Starting down the path of implementing PLM solutions may at first seem like a daunting task, but your opinion may change after speaking with one of our sales specialists.
According to independent industry analyst firm Forrester Research, Global Innovation Networks represent a new model for product-focused companies that recognizes the new paradigm in which Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) focus on core competencies (essentially the intellectual property behind their product lines) and retain final assembly, test and potentially lifecycle service and support, while partners focus on design and manufacturing.
For aerospace and defense companies, these networks can include partners, suppliers and service providers which must work synergistically as a global virtual enterprise often for 30 to 40 years. Moreover, prime contractors are now being asked to share the load of in-service support with government agencies, commercial airlines and other third-party service providers. For the aerospace and defense industry, Global Innovation Networks are not an option for the major OEMs and their partners and suppliers, but rather they are essential for sustained, profitable growth and long-term productivity.
Global Innovation Networks, Forrester continues, "enable companies to match their global demand for innovation with worldwide sources of talent and capital. Savvy firms make use of Innovation Networks to bring in new ideas and fresh, outside perspectives as a replacement for stale, vertically integrated approaches to innovation. To effectively meet growing innovation demand, firms must join an emerging market model that lets players co-invent with customers, source and market innovations anywhere, and anticipate as well as respond to supply and demand changes." [Topic Overview: Innovation Networks, December 2005, and Fortune 500 CEOs Embrace Innovation Networks, December 2005. Forrester].
Optimum PLM solutions are designed to be implemented in cost-effective stages, systematically enabling key business requirements and providing substantial rewards along the way. Each initiative gives manufacturers the opportunity to establish the PLM framework, best practices and product-related data that will form the core of their Global Innovation Networks and help them transform their process of innovation.
The infrastructure to build and maintain aerospace systems for 30 to 50 years can be expensive. Designing the production operations and processes to optimize cycle time, quality and performance can greatly improve overall productivity and reduce total costs. Now, this optimization must include also partners and suppliers as corporations strive to create a Global Innovation Network that extends to all points of their market.
