You have a new product variant or concept. Where do you start? What happens next? From idea through design to manufacturing, there are many steps involved in product development. However, today your steps may look different from prior years. So much is in constant flux.
In addition to your typical timeline milestones, there is the uncertainty of a tumultuous market. Supply chain challenges are impacting manufacturing across all industries as well as how work is performed day to day, and customer expectations. It may not be the days of business as usual, but it is a time of change and opportunity.
It always is, isn’t it? Yet, the drive to adapt to new conditions using new technologies that help improve product development processes is even greater.
Digital transformation
You’ve heard the term digital transformation. Digital transformation offers a new way forward, connecting people, processes, and the entire manufacturing ecosystem more effectively to help you design and make products faster with lower costs and less waste.
Simply put, when an outdated process is no longer serving your organization’s business needs, there is likely a more cost-effective, productivity-enhancing process you can achieve by implementing new technology—a new and improved digital process.
In fact, the technology solution may not be all that new, only new to your organization because digital transformation is incremental. It is the natural progression for any business that meets demands head on to achieve greater agility. The timing for your company is unique to your requirements.
But the key is not missing the window of opportunity and settling for status quo when your business depends on more modern processes to survive and ultimately thrive. You want to perform better, achieve goals, and compete against new odds and ultimately continue to grow successfully.
The time for digital transformation is always now. There’s always a starting point and a new way forward.
Connecting your organization’s people, processes, and data
One of the ways forward is with product lifecycle management. Think of the value of your product data and how it gets created and used throughout your business. From design to manufacturing there are many different roles involved. There’s more than engineering though, right? There’s procurement, suppliers, quality managers, and more. PLM connects all involved – it connects your organization’s people, processes, and data.
If you were to choose somewhere to start your digital transformation, chances are you already have. Perhaps you use Vault to manage your engineering data and processes. Next you can integrate Vault with Fusion 360 Manage to extend your vaulted data to the rest of your organization with PLM processes that help speed up product development.
Your digital transformation involves actionable steps that you can accomplish incrementally to achieve product development process improvements. Maybe you just need to know where to start, or what to do next?
Learn More: Live Webinar May 26th
Be sure to join us to learn more during our upcoming webinar about the top 5 ways to speed up product development on May 26th at 11:30 am Eastern Time featuring Autodesk PDM-PLM expert, Brian Schanen.
We look forward to seeing you there!