The PLM Debate
As part of our ongoing research programme, Cambashi is running a debate on product lifecycle management (PLM) and how it interfaces with the supply chain. Various IT vendors were invited to respond to a discussion paper : "In 2004, will PLM and SCM still be recognisable TLAs?" (a version of which was first published in the FT)

SolidWorks contribution

John McEleney, CEO SolidWorks Corporation

From a conversation with John McEleney on 20th January 2003.

SolidWorks focus is to make our users' lives easier. Our approach to PLM has to be in that context. We don't want users who adopt our products to be forced into engaging consultants in order to implement them. An analogy from the wider IT world would be that SolidWorks aspires to provide design tools equivalent to contact management for sales people, while other vendors aspire to provide design tools equivalent to full scale Customer Relationship Management systems.

We provide a whole series of products and services to enable our community of users to inter-operate. Our tools range from e-drawings to SmarTeam. To make these really useful, we typically develop complementary marketing initiatives. One example is the Manufacturing Network. This program aims to align users with other users or more specifically we help buyers identify suppliers that are SolidWorks enabled.

Of course, like all new technologies, when people adopt SolidWorks, they will change their design flow. Much of our business is built on moving users from a 2D to a 3D design process. Our goal is to make that as easy as possible. Generally speaking, PLM deployments in large companies have often involved co-ordinating a lot of processes. Our approach in SolidWorks is to offer data management tools that are less radical in their transformation but still support co-ordinating key design processes. For example, we have embedded a simple Finite Element Analysis subset of our COSMOS product within SolidWorks, so that a designer can perform a "quick look" analysis of the part they are designing.

We've got PDMWorks as our entry level data management tool. This simply creates an intelligent mechanism for workgroups to manage the data created by SolidWorks. It supports users who want to control versions and find and retrieve existing designs. PDMWorks does not provide automated workflow as we believe that workgroups will choose how to distribute their design information. Our SmarTeam PDM tool fully integrated with SolidWorks, does provide a series of templates with implicit workflow to enable rapid deployment of some common PLM applications, such as "authorise and release".

SolidWorks philosophy is to listen to our customers. They've told us they want to manage their data more effectively, but also that they want to change in a series of simple steps. Our approach has been and will continue to be to provide tools that make these steps easy.

To find out more, go to the SolidWorks website at www.solidworks.com

If you have any feedback to add to this debate, please email plm@cambashi.com with the subject "PLM debate".