Product and Process Lifecycle Management - Coursework Example

Product Life Cycle The product lifecycle management is a managing process of the product lifecycle on concepts like service, manufacture, disposal and design. Therefore, this process includes people, processes, data, product information, business systems and enterprise extension (). In addition, the life cycle helps an organization deal; with any complex issues and other challenges that will rise. Moreover, this process mainly deals with information technology within an organization. This is because communication plays a significant role in an organization. Therefore, proper management of information or communication especially to customers is vital. Additionally, it helps plan on the resources on the enterprise. In this case the organization needs to know the kind of dummies their clients require (Grieves 2005). This is only possible when the organization has a good communication channel with their clients. On the other hand, product life cycle became more advanced in 2009 when there is an integration of new data and real time lifecycle event data (). In summary, business theories like product life cycle which responds to specific failures in an organization. In addition, it explains that information technology plays a significant role to an organization (Day 1981). This theory has its basis on economy and was a creation of Vernon Raymond. This theory is a response to failures in the Heckscher-Ohlin model (). Moreover, it helps explain some patterns that result from the issues of the international trade. Arguably, the lifecycle of a product originates from the places where these products originate or the place of invention. However, the more the product spreads away from the place of origin, the more it loses its production lifecycle. This is because it spreads to different parts of a country or the world. For example, a laptop has is some way lost its product lifecycle because they have spread across the world. In summary, the theory product lifecycle tries to correct wrongs in Heckscher-Ohlin model in response to the international trade (Dhalla 1976). This theory applies to groups that concern income and issues like capital use and saving on labor. Therefore, this theory shows an advantage that is comparative dynamic (). This is because the product has a lifecycle without the commodities’ production area. Therefore, this system needs to focus on the requirements which include the needs of customers and coordination with the designs within the systems. In addition, the portfolio management and the product look into the allocation of resources and also tracking the development of the plans. Arguably, the portfolio management helps manage the progress of products especially ones that are new and also make decisions that concern trade and resource allocation (). On the other hand the design of the product is the creation a product before selling to any customers. Additionally, the manufacturing process has to involve modern technology in production. In summary, product lifecycle includes the life of a product and its allocation especially when it is a new product (Stark 2006). Introduction to development process The process of burgeoning power was inspired by the automaker’s endeavor to hasten the process of product development. A design made by the computer was used in the first stage to increase productivity among engineers. The second stage enhanced communication lines where arguments and questions were resolved (Box 1983). Over time, software solutions have been known to integrate and improve a product at its different phases in the lifecycle. Many software solutions have developed to organize and integrate the different phases of a product’s lifecycle. Below is a sample of the phases involved in the product life cycle; Phase 1: Conceive Imagine, specify, plan, and innovate The first stage includes a clear cut explanation of the requirements according to the company’s, customer’s and market’s perception of the idea. If this is outlined, it becomes easier to identify the technical parts of the idea. Initially, the concept behind the design work by defining the product’s aesthetics and the aspects of how it functions. However, in some product concepts converting the investment to analysis of options is easier than research. Sometimes, it is included in the conception phase for some products. Life cycle engineering is rather iterative. There is a probability of something not functioning properly in the later stages and in that case, the product is returned to the initial stage (Rey 2004). Phase 2: Design Describe, define, develop, test, analyze and validate This is the stage where the form of the product is formed by giving a detailed design where prototype testing is also included and finally the product launch is made possible. Furthermore, it is necessary to note that this step covers many engineering aspects such as aerospace, architectural, software and automotive. Geometry creation is hence combined with analyzing the assemblies of products and components (Saahsvuori 2008). The validation of the above process is done by using software in the stand alone and the process is referred to as known as computer aided engineering. Moreover, kinematics, street analysis and computational fluid dynamics are some of the tasks that are performed by the same computer program. Another task carried out in this phase is sourcing