More manufacturers finally see value of PLM software

Manufacturers including Emcore, Horsburgh & Scott, Juno Lighting, Promethean Technologies, and SLW Automotive have all been turning to the solution, and taking advantage of the fact that it integrates seamlessly with their Infor ERP software. It seems that understanding is spreading – that, if there is enough complexity and scale, there is a significant opportunity to reduce costs and speed time to market, essentially by improving collaboration and concurrent working. Infor's new manufacturing customers cite aspects such as: handling product development more efficiently, from concept to obsolescence, regardless of organisational boundaries; improving decision making, as a result of impact analysis and transparency into the product lifecycle; and enhanced productivity, essentially due to reduced complexity and the power of role-based structures. Tony Williams, vice president of engineering at Infor user, Rodgers Instruments, comments: "With Infor, we are able to support a feature-centric development process to set ourselves apart from our competitors and provide more value to our customers." Turning to the improvements that has enabled, he adds: "Infor PLM is playing an instrumental role in helping us collaborate more effectively with our customers and suppliers to achieve new levels of product customisation, which has resulted in a 50% reduction in time to market." For Infor, it's about the age old aspect of competitive advantage. As Venkat Rajaji, Infor's product manager for PLM, puts it: "Staying several steps ahead of the competition and customer expectations requires tracking, managing, monitoring and analysing products throughout the entire lifecycle. "With Infor PLM 8, manufacturers can execute these processes successfully, reducing costs, improving product innovation and quality, getting products to market faster, responding with speed and flexibility, and increasing sales."