In a previous article, product development engineers learned the foundational elements of product lifecycle management (PLM) using the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. It highlighted the essential roles and features that make it a powerful tool in today’s dynamic environment.
This article delves into more advanced PLM roles on the platform. These roles focus on strategically implementing PLM tools to maximize efficiency and foster innovation.
1. 3D Product Architect
The 3D Product Architect (PAU) role is designed for engineers and designers responsible for developing complex, multi-CAD, product architectures. This role provides tools for defining product structures, managing configurations and ensuring that designs are aligned with customer requirements. The PAU role supports the creation of modular product architectures, enabling teams to develop product variants quickly and efficiently. It also includes features for managing design constraints, ensuring that all components fit together as intended and that the final product meets all performance and regulatory requirements.
The PAU role is essential for organizations developing highly engineered products, such as aerospace or automotive components, where precision and reliability are paramount.
Highlights:
- Visualize and Edit Structures: Access and modify multi-CAD product structures.
- Efficient Navigation: Easily explore and visualize product designs and changes.
- Web-Based Mock-ups: Create accessible 3D digital mock-ups for design reviews.
- Governance of Changes: Implement design modifications under a structured change process.
- Configuration Management: Apply design changes according to specific product configurations.
- Direct CAD Integration: Load mock-up sessions into CAD systems.
- 3D Measurement and Analysis: Use 3D tools for precise measurements and sectioning.
- Contextual Exploration: Investigate related objects and products within full assemblies.
- Rapid Prototyping: Duplicate existing products to quickly create new variants.
2. Change Manager
The Change Manager (CHG) role is responsible for overseeing all changes to product designs and processes. In industries where product designs are continually evolving, managing changes efficiently is critical to maintaining product quality and meeting customer expectations. The CHG role provides tools for tracking change requests, evaluating their impact and ensuring that all changes are implemented in a controlled manner. This includes managing approvals, updating documentation and ensuring that all stakeholders are informed of the changes.
The CHG role also supports version control, ensuring that all changes are tracked and that previous versions of designs can be accessed if needed. By centralizing and controlling the change management process, the CHG role helps to minimize the risk of errors or inconsistencies in the final product.
Benefits:
- Streamline Execution: Unify change processes across the organization to improve efficiency.
- Enhance Traceability: Coordinate and track changes with strict controls and clear documentation.
- Improve Coordination: Ensure consistent review and approval by involving the right stakeholders.
- Boost Consistency: Standardize change procedures across the enterprise.
- Reduce Costs: Use intelligent rules and automation to cut change management time and expenses.
Highlights:
- Closed-Loop Traceability: Track issues from submission to resolution.
- Impact Assessment: Evaluate changes comprehensively across all impacted areas.
- Orchestrate Changes: Manage changes from governance to process activities with strict control.
- Systems-Based Process: Support a consistent, multi-discipline change process.
- Change Dashboards: Clearly communicate change decisions and status.
- Efficient Communication: Relay change decisions and assignments effectively.
- Automated Management: Cut down orchestration time and cost with automation.
3. Enterprise Integration Architect
The Enterprise Integration Architect role is vital for ensuring process continuity across heterogeneous data sources within the enterprise ecosystem. This role enables the definition and management of the enterprise integration framework, facilitating seamless integration with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. The ability to deploy and maintain the integration framework in production ensures that all enterprise data sources are harmoniously connected, driving efficiency and reducing data silos.
Key Capabilities:
- Define Integration Framework: Manage agents and public events within the enterprise integration framework.
- Enable Web Services Access: Implement and test integrations using 3DEXPERIENCE Platform Public Web Services within Integration Platform as a Service (IPaaS).
- Deploy and Maintain: Ensure the integration framework is effectively deployed and maintained in production environments.
4. Collaborative Industry Innovator
The Collaborative Industry Innovator role is designed for teams aiming to drive product innovation across the entire product lifecycle. This role empowers users to collaborate in real-time on designs, share feedback and iterate on ideas securely within the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. It also simplifies the management of complex product configurations, ensuring all team members work with consistent data, which is essential in industries requiring tailored products or strict regulatory compliance.
Key Features:
- Plan and manage projects to improve team productivity.
- Create personalized dashboards to view real-time data and KPIs.
- Establish a social environment for all stakeholders to collaborate.
- Track progress by creating, assigning and monitoring tasks.
- Share structured and unstructured data, including 3D designs, documents, BOMs, project plans and presentations.
- Streamline communication and collaboration across teams and departments.
- Ensure sensitive data security and adherence to corporate and industry standards.
- Maintain integrated traceability of all activities and transactions.
- Explore and present 3D designs with integrated data for better decision-making.
5. Lean Team Player
The DELMIA Lean Team Player role, integrated within the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, leverages Lean principles to optimize team collaboration and performance. It focuses on reducing operational waste, minimizing variability and enhancing efficiency by engaging a modern workforce, regardless of their location or work environment.
Key Benefits:
- Virtual and Physical Collaboration: Whether on a shop floor touchscreen or working remotely, teams can interact in real-time, breaking down physical and organizational barriers.
- Lean Methodologies: The role integrates Lean principles into everyday team processes, reinforcing problem-solving behaviors and ensuring that meetings are productive with clear outcomes.
- Rich 3D Content: Teams can visualize and interact with 3D models of products, processes and resources, helping them explore operational issues and identify areas for improvement.
- Structured Meetings: DELMIA 3D Lean provides a framework for structured, focused meetings that drive specific actions and outcomes, ensuring no time is wasted.
- Data-Driven Decisions: With access to visual and graphical data, teams can make informed, rapid decisions, even in complex and dynamic environments.
