Aptean PLM Buyer's Guide: Choosing the Best PLM Software

Why Did We Write This Document?

› This document was written for anyone considering, planning or starting a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) project. Although we, Aptean, address the food & beverage and cosmetics & personal care industries, this handbook should come in handy for you whatever your activity, size or operational challenges are.

› Before going through this content, it would be good for you to have an idea of basic PLM concepts. Being aware of features available for your industry will help you project yourself into the discussed situations.

› We intend to provide you with a step-by-step description of what we consider a lifelike PLM solution selection scenario. We made the choice of storytelling to make it simple to understand and friendly to read.

› Every journey is unique though. Yours may star different actors of your product development process or show a different share of responsibilities.

The R& D Director Identifies a Problem and Challenges it

R&D Manager A

Apparently, the prototypes we proposed did not meet the claim requirements defined in the marketing brief. I have however considered all the emails sent by the Marketing team and I don’t have any access to their database in order to double check.

R&D Manager B

Well, it seems that someone accidentally deleted the last prototypes I submitted. Our R&D database is not protected! I had to re-do them in a rush to meet the deadline.

My Checklist Before Moving On

› List all pain points or difficulties experienced

› List all observations and potential causes identified

› List all the departments involved or impacted by these issues

› Schedule a meeting with them to challenge your observations

Document Management

Unconsolidated document management is a common problem and greatly hinders any organization’s ability to express their full value.

Data and document management is the core feature of any PLM solution and quickly brings tangible results. If this is your only need, you may want to look for EDMS (Electronic Document Management Solutions).

“Guys, the Quality Department told me there have been compliance issues on the latest prototypes again. What went wrong?”

R&D Director

Quality Director

I agree. For almost every product I have to approve, there is an outdated element. Either it is the ingredient statement, the nutrition panel or claims displayed in the artwork.

Marketing Director

Well, we have been using our own EDMS system for years on our side and we don’t have any issue. Though it is true that, unfortunately, the configuration does not allow your teams to access it.

#2: The R&D Director Sets a Meeting with Other BU Directors to Share Her Concerns

“Hi everyone! I talked with my team about the quality issues we met recently. We identified that the problem comes from our way of managing data and documents related to product development. We’re not collaborating efficiently.”

R&D Director

Quality Director

Works for me! However, I think we should still check for compliance and quality management features. We’re only five in my department, so if you guys ultimately only work with this tool, we might as well hop on it too!

Marketing Director

I’m in! Our EDMS system has been showing performance issues lately and our supplier stopped updating it because it’s on premise. It’s a good opportunity to switch.

Though we should be able to easily transfer our documents from our current system to the new one, we can’t afford to spend too much time on this right now!

“We could clearly benefit from software addressing our product development challenges. I suggest we start contacting potential PLM providers, with a focus on R&D features. My team has been asking for a formulation tool and help on regulatory compliance for a while now. This could be a good morale boost!”

R&D Director

My Checklist Before Moving On

Try to answer the following questions

› What do we want to improve in our design chain?

› How do we work today?

› How do we want to work tomorrow?

› What are our product development assets?

› Which must-haves do we lack?

Try to summarize the context and all tangible requirements or limitations you can think of

› Ideal features

› Number of users

› Pre-existing IT solutions

› Strategic considerations: merging, export, diversification, etc.

› Budget estimate, schedule expectations, available workload

Suppliers you contact will ask for this information at some point in the process.

Customization vs. Configuration

Configuration is the proper setup of the standard solution provided by the publisher. The software configuration is often based on your business requirements such as formulation calculation rules, product approval process, user responsibility levels, etc.

Customization is the modification of the core software requiring specific development. The customization is based on specific requests.

Configuration allows for a quicker integration, automated updates, smooth and progressive scaling up and reduced maintenance costs.

Solution Provider A

Our software only offers the formulation features. Though we can interface with your current EDMS and customize an access for your Quality team.

Solution Provider B

Yes, our software answers all your requests. But no, we mainly worked with the pharmaceutical industry. But this industry and yours are not so different, so this should not be a problem!

Solution Provider C

Yes, we’ll be able to import the data from your EDMS before the go live! Most of our clients had the same challenges as you and we’ve helped them enforce the industry’s best practices. Let me send you our customer stories!

#3: The PLM « Task Force » Attends a First Series of Demonstrations

“We’re satisfied about the formulation feature you presented. What about the transfer from our Marketing EDMS and access for our Quality Managers? Also, have you worked with other organizations from our industry?”

PLM Task Force + IT Manager

My Checklist Before Moving On

› Shortlist providers who meet your functional and technological needs. Ideally shortlist only providers with experience in your industry and genuinely able to understand your needs and challenges. Check references of those with whom you feel comfortable and trust.

