PLM climbs up manufacturing supply chain agenda

UGS, probably the largest of the PLM developer/vendors (with more than 90% of the world’s 1,000-plus user companies as clients), says the growth trend is clear. Henry Seddon, vice president of marketing for EMEA cites its latest quarter, which shows an 11% increase in sales year-on-ear, with the emphasis on the mid market. But it’s not just manufacturers that are adopting PLM and associated systems: he also points to increased attention from ERP software vendors like SAP and Oracle. Citing Oracle’s acquisition of forecasting systems developer Demantra, he says: “Oracle is trying to close a gap in their applications infrastructure by moving more into PLM through the supply chain. The back office has been done so demand has gone and they’re going for growth in PLM to offer cost benefits in streamlining product creation and management.” On the face of it, it’s a loose link from PLM to supply chain, but his direction is clear enough, He makes the point that with PLM’s overarching cover, the supply chain – including the design chain, production chain, maintenance chain, change management and so on – even forecasting systems become a critical component. Seddon also claims to be pleased by the attention, which he believes increases awareness and improves credibility of PLM applications across manufacturing. However, he’s also aware of the consolidation that follows such attention – citing Dassault Systemes’ acquisition of MatriOne. And when that happens, it’s the commercially strong and the marketing savvy that tend to win. That’s not to say we’ll see programmes like SAP’s Safe Passage aimed at PeopleSoft and JD Edwards’ users supposedly unhappy with their future under Oracle. “UGS wouldn’t trivialise taking on a company’s data like that,” says Seddon. “We would look at every case in its own right. MatrixOne had two distinct platforms so we would identify the best migration path rather than simply offering say a 20% discount. The market is too sophisticated for that, and they will have spent a lot of money putting PLM solutions in. So we would need to offer something they need.” That said, most commentators see those likely to be here for the long haul as the vendors most aware of the whole markets’ needs – large and small engineering and manufacturing companies alike across functions, industries and the geographies – and those most able to scale with open, easy to implement and use systems. And probably those with the greatest incumbent systems coverage. UGS, for example, claims to manage more of Dassault’s CAD data than Dassault does. That’s not necessarily an indicator of future success – probably more that Dassault’s Catia CAD is so widely used and was historically the backbone of that company’s development. Nevertheless, Seddon makes a good fist of UGS’ undoubted strength and consistency in PL – and not just from the oft-cited massive Boeing implementation perspective. “We have a history and ongoing strategy of openness in our systems and to enable collaboration through our JTOpen platform. We’re also catering for all companies that need to participate in global supply chain – and that’s increasingly smaller manufacturers who are probably being forced down tight delivery schedules. “They can use subset of our systems, if that’s what they need, through our TeamCenter Express product, for example. It’s easy to install – with Wizards to get up and running quickly – and all the functionality is there for everything from vaulting to collaboration with suppliers.” And it’s a similar story through UGS CAM products and the rest, notably with the firm’s recent addition of NX CAM Express and enhances to Solid Edge and Femap Applications with its Velocity suite. The one to watch: consistency of product suite: software vendors sales teams aren’t renowned for doing so well when they have disparate overlapping ranges. Most likely to stay with us in PLM include UGS, Dassault/IBM, PTC, Autodesk and SAP and Oracle.