- Continuous Improvement: The platform allows for ongoing contribution to virtual meeting boards, promoting continuous improvement and problem-solving outside of formal meetings.
6. Supply Network Manager
Efficient supply chain management is crucial in product development, and the Supply Network Manager role within the 3DEXPERIENCE platform provides the tools needed to manage supplier relationships effectively. This role enables organizations to streamline supplier engagement, ensuring that supply chain activities are aligned with product development goals. By providing real-time visibility into supplier performance, this tool helps organizations reduce risks and improve the overall quality of their products.
Highlights:
- Manage Supplier Information: Create and update key details and locations of suppliers.
- Track Relationships: Manage supplier relationships and track effectiveness over time.
- Visualize Suppliers: Browse and view suppliers on a global map.
7. Supplier Item Manager
Managing supplier items and ensuring that they meet product specifications is made easier with the Supplier Item Manager role. This role provides a centralized repository for managing supplier items, enabling organizations to track item performance, manage compliance and ensure that supplier items are integrated seamlessly into the product development process. By enhancing visibility and control over supplier items, this role helps organizations improve product quality and reduce costs.
Highlights:
- Create and manage Manufacturer Equivalent Items (MEIs).
- Define and manage qualifications (General, Equivalent, Context) for MEI usage.
- Verify MEIs’ validity for engineering items or assemblies.
- Handle component requests for introduction, modification, and external changes.
- Develop and manage request templates tailored to specific types and impacted components.
8. Classification Manager
The Classification Manager role helps organizations manage and classify engineering data effectively. By providing tools for organizing and categorizing data, this role ensures that teams can quickly find and access the information they need. This not only enhances productivity but also helps organizations maintain data integrity and compliance with industry standards.
Highlights:
- Standardize IP Reuse: Create enterprise-wide product content catalogs with flexible classification schemes tailored to company needs.
- Boost Efficiency: Utilize library classifications that allow different functional groups to organize content from various disciplinary perspectives.
- Improve Decision-Making: Use consistent and flexible classification search and comparison tools for better decision-making.
- Enhance Productivity: Access classified IP content directly from 3DEXPERIENCE platform applications.
9. Configuration Engineer
The ENOVIA 3DEXPERIENCE Configuration Engineer Role empowers users to manage and define all product variants within a single, unified product structure. By enabling real-time retrieval of parts from impacted variants through an “overloaded” design session, it accelerates the design process and facilitates rapid convergence on the optimal solution.
Key Features of Configuration Engineer:
- Seamless Integration: Keep track of configuration governance to implementation across all domains, ensuring a cohesive approach to product development.
- Enterprise-Wide Access: Make the enterprise configuration readily available for engineering definitions, enhancing collaboration and consistency.
- Precision in Configuration: Assign the accurate evolution and variation of product options based on governed criteria, maximizing reuse across multiple configurations while addressing design intent.
- Enhanced Analysis: Enable verification of design structures and conduct impact analysis for configured products, ensuring alignment with project goals.
- Direct Application: Apply product unit or option effectivity expressions directly within the 3DEXPERIENCE design environment for streamlined configuration management.
10. Issue Management
Effective issue management is crucial for resolving problems swiftly and efficiently. Though there is no specific Issue Management role, all roles can have access to these tools. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform’s Issue Management tools empower users to raise and address issues seamlessly. Any user with basic access can report an issue, assign it directly to a responsible party and track its resolution — all within a simple, cloud-based interface.
Key Features:
- Instant Notifications: When an issue is assigned, the platform automatically notifies the relevant users, ensuring prompt visibility and action.
- Comprehensive Documentation: Users can attach supporting documents, photos, 3D markups and other relevant information directly to the issue, reducing the need for additional untracked communications like meetings or emails.
- End-to-End Tracking: Issues are tracked from initiation to resolution, with the ability to attach related actions, such as change requests or updated CAD files, ensuring that all steps toward resolution are documented and accessible.
Key Takeaways:
- Global Accessibility: The cloud-based interface allows users to create, review and approve issues from anywhere, making it easy to maintain progress across distributed teams.
- Contextualized Collaboration: The related Objects tab keeps CAD components and relevant documents in context, enhancing understanding and collaboration among stakeholders.
- Enhanced Collaboration: Stakeholders can contribute to and resolve issues on their own schedules, ensuring flexibility and continuous progress.
Who can take advantage of PLM roles and apps in the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform?
These tailored PLM roles are ideal for professionals involved in various stages of product management and development, such as:
- Project Managers
- Product Managers
- Document Control Specialists
- Quality Engineer
- Supply Chain Manager
- Procurement Teams
- Design Engineer
- Executives
As for those juggling multiple responsibilities, the software packages made available through these roles ensure professionals have all the necessary tools to complete their jobs.
It’s clear that mastering PLM techniques can significantly enhance your organization’s efficiency and innovation capabilities. By understanding and applying these advanced strategies, companies are well-positioned to leverage the full potential of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform and drive meaningful improvements to their product lifecycle management processes.
About the Author
Hanen Bdioui is the Co-Founder of Champion Xperience and a dedicated advocate for Dassault Systèmes solutions. As a SOLIDWORKS Expert & Specialist and Instructor, she has gained recognition as a SOLIDWORKS Champion and the first 3DEXPERIENCE Edu Champion from Tunisia. Hanen’s exceptional projects have earned her invitations as a special guest to 3DEXPERIENCE World, where she actively contributed to the Edu booth at 3DXW24 in Dallas. Her expertise plays a crucial role in promoting technical excellence and driving innovation in the fi