PLM is the new happiness

Sociacom offers you each quarter when sending out its newsletter, an article to broaden your horizons and think about concepts, opinions that are changing our profession.

At the end of September, the British blogWhich PLM, dedicated to PLM in the apparel industry, wrote an article entitled “How are you so burnt when you're barely on fire?” ("How are you so burned when you're barely on fire?"). This mysterious title, visibly taken from the words of ahole song, former band of Courtney Love, hides an interesting article.

Lucy Blackley, the editor and expert in product life cycle management, mixes ecology and well-being with... PLM. life of the product.

“PLM does exactly what it says on the box,tells us Which PLM.It manages the life cycle of a product. Why brands don't have it (especially in the UK) is beyond me, given its many benefits to the business, employees, supply chain and the environment.”

Which ones? Lucy Blackley develops three uses of PLM.

1 - It's firsta product optimization framework that centralizes records.“Teams are able to quickly identify potential sales and revenue contributions that help the company realize profits and reinvest in the business, in their technologies and in their people.”_cc781905-5cde-3194- bb3b-136bad5cf58d_

2 - Then, the PLM providesdocumentation that can help demonstrate compliancethroughout the supply chain.

3 - Finally, by outlining the planning, it helps toimprove forecastsenterprise-wide. This results in reduced material and waste costs. That“saves time not only for the manufacturer but also for the whole team because a single approval can be recorded and distributed in the system data.”

More prosaically, the PLM system does not have a pure function of profitability. Or if this is necessarily the long-term objective, the path to achieving it goes through much more human aspects than it seems.

“When businesses are organized, everyone benefits within that organization. There is solidarity and a team spirit because everyone knows what is happening in the life cycle of their products. Product quality and reliability is increased due to the lack of stress of maintaining in a chaotic environment. Since everyone knows what they are doing, the people can concentrate on the work to which they have assigned themselves. (...) Productivity is contagious; it's a positive domino effect, and if a team is aware of what's going on, it goes down the supply chain, allowing for closer collaboration.”

The PLM is not limited to a data entry system. If we are used to seeing it as the oil in the cogs of business, its advantages are broader; for the employees, in particular also for the corporate culture, the long-term strategy, the human values and the global environmental awareness.

PLM, a new human resources and CHSCT tool, 1000 times more effective than a ping-pong table? This is Lucy Blackley's argument.

“I've been in so many scenarios where people are literally yelling at each other because nobody understands what's going on. Is it the fault of the employees? Absolutely not. As a business, we need to take responsibility for our employees who, in turn, will take care of the business if they feel supported and have the right tools to do the job.”

According to the article, it is about getting organized, making choices and focusing on technological transformations, so that everyone expresses their "full potential". “It will add to your company culture, increase your profits and ensure you stay relevant.”