Companies that make products must ensure their products sell. The best way to ensure this is to create high-quality, innovative products. But in today’s age, there are so many companies vying for the same target audience by creating similar products. The key to a company’s success in such a situation is to effectively create product differentiation.
This is where product lifecycle management (PLM) tools come into play – they make it possible for manufacturing businesses to develop and launch innovative products that stand out from the competition. This article explains product lifecycle management and why Oracle Agile PLM is one of the best PLM tools out there.
What is Product Lifecycle Management?
Product lifecycle management (PLM) is a mainstay of modern business operations. It is a structured approach to managing the entire lifecycle of a product from its conception all the way to its disposal/retirement. At its core, PLM encapsulates a holistic approach to product management, encompassing every stage of a product’s existence, from inception and design through production, distribution, and eventual disposal.
Product lifecycle management is not merely a singular process but rather a comprehensive framework that integrates people, processes, and technology to streamline the entire lifecycle of a product. It serves as a strategic roadmap that guides organizations in effectively managing resources, optimizing workflows, and enhancing collaboration across multifaceted teams and departments.
What is Oracle Agile PLM?
Oracle Agile Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is a comprehensive and robust solution designed to address the intricate challenges of modern product development and lifecycle management. As part of the Oracle Corporation’s extensive suite of enterprise software applications, Agile PLM offers a suite of powerful tools and functionalities to streamline and optimize every aspect of the product lifecycle.
Although the platform essentially relates to product development, it also offers some project management features and functionalities to manage various tasks, timelines, and resources involved in bringing a product to market.
Key Features of Oracle Agile
Here are some of the key features and capabilities of Oracle Agile PLM:
- End-to-End Lifecycle Management: Agile PLM provides a centralized platform to manage the entire lifecycle of a product, from initial concept and design through manufacturing, distribution, and eventual retirement. It consolidates all product-related data and processes in a single repository, thus facilitating collaboration and visibility across diverse teams and departments.
- Product Data Management (PDM): Agile is known to offer excellent PDM capabilities. It allows organizations to effectively manage product-related data, including bills of materials (BOMs), specifications, CAD drawings, documents, and change orders. This ensures data integrity, version control, and traceability throughout the product lifecycle.
- Change Management: Agile PLM offers comprehensive change management functionalities to facilitate the review, approval, and implementation of product changes. Whether it’s engineering changes, regulatory updates, or supplier modifications, Agile PLM provides automated workflows and audit trails to ensure timely and compliant change execution.
- Quality Management: Quality is one of the most critical elements of a product’s success. Agile PLM includes features for managing quality processes, such as non-conformance tracking, corrective and preventive actions (CAPA), and quality audits.
- Supplier Collaboration: One of the best features of Oracle Agile is that it enables collaboration with suppliers throughout the product lifecycle, from supplier selection and qualification to procurement and supplier relationship management.
- Regulatory Compliance: Industries such as aerospace, defense, healthcare, and automotive require strict adherence to regulatory compliance. This makes compliance a critical aspect of product development, especially in these manufacturing industries. Agile PLM provides tools for managing regulatory documentation, certifications, and compliance assessments to ensure adherence to global standards and regulations.
- Analytics & Reporting: Agile PLM offers users robust analytics and reporting capabilities that allow them to gain insights into product performance, project status, and key performance indicators (KPIs). This real-time analytics capability allows organizations to make informed decisions, identify opportunities for improvement, and drive innovation.
5 Reasons to Choose Oracle Agile PLM
Apart from the capabilities and features of Oracle Agile mentioned above, here are some more reasons why this PLM platform consistently ranks as the top PLM system in the world today.
1. Comprehensiveness
The top reason why most Agile PLM customers love it is because of its comprehensiveness – it offers a suite of features and functionalities that cover the entire spectrum of product lifecycle management.
Its all-encompassing capabilities eliminate the need for multiple disparate systems, thus streamlining operations and reducing complexity.
2. Scalability
Agile PLM is highly scalable, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes, from small enterprises to large corporations. Whether your company manages a handful of products or a vast portfolio, Oracle Agile can adapt to the evolving needs and growth trajectory of your organization without much ado.
3. Integration Capabilities
As part of the Oracle ecosystem, Agile PLM seamlessly integrates with other Oracle applications, such as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems, CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software, and SCM (Supply Chain Management) solutions. This integration enables seamless data flow and process synchronization across the entire enterprise.
4. Proven Track Record
Agile PLM has the enviable position of holding the most extensive list of satisfied PLM customers. It has a long-standing track record of successful implementations and satisfied customers across various industries worldwide. Its reliability, stability, and robustness make it a trusted choice for organizations seeking a mature and battle-tested PLM solution.
5. Global Support Network
Oracle’s extensive global support network provides customers with access to a wealth of resources, including technical support, training, documentation, and user communities. This ensures that organizations can effectively deploy, manage, and optimize Agile PLM to achieve their business objectives.
Conclusion
When it comes to product lifecycle management, Oracle Agile comfortably tops the list. This article explains some leading features and capabilities of Oracle Agile PLM and discusses further reasons why companies prefer to use Agile PLM as their product development software choice.
Xavor is a global leader in providing Agile PLM solutions to businesses from diverse industries all over the world. As a known Oracle partner – Xavor’s PLM solutions are customized to meet your business needs. We have also developed a wide range of Agile PLM products that revolutionize your Agile PLM experience.
Contact us at info@xavor.com to learn more about how Xavor can help you improve your product lifecycle management with Oracle Agile PLM.