components that have been bought out especially with the use of procurement systems (Westkamper 2000). Phase 3: Realize Manufacture, make, build, procure, produce, sell and deliver This is the phase where the manufacturing method is defined after the completion of the product’s design. This involves tasks such as tool design and the creation of machine instructions in the tools of manufacture especially using the software for manufacturing that is computer based. Tools used in process simulation such as molding, casting and die press forming are used for operations. As soon as the method of manufacturing is identified we call it the realization stage. It involves the planning of production which helps in carrying out plant and factory layout in simulation of production (Stark 2006). In contrast with the former phase which involves engineering tasks, the configuration of sales product and the documentation of marketing activities including sales take place. Parallel to the engineering tasks, sales product configuration and marketing documentation work take place. In this endeavor, desktop publishing systems are used to help in the transfer of data to a sales configurator which is web based. Phase 4: Service Use, operate, maintain, support, sustain, phase-out, retire, recycle and disposal The management of the in service information is done in the last stage of the product life cycle. It is very imperative for the management to provide information to the service engineers and customers on how the recycling of waste will be managed while explaining whether maintenance and repair will be included. For that to be done, some engineering tools such as the maintenance repair and operations software is used. Every product has an end of life by either destroying it or disposing yet some may need to be recycled and taken back to the first stage (Rey 2004). All phases: product lifecycle Communicate, manage and collaborate It is difficult to observe the above phases in isolation. In an inclusive manner, projects run together since information flows between various systems and also among people. Each of the above phases depends on each other. If one is not done then the life cycle is not complete. One of the major components of product life management is the management and coordination of the definition data outlined for the product. This includes the management of shifts and release status of components which includes; risk assessment, management of documents, configuration of the product variations and planning the resources available for the completion of the project. User skills Initially, practitioners who made an investment to gain the necessary skills used tools to help in work within a solution set known as PLM. The engineers and designers did very well with CAD systems while manufacturing engineers enhanced their skills especially in the use of CAM and finally analysts, managers and administrators were well versed with their support technologies. Nevertheless, if PLM is to be exploited to the fullest and enjoy is benefits, people may have to work as a team whereby each person is strong in a certain area and can manage input and output appropriately. However, over time, it has not been a practical idea to train the entire team of personnel on the PLM tool set as much as it has been much easier to use PLM tools. Despite this, advances are being made in an attempt to make the PLM arena easy to manage. The availability of role in interfaces of specific users is one of the advanced methods used (Grieves 2005). Concurrent engineering workflow Instead of working in stages in a sequential manner, a big number of tasks can be carried out in a parallel manner and this is known as concurrent engineering work flow. Nevertheless, this flow of work does not necessarily mean that the labor and manpower is reduced because more tasks tend to come up and the completion process may be slowed down. However, it reduces the lead time and in that event the time to market is also affected in the same manner. An added advantage of concurrent engineering is enhancing the lines of communication between departments leading to major shifts in design as well as reducing the chance of costly. A prevention method is adopted for preventing problems before they happen rather than implementing a strategy to handle the problem after it occurs. All in all a good strategy for dealing with unpredictable problems is in place. This is done by redesigning and solving traditional sequential engineering (Dhalla 1976). Bottom–up design Bottom–up design is also known as CAD- centric and it occurs when individual components of a product are constructed first by the definition of 3D models. Sub assemblies of more than one level are defined in a digital manner by bringing them together virtually. It can be referred to as the review structure whereby how the product will look like is portrayed. The BOM has all the solid components and may contain other items described as bulk items including oil, glue and paint. Bulk items are not modeled with geometry in most cases since they have quantities and mass. This design tends to take particular focus on the capability of technology in modern time while implementing the solutions offered that are well suited to the technology. Top-down design can be much more efficient than the top-down design if its solutions have real world value. However, the major risk posed is that it only offers solutions