In the field of manufacturing, the intelligent networking of machines, systems, workpieces and IT systems is a prerequisite for what Americans refer to as "mass customization", i.e. made-to-order series production. It leads not only to a massive increase in the complexity of the development and manufacturing processes but also to their level of interaction.
When it is no longer possible to simulate every theoretically possible configuration of a product during development, every ordered product variant must at least be validated before the start of production. This requires a much higher level of data communication and, above all, the bidirectional communication of data between development and manufacturing or manufacturing planning. The keyword here is “digital manufacturing”.
What does this all mean in terms of the strategic IT landscape? Many companies are questioning the classic distribution of tasks between the PLM system as the engineering platform and the ERP system as the backbone system for the other business processes. They are wondering whether the PLM system is perhaps the better backbone for ensuring an unimpeded flow of data at the "green border" between development and production. We invite you to share what you think with our PLM experts. Because, regardless of the outcome of the discussion, you can be sure that, with Industry 4.0 and IoT, PLM systems will be faced with performing new tasks.