Project Lifecycle Management (PLM) helps businesses develop new products and bring them to market. Shepherding a product from initial idea all the way design and manufacturing, through sales, distribution and eventual retirement requires many steps and even more people. Cloud PLM is what makes such a complex process possible. Not only is cloud PLM the warehouse of all iterations of the project’s data, but it is also the tool that allows inter-disciplinary and physically-distanced teams to collaborate with one another at the same time.

That’s a huge job, and it sounds complicated. But it doesn’t have to be.

You might think that in order to keep track of so many variables and contributors though so many processes, cloud PLM would be complicated and tough to use. And indeed over the years the PLM industry has added complex capabilities to proprietary systems while paying lip service to the idea of ease of deployment and use. Efforts were made to customize PLM software to solve specific problems, but adding more customization only made PLM more cumbersome. Complex solutions aimed at single problems are more difficult to use, not easier. And the time employees spend struggling to adapt to niche cloud PLM and PDM solutions is time taken away from product development.

With Upchain, simplicity is key.

Upchain was developed as an easy to implement and use cloud PLM solution for everyone involved. Upchain’s modern, multi-tenant cloud tools provide a new user-centric platform and an extended set of cloud PLM functions while avoiding historical PLM pitfalls like over-customization. This way, teams can concentrate their expertise in their own fields, rather than in navigating over-complicated PLM processes.

The best and easiest tools are the ones you never see. Upchain’s cloud PLM solution integrates seamlessly into the business tools you use every day. It’s transparent to the user, embedded within your commonly used desktop tools, like CAD tools or MS Office, and able to integrate with your enterprise, cloud, mobile and desktop solutions. Always on, running quietly in the background, never interfering in day-to-day operations. This way, Upchain can continuously add new improvements while keeping the user experience simple and fuss-free.

With Upchain cloud PLM and PDM, everyone in your value chain can connect with your product’s latest iterations and data. Your teams, who are likely to be geographically diverse, can collaborate free of silos or barriers, always secure that they’re working on the most recent files. Suppliers, partners, and even customers can provide feedback without CAD licenses, adding both transparency and efficiency to the process. And communication with any aspect of the product is never lost or broken.

The simplicity of Upchain’s cloud PLM solution also means you can get up and running fast. Cloud-based data management tools eliminate the need for long installations, so the onboarding process is simple and efficient. The ease of Upchain’s implementation gets you up and running in weeks not months, increasing your team’s productivity and, ultimately, your bottom line. Because the less time your teams spend trying to figure out complicated new PLM processes, the more time they have to spend on improving design, manufacturing, sales, or service.

PLM software is designed to make the product development process more transparent and more efficient. Upchain cloud PLM also drives innovation by enabling an integrated environment that allows users to work in their native applications while collaborating easily and openly with others throughout their value chain. This leads to swifter product development cycles, a faster time to market, and rapid assessment of product performance – all while maintaining the integrity of the product’s data.

Companies should be able to concentrate on what they do best: create cutting-edge products. Upchain’s efficient and easy-to-use cloud PLM solution allows them to do just that, while keeping all stakeholders connected and collaborating. Simplifying complex processes is hard, but when you get it right, you can change the world.

To learn more about Upchain’s user-centric platform and cloud PLM, download our ebook: Simple is Hard.