A root level update for a leading biometrics company
STORY BY
Qcm
A typical Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system implementation can run for many years, depending on the complexity and size of the company. For this client, there were no pre-existing systems in place, which meant a completely fresh start. In the span of just two years, we worked to understand this company inside and out and proceeded to carry out a swift and seamless PLM implementation.
Our client, a world-leading biometrics company, is a rising star. Their identification technology is found in millions of devices worldwide, and the company continues to climb in international stock markets. In April 2016, they came to us as they were facing steep growth that called for a more sophisticated PLM system.
We kicked off the project by meeting with the management team, who shared an overview of the problem areas and outlined their desire to implement a new standard for product information management. From there, we rolled up our sleeves and immersed ourselves in countless workshops and interviews with cross-functional teams and managers. It was a fantastic opportunity to be able to work with a blank slate – the client had no PLM tools to begin with and our competence in this area was greatly appreciated.
During the solution phase, we presented proposals for solutions and iterated the proof of concept as it related specific business areas. We used real company data when visualizing the proposed structures and made sure that everyone was aligned before moving forward.
We reached an important milestone in our collaboration when we suggested merging a corporate document management system with the PLM system. The implementation was executed masterfully and the decision translated into significant financial savings for the client in terms of licensing, training and maintenance.
When it came time to implement the PLM tool, we worked with parallel changes in the process. This crucial and often incredibly time-consuming phase can often be the deal-breaker: it concerns changing internal processes and handing over the project to a confident and well-informed organization. We managed to keep the amount of time spent in this phase to what’s recognized in the industry as extremely low. How?
We build PLM systems from the business side while others neglect data and information systems. We not only buy PLM tools, but start by learning how the client wants to work and then identify the most suitable system. Our teams include specialists with wide-ranging expertise, but they have a mindset in common: understanding business first.