› These first discussions with potential providers must be the opportunity for you to consolidate your needs and limitations. It is important you internally agree on a document gathering reference elements such as the list of your requirements, product specification samples, organigram of your design chain, etc. These items will allow the shortlisted providers to have a deep understanding of your need.

› Discuss the budget and the timeline with the top management.

Iterations

Solution presentations and demonstrations can require several iterations depending on the complexity of your request.

Although you are right to take your time to understand the new concepts you are facing or to thoroughly check that the proposed features answer your needs, you should avoid losing time hunting exceptions or “one-in-amillion” cases.

Solution Provider C

For a detailed proposal, we need to define together the following:

› Number of users

› Functional scope (i.e. the modules and functionalities to be implemented

› Implementation services scope

This will help to define precisely the cost of the solution and related cost to implement it.

#4: The Task ForceIterates with the Shortlisted Provider(s) to Refine the Proposal(s)

“Your demonstrations were convincing, we think that your solution can cover our needs. However, you only gave a ballpark estimate. How can we move forward to a detailed proposal?”

PLM Task Force + IT Manager

My Checklist Before Moving On

› Do not hesitate to ask for a last recap demonstration to clear your ideas and take an enlightened decision. The reference document you consolidated beforehand is crucial to keep in mind what you are looking for.

› You and the shortlisted supplier(s) have agreed upon a formal proposal you’ll be able to challenge internally.

› Your provider ’s representative should help you build the speech to sell the project to the decision makers and provide you with tangible arguments.

ROI of a PLM Project

Your supplier should provide you with quantified ROI expectations you can use to defend it internally. A PLM project’s ROI stretches on a couple of years and should be assessed through different angles:

› Data management efficiency (capture, secure, share, track, approve)

› Time-to-market and turnover increase

› Packaging costs

› Project costs

› Etc.

PLM helps companies, on average:

› Improve revenue by 13.4%

› Grow profit margins by 13.2%

› Increase revenue from new products by 15.8%

Task Force

It’s precisely because of the numerous projects running at the same time that we make mistakes and lose time in managing data and documents This PLM solution will help us:

Collaborate better

Easily meet quality regulatory compliance requirements

Cut down costs related to mistakes and laborious tasks

Speed up time-to-market for our newproducts

Manager

This time will be different. The last software was customized to answer our specific requests. Updating it took us too much time and the users did not receive enough training. Here we shortlisted an off the shelf cloud solution requiring very little configuration that can be implemented in just a couple months.

#5: The Task Force Submits Proposals to Their Executives and Defends the Project

“Why should we approve this project now? We’re developing more products than ever. And last time we tried to implement a solution shared by different departments, it went unused in just a couple months, after almost a year of integration.” Executives

My Checklist Before Moving On

› You should clearly know what your decision makers’ position is and have consolidated their related requests, if any. Depending on your internal organization, this step may happen sooner in the process, halfway through the demonstrations for instance.

› Prepare a presentation including the summary of the need, the project’s objectives listing the solutions providers comparison, the reasons for your choice (advantages, benefits, etc.) and the ROI to demonstrate the profitability of your project.

Cloud vs. On-Premise

› An « on premise » solution is physically hosted on your servers.

› A cloud solution is accessed via a web browser and does not require any installation.

› Thus, cloud solutions show a lower T.C.O. (Total Cost of Ownership) and are way more easily updated and scaled up. This is a critical choice as PLM solutions engage different teams and offer modular approaches.

Solution Provider C

“We are pleased to announce you that we selected your company! However we still need to fine tune some items of the proposal. For financial reasons, we would like to implement only the “must have” features this year. Next year, we should be able to enlarge the functional scope. Is that an option? Also, could you please send us the contract? The legal department wants to start reviewing it.”

PLM Task Force + R&D Director

That’s the best approach! We often recommend to start with the minimum viable scope. This favors quick wins and project adoption. We can plan a session together to review the proposal and amend it according to your priorities. For the contract, I’ll send you the template that we will update when we fine tune the functional scope of the solution and the related professional services.

#6: The Task Force Interates with the Shortlisted Provider(s) to Refine the Proposal(s)

My Checklist Before Moving On

› If you want to bring any last-minute change to your request, now is the time. Changing your mind after the kick-of will most likely lead to delays and unplanned costs.

› All your last questions must be clearly answered. Do not move forward with a provider you’re not convinced understands you well.

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About Aptean

Aptean is one of the world’s leading providers of industry-specific software. Our enterprise resource planning and supply chain solutions are uniquely designed to meet the needs of specialized manufacturers and distributors, while our compliance solutions serve specific markets such as finance and life sciences. With both cloud and on-premise deployment options, Aptean’s products, services and unmatched expertise help businesses of all sizes, across many industries, to scale and succeed.

For more information, visit www.aptean.com.