to problems which are low in value (Box 1983). Top–down design Top–down design takes a major focus on requirements that are on a higher functional level with less concentration in implementing technology that exists. A top level specification is eventually decomposed into lower structures until the layer of physical implementation is reached. Just like the previous design, the top-down design also has its risks which included not exploiting the opportunity of technology to the best level. Furthermore, the implementation of hardware is also not fully maximized. The positive value of top–down design is that it preserves a focus on the optimum solution requirements (Rey 2004). Both-ends-against-the-middle design Both-ends-against-the-middle is a process that seeks to design one process by combining the best features found in top-down design and bottom-up design. It somehow seeks to find a balance or equilibrium. A BEATM process of design may start with a form of technology which offers valuable solutions or it may outline a problem that needs a solution in a top-down view. In either case the most important aspect of BEATM methodology of design is to focus immediately on both ends of the flow of design process which includes a top-down view of the requirements of solutions while a bottom-up view which may give a solution based on technology may also be very efficient (Dhalla 1976). Front loading design and workflow Front loading is more of improving the top-down design. The control and review structure kicks off if it has been authorized and includes tooling development, drawings, CAM models as well as downstream data. A template is made by the constituted files available from which an array of products can be constructed. As soon as there is approval of a new product to be made, the different components of the product are entered into the model template and all the data involved is updated. However, predefined associative models may require additional work and may therefore not predict all the possibilities at hand. The major principle is that most of the investigative tasks have already been completed. So much knowledge and information is built into the templates and can be used for reference in the future in case of new products. This may require more resources especially at the start of things but the period to the launch of the product may cause a reduction. Changes in the organization are required as other departments are developed and engineering efforts moved offline. In this case, this technology is used for the mere purpose of generating the next product (Day 1981). Design in context It would be difficult for individual components to be constructed in isolation. CAD and CaiD are models of components which are designed within the first stages of the development of the product. Modeling techniques such as assembly are used to achieve this purpose. Geometry can be identified and referenced within the tool being used which is the CAD. Product visualization software also helps in the checking the assembly especially DMU which is always carried out (Levitt 1965). Product and process lifecycle management (PPLM) “Product and process lifecycle management” is a genre that is an alternative of product life management whereby the process involved in making the product is as essential as the product itself. Typically, this is an advanced specialty in chemical markets especially in life sciences. The manufacturing process of any key elements especially in the filing of an application based on drugs is very crucial in the entire process. As a result, product and process lifecycle management seeks to manage information concerning the product whose baseline is PLM. However, there is one thing that acts as a variant in the implementation of PPLM and that is PDES. Implementation of the development cycle in technology from the initial stages of conception through to developing the product and finally manufacturing is made easier by technology. PDES accommodates people with different skills and abilities who can assist in offering knowledge on business processes as much as they may have come from different backgrounds (Rey 2004). References Bergsjö, D. (2009). Product Lifecycle Management – Architectural and organizational Perspectives. Chalmers University of Technology Box, J. (1983) Extending product lifetime Prospects and opportunities, European Journal of Marketing, vol 17, 1983, pp 34–49. Day, G. (1981) The product life cycle: Analysis and applications issues, Journal of Marketing, vol 45, Autumn 1981, pp 60–67. Dhalla, N.K., Yuspeh, S. (1976) Forget the product life cycle concept, 'Harvard Business Review', Jan–Feb 1976 Grieves, M. (2005). Product Lifecycle Management: Driving the Next Generation of Lean Thinking. McGraw-Hill. Levitt, T. (1965) Exploit the product life cycle, Harvard Business Review, vol 43, November–December 1965, pp 81–94. Rey F.J., Martín-Gil J., Velasco E. et al. (2004) Life Cycle Assessment and external environmental cost analysis of heat pumps, Environmental Engineering Science, vol 21, September 2004, pp 591–605 Saaksvuori, A. (2008). Product Lifecycle Management. Springer. Stark, J. (2006). Global Product: Strategy, Product Lifecycle Management and the Billion Customer Question. Springer. Westkämper, E. (2000) Live Cycle Management and Assessment. Approaches and Visions towards Sustainable Manufacturing, Annals of the CIRP, Vol. 49/2/2000, p. 501–522. Read More