The Forrester Wave: Product Life-Cycle Management Applications

In Forrester’s first PLM market landscape, analyst Roy Wildeman evaluated leading PLM applications across approximately 70 criteria from the perspectives of both discrete-based and process-based manufacturers. Criteria included current offering, product strategy, market presence, scalability and solution breadth. Seven vendors were assessed: Dassault, IFS, Infor, Oracle, PTC, SAP and Siemens. Oracle was ranked as a Strong Performer due to advanced discrete-based and process-based functionality gained through the acquisition of Agile PLM.

Highlights: “For discrete manufacturers, we evaluated Oracle Agile PLM 9.2.2, which leads all other vendors in its support for discrete-based PDM requirements through its configurable data model, workflow speed and security-based collaboration capabilities.” “Oracle Agile PLM 9.2.2 also offers extended support in select areas like project and portfolio management, material sourcing and quality and regulatory compliance for discrete customers.”

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Success Factor - Product Lifecycle Management

Supply Chain Management – in recent times became a topic, especially because of delivery problems with the Airbus A380, at Boeing’s Dreamliner 787 and a flood of products such as, for example, toys, cosmetics or electrical devices which are dangerous or contain contaminants. A key discipline of modern supply chains is “Product Lifecycle Management“, which supports Management by providing information, processes and decisions about products throughout their entire lifecycle and across the entire global product network.

To an increasing extent, enterprises take advantage of the globalization during the development, design and manufacturing of their products, including the provision of services. Complicated operating procedures and widely-networked delivery chains are the consequence. With Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), companies can overcome this complexity while utilizing all of the opportunities for globalization to the full extent. For an increasing number of producing companies, PLM therefore stands at the focal point of their growth strategy, because it represents the basis for making decisions relating to product innovations and compliance with the regulatory requirements. Furthermore, the selection of the PLM solution has an influence on the entire application landscape of a company.

The products determine the competitive situation, the profitability and the long-term growth of manufacturing enterprises. A company’s product data or the "Product Record" represents its most important intellectual property because the products are uniquely defined in every aspect and in every phase of their lifecycle. Product data contains all the information an enterprise needs to develop, to design, to procure, to manufacture, to maintain and to dispose of products. Only with a transparent PLM solution which is integrated in a company's IT systems, can the challenges of the globalized economy be mastered.

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INFORMATION CONNECTS - Oracle Supply Chain Management

Oracle supply chain management solutions extend your reach around the globe. You can collaborate with partners across geographic regions, manage complex supplier networks, and quickly adapt to changing global business conditions.
We live in a world of incredible bounty and speed where any product can be delivered anywhere on earth. However, our world is also filled with challenges for business— where volatility, uncertainty, risk, and chaos are our daily companions. As we begin the twenty-first century, the twin influences of globalization and interconnectivity are driving an accelerating rate of change.

INFORMATION EXTENDS

Accelerate Product Innovation and Maximize Profitability
Agile Product Lifecycle Management

Shrinking product lifecycles, global competition, supply chain complexity, and increasing customer demands have made it more challenging than ever to bring winning products to the market. To increase revenue, market share, quality, and product profitability, manufacturers must achieve operational excellence throughout the product lifecycle and across the extended enterprise. To stay competitive, they must maximize product pipeline throughput while shortening cycle times, achieving target margins, and ensuring regulatory compliance. Seamlessly integrating outsourced design, supply chain, and manufacturing resources with internal processes can be the difference between winning and losing.

Global Pack Management Processes - Pharma
Advanced Pharma Packaging Kongress – Berlin 26-28.Februar 2008

Rolf Laudenbach
Senior Solution Consultant, EMEA PLM, ORACLE Deutschland GmbH

Product Lifecycle Management – Key to Faster Product Innovations, Profitable Growth, More Efficient Globalisation and Compliance

During the last 20 years, products such as mobile phones, cars, medical equipment and even pharmaceuticals and consumer goods have become significantly more complex in their composition and their production. In addition, companies are taking increasing advantage of globalisation in the development, design and manufacturing of their products, including services.

Although this makes it possible to increase the profit margins, the complexity of company procedures increases at the same time. Without a high performance Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution, it can even take weeks to implement technical change orders if the approval chain stretches across eight time zones, three languages and five different countries. Quality control is also a challenge when companies draw upon a multitude of components, raw materials and a worldwide supply chain for their products.

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Magic Quadrant for Manufacturing Product Life Cycle Management, 4Q07

Four significant acquisitions have changed the dynamics and complexion of the PLM software market in manufacturing. The field of vendors most suitable for large manufacturers consolidated from 10 in 2005 to six in 2007.

Four important acquisitions since 2006 have changed the complexion of the product life cycle management (PLM) software market for manufacturers. Dassault Systemes (DS) acquired MatrixOne during 2Q06. Siemens' Automation and Drives group acquired UGS during 1Q07. Oracle acquired Agile Software during 2Q07, and, in a smaller yet significant purchase, PTC acquired CoCreate during 4Q07. These four vendors plus SAP and Autodesk have annual revenue close to or exceeding $1 billion, with substantial customer bases that would need to be supported for years. All six have been moving toward fulfilling Gartner's PLM vision. Large manufacturers making substantial long-term PLM investments are protected with any of these vendors, considering the size of their customer bases. These vendors have different strengths and vary in their support for different manufacturing sectors. Therefore, large manufacturers still need to assess the vendors for strengths that align with their priorities and support for their industries.

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Oracle Unveils Oracle® Product Information Management for Retail

NRF 97th ANNUAL CONVENTION & EXPO, NEW YORK, 14-JAN-2008 05:00 AM Oracle today announced the availability of Oracle(r) Product Information Management for Retail, an innovative master data management application that allows global retailers to create a single, enterprise view of all product information to help unlock value from within the business. Oracle Product Information Management for Retail helps retailers improve operational efficiencies, accelerate the speed-to-market of new product introductions and service offerings across different channels, improve customer intimacy and automate collaboration with trading partners.

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Oracle Buys Product Lifecycle Management Leader Agile

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. 15-MAY-2007 Oracle announced today that it has agreed to acquire Agile Software Corporation (Nasdaq: AGIL), a leading provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software solutions, through a cash merger for $8.10 per share, or approximately $495 million.

Agile's PLM solutions help engineers, manufacturing and supply chain professionals and business executives drive the product innovation and introduction process, share product specifications and configurations and collaborate effectively across the supply chain in a variety of industries, including high-tech, life sciences, industrial manufacturing and consumer packaged goods. Agile's solutions help customers make better product portfolio decisions, accelerate new product introduction, improve manufacturing quality and manage regulatory compliance. Customers of Agile include Acer, Flextronics International, GE Medical Systems, Harris, Heinz, Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, McDonald's, Micron, QUALCOMM, Shell and ZF.

PLM is evolving into an enterprise-wide discipline that spans multiple product design systems and interacts with a wide-range of enterprise applications to manage the complete product lifecycle from concept and design, to production, sales and service. The combination of Agile and Oracle will create an integrated, enterprise-wide PLM solution. Additionally, Oracle's commitment to open-standards based integration will enable users of other enterprise applications to utilize Agile's best-in-class capabilities.

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