Tata Technologies: Transforming the Face of Business with Effective Product Lifecycle Management Date:   Wednesday , January 28, 2015 Generally speaking, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) comprises of technologies that capture all the intellectual property within the company, enabling smooth compliance of regulatory as well as organizational standards, while streamlining processes, and efficiently managing all the data from concept to end-of-life of the product resulting in reduction of the products’ time to market and maximizing knowledge capture and reuse. While PLM is an essential organizational imperative to build competitive advantage, it has been observed that many organizations are not getting the anticipated returns from their existing PLM implementations. Specifically talking about the Indian manufacturing industry, lack of digital maturity amongst organizations is probably the single major obstacle in the adoption and proliferation of PLM. Typically, the first step into PLM starts with PDM (Product Data Management), which is essentially managing CAD data in a PLM system. Once PDM is fully mature, different aspects of PLM will start playing a role, for instance, Requirements Management, Systems Engineering, Tooling Data Management, BOM (Bill of Materials) management, Digital Manufacturing, Manufacturing Simulation and others. Because IT solutions like Supply Chain Management and ERP have proliferated the market place more, very often IT professionals make the mistaken assumption that these tools and technologies can do what PLM can. This could not be further from the truth. There are significant synergies between PLM and the transactional technologies mentioned above. In many ways, what these tools are to production, PLM is to planning. An Overview of Current PLM Trends in the Industry The global PLM market is growing despite weak economic conditions. According to CIMdata, a leading independent PLM advisory firm, the global PLM market grew close to 11.6 percent in 2012; in 2014 they forecast a 5.5 percent growth and looking towards 2018, they see an annual growth rate of 5.8 percent to $46.3 billion. A poll conducted by CIMdata, shows a staggering 75 percent of organizations with PLM investments are not realizing full value from their PLM implementations. Many industrial machinery companies have been working hard to rethink costs and free-up funds to invest in future growth. This is where the Experts from Tata Technologies Step In Tata Technologies is a global provider of services and solutions in domains such as Engineering, IT, and PLM. With 25 years of experience in the PLM industry and through their continued mission of creating better products for the customers, the organization aims to provide highly sophisticated and focused PLM solutions. \"Any company out there that manufactures anything, we have a value proposition for them. Our pedigree is manufacturing. At Tata Technologies, we implement, customize and extend PLM systems at our manufacturing customers. We’re really good at this, not just from a skill sets standpoint, but our secret sauce is in the fact that most of our consultants have rich experience having worked on multi-year PLM programs of what I call as large digitally mature customers in America and Europe. For our strategic customers, our engagement is focused around enabling product innovation through leveraging PLM across the broader enterprise. At the end of the day, we know what works, what does not. It’s all in the experience,\" Shreekanth Moorthy, Vice President & Global LOB Head - PLM at Tata Technologies. With regulatory compliance taking a front seat in today’s economy, Tata Technologies also sees significant activity around PLM in the medical devices, and pharmaceutical industries. When asked the reasons why PLM implementations fail and why people don’t see ROI, Moorthy details: 1. Misaligned expectations between the implementation vendor and different stakeholders 2. Lack of management commitment (organizational and budget-wise) 3. Lack of dedicated PLM leadership and PLM organization at the customer (e.g.: PLM being someone’s part time/add-on job) 4. Not inclusive (focused mainly on Engineering; i.e. PDM only) 5. Low level of maturity and experience of the PLM implementation vendor 6. Lack of after-service support (to make PLM part of the organizational DNA) 7. Lack of regimented PLM adoption mandate within the organization and a zero tolerance policy for circumventing the system 8. Lack of global and constant training of users 9. Inadequate internal marketing and branding (user awareness on value from PLM reflects on PLM becoming the organizational DNA). \"We are not an IT company implementing PLM. We are manufacturing professionals who are also splendid PLM consultants and implementers. This unique blend of skill sets ensures that the PLM systems implemented are an ideal fit into the manufacturing enterprise,\" says Moorthy, talking about the company’s USP in PLM domain. When asked about the future ahead, he adds enthusiastically, \"With the rapid adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT), we see a convergence of sorts – virtual factories with smart connected factories using advanced software technologies delivering a complete and more real digital production, to see, touch, and feel the product long before it’s made. To meet this demand, Tata Technologies has started investing in R&D with focus on Systems Engineering, Mechatronics and Innovation management\". The company has many successful client stories to its credit, thanks to its proven PLM capabilities, industry knowledge and experience. Known for its energetic and enthusiastic workforce, Tata Technologies has a work culture that promotes empowerment. The company builds its persona by working towards a single goal – to be the world’s number one partner to the manufacturing industry. Panel Shreekanth \"Shree\" Moorthy, VP & Global LOB Head, Tata Technologies Shreekanth (Shree) Moorthy is responsible for the P&L of the PLM Line of Business and is in charge of software delivery worldwide since 2009. With over 20 years of experience in software solutions development and deployment, Shree also has onsite consulting experience globally. His domain specialties are Data Management, Operations, Digital Manufacturing, Digital Factory, Discrete Manufacturing, Manufacturing Software Development and PLM. Prior to Tata Technologies, he held key roles at Siemens PLM Software.