal contain proposal overview, PLM solution introduction,
system requirements, POC results, implementation plan, project & solution cost and some
recommendations.
 SeHyun Myung

5 PLM system implementation and deployment

After selecting the most preferred vendor, we need to analyze the gaps between the
solutions and the required systems.

5.1 Development planning

In the development planning stage, we define system specifications and detailed
explanations, development charter requirements, conference management, deliverables,
prepare plans for development teaming, budgeting, development environment setup and
WBS.

5.2 Implementation
To implement a robust PLM system, ‘scope & functions’ document and ‘architecture &
design’ document are required. ‘Scope & functions’ document is prepared to prescribe all
functions and UI requirements based on the scope. ‘Architecture & design’ document
contains the application architecture, data architecture and technical architecture related
to the PLM system. In this stage all kinds of new technologies such as SOA should be
considered [10].

5.3 Quality Assurance

After the development stage, quality verifications is required. Tests on units, UI,
security and performance will be conducted in this stage.

5.4 Deployment and change management

The PLM system needs to be rolled out to all business units of the company. The
training, data migration, helpdesk operation are also required.

6 Conclusion
The implementation process of the enterprise PLM system including PLM scope,
solution selection procedure, POC, PLM system development and deployment was
described in this paper.
Some lessons are learned through the whole stages. There are no solutions that target
on the exact scope we desire and therefore we need to customize solutions. The
commitment of high level executives is essential to this kind of big project. Voices of all
prospective users are valuable enough to be reflected
Finally, implementing the enterprise PLM system is like ‘city planning’, while small
scale PLM system is just ‘building a house’. And, it is as difficult as “changing the tires
while the car is running”.
 Implementation Process of Enterprise PLM System

References
1 John Stark (2005) Product Lifecycle Management: 21st century Paradigm for Product
Realisation, Springer-Verlag, p.v.
2 Sehyun Myung, Kang Song, Janghee Lee (2002) "Integration of DFM and virtual NC
manufacturing process", CIRP ISMS 2002 Proceedings, Seoul, KOREA, pp.175-180.
3 Sehyun Myung (2002) Knowledge Based Parametric Design of Mechanical Assemblies
Based on Design Unit, Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Mechanical Engineering, KAIST.
4 Marc Halpern, Andrew Hughes, Kenneth F. Brant, Carol Rozwell (2007) Hype Cycle for
Product Life Cycle Management - 2007, Gartner
5 John Stark (2005) Product Lifecycle Management: 21st century Paradigm for Product
Realisation, Springer-Verlag, p.407.
6 John Stark (2007) Global Product: Strategy, Product Lifecycle Management and the Billion
Customer Question, Springer-Verlag, p.119.
7 Antti Saaksvuori, Anselmi Immonen (2004) Product Lifecycle Management, Springer-
Verlag, pp.13-16.
8 Grieves, M. (2006) Product Lifecycle Management: Driving the Next Generation of Lean
Thinking, New York, McGraw-Hill, pp.45-56.
9 Marc Halpern, Dan Miklovic (2008) Magic Quadrant for Manufacturing Product Life Cycle
Management - 4Q07, Gartner.
10 TaeJae Lee, JongGyun Lim, JunHo Shin, SeHyun Myung, MiYoung Choi, SeungSik Baek,
JuIk Kim, JaeWook Oh, DongSuk Lee, YongDuk Han (2007) An implementation
methodology of SOA based PLM system, proceedings of PLM07, pp.303-310.

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