Product Lifecycle Management: Driving the Next Generation of Lean Thinking

By Michael Grieves

Book Overview

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is the newest wave in productivity. This revolutionary approach is an outcome of lean thinking; however, PLM eliminates waste and efficiency across all aspects of a product's life--from design to deployment--not just in its manufacture. By using people, product information, processes, and technology to reduce wasted time, energy, and material across an organization and into the supply chain, PLM drives the next generation of lean thinking.

Now PLM pioneer Michael Grieves offers everyone from Six Sigma and lean practitioners to supply chain managers, product developers, and consultants a proven framework for adopting this information-driven approach. Product Lifecycle Management shows you how to greatly enhance your firm's productivity by integrating the efforts of your entire organization.

Most companies are seeing the returns of their efforts in lean methods diminishing, as the most fruitful applications have already been addressed. Here, Grieves reveals how PLM gives you an opportunity to make improvements both within and across functional areas in order to increase agility, optimize efficiency, and reduce costs across the board. He gives you the most comprehensive view of PLM available, fully outlining its characteristics, method, and tools and helping you assess your organizational readiness.

There's also proven examples from the field, where PLM is being widely adopted by leading companies, including General Motors, General Electric, and Dell, that are widely adopting the approach. You'll see how PLM has saved these companies billions in unnecessary costs and shaved as much as 60% off cycle times. With this book you'll learn how to:

Develop and implement your PLM strategy to support your corporate objectives Engage all your employees in using information to eliminate waste Enable improved information flow Better organize and utilize your intellectual capital Foster an environment that drives PLM

Lean manufacturing can only take your organization so far. To bring your productivity to the next level and save remarkable amounts of time, money, and resources, Product Lifecycle Management is your one-stop, hands-on guide to implementing this powerful methodology.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071452303
• ISBN13: 9780071452304
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.39 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Clearly the next step for collaborative management

I think that Dr. Grieves book presents a compelling next step in how companies AND their outsourced suppliers can collaborate over the entire lifetime of the customer relationship to insure that customers continue to get satisfaction from their products. Think about it this way: If you are buying a car that you are going to own for 5 years, don't you want to make sure that 4 years in to that ownership experience, the company that makes the fuel injection system has told the dealer about its new, updated software system for improving mileage . . . so you can get the benefit from it? Without a unified approach to sharing information across functions and across time, there is no way the car company, the outsourced supplier and the dealer could make that happen. That is the essential breakthrough of PLM thinking, and Dr. Grieves does a great job of explaining it. There is a lot of value here for companies in any industry that is characterized by a global, interconnected supply chain and a rapidly changing product lifecycle. Marshall Toplansky CEO Core Strategies, Inc. Irvine, CA

The Primer on PLM

Grieves book on PLM is a fundamental primer on a subject basic to anyone involved devloping, marketing, buying and using a product. In other words, if your in business you should read this book. Importantly, his overview is comprehensive and provides a complete framework for understanding the scope and complexity of the practice in the modern manufacturing environment. The message is clear, you can't buy Product Lifecycle Management, you have to do Product Life Cycle Management. Whether your just beginning to look at PLM or are re-configuring your current capabilities, I would recomend everyone involved give this book a thorough read. I know my team will.