Managing your products up in the cloud

Posted on 10 May 2017 by Fred Tongue

Cloud computing has transformed almost every aspect of the manufacturing process, now it is making it even easier to manage the maintenance of products.

Exact Software Digital Cloud Server

As a manufacturer in the 21st century, obligations to customers have changed. It’s no longer acceptable to produce a product and ship it out of the factory. Manufacturers are now being asked to adopt far greater responsbilities, from highly customised orders to field maintenance.

Maintenance is something that manufacturers, especially manufacturers of high value products, are expected to include in the price of their product. Thankfully, two enabling technologies are making it far easier for businesses to gain visibility over each individual product and their entire operation.

Cloud computing and sensor technology have made it possible to manage your products once they have left the factory, and in help drive and maintain important revenue streams.

The concept of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) may not be new in itself, but the ways that it can be deployed today, combined with the greater level of flexibility that it now offers, means that any kind of manufacturer can benefit from adopting it and integrating it into their business plan.

The benefits of PLM are well documented: reduced time-to-market, improved product quality, increased product development efficiency, and reduced scrap and rework costs. Yet, historically high perceived up-front costs and long installation times has stalled some manufacturers’ adoption.

Enter, cloud PLM technology. The advantages of having a cloud based PLM system are significant, offering all the positives associated with a traditional system, alongside:

  • Reduced maintenance, management and hardware costs
  • Greater scalability and pay-as-you-go models
  • Greater flexibility

If you’d like to hear more about how PLM can help your manufacturing business then join The Manufacturer and PTC for our upcoming webinar.

The webinar will take place at 14:00pm on May 24, you will hear from:

  • PTC Expert, Theo Boudewijns, who will be discussing how to reduce the IT burden and cost overhead of traditional PLM
  • Global mineral exploration company, Boart Longyear, who will be discussing the challenges they encountered and the benefits they achieved

To register for the webinar please click here.