Lockheed Martin slashes cycles with integrated PLM

Aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Martin expects to cut costs and development timescales through its product lifecycle management (PLM) system, which also integrates CAD/CAM, supply chain management and ERP, providing a single online enterprise product record. The firm has deployed Agile PLM for 3,000 users, consolidating more than 28 million items of product data and information from 15 databases into a combination system with a common set of business processes and tools. Included are PTC Pro/Engineer and i2 Component Supplier Management. Robust configuration management capabilities were also implemented, including model unit effectivity, the ability to trace serial numbers, and to compare ‘as designed’ and ‘as planned’ bills of materials (BoMs). And there is a standardised system for part definitions, processes, and control. It all means that Lockheed Martin engineers can now work entirely within a single, concurrent repository of information spanning the entire engineering environment, as well as cost management, quality assurance, logistics, manufacturing production and customer data, with common business processes and no error- or delay-prone manual or duplicated steps. The firm expects its operational and visibility improvements to make all the difference in a market characterised by fierce global competition for major contracts. “Aerospace and defence manufacturers are under tremendous pressure to improve margins and cost efficiencies,” says Ed Miller, president of independent PLM analyst CIMdata. “PLM solutions like Agile’s can help these companies transform the way they develop products. “It is critical that these solutions provide the ability to integrate with existing systems and to maintain a single, consistent product structure definition throughout the design and manufacturing process. “This can reduce the time to market and operating costs and contribute to improved quality, ultimately improving product margins.”