PLM Interest Group

If the PLM Team aims to establish real metrics that show how a PLM implementation has improved the business, then some kind of cooperation from the Finance Department will be needed to calculate them.

The first problem is to provide a serious reason why the Finance Department should let you know how the Accounts are set up.  This is confidential information, and there will need to be a convincing case for doing so.

The second problem arises when the accountants explain the current structure of the Accounts, and ask what you would like to change.  Will you understand what they are talking about?  If not, the case for PLM evaporates.

In a large corporation, the structure of the global accounting systems may be very different to the structure of the PLM environment. Large parts of the financial data for PLM may simply be aggregated into an "engineering" or " product development" ledger, which will appear as a single line in the management accounts. It is very difficult to demonstrate complex PLM effects with this level of granularity, and yet the accountants will not change it unless the PLM Team can persuade them to do so.

There is no need for an Accountancy qualification, but the PLM Manager does need to be able to talk the language of the Finance Department.  You would expect them to understand the basics of PLM when you explain the benefits of a new project, and the converse is also true.

The Accountancy Overview for PLM Managers explains clearly and simply how even the most complex corporate accounts are generated, using a single, easy-to-follow worked example.   With a minimum of effort, PLM practitioners can learn enough to debate with their Finance Department colleagues on equal terms.

The Accountancy Overview has been re-issued at Version 2.0.  It is one of the Advanced-Level tools that were generated by the Financial Framework initiative, and is provided with PLMIG Membership.

It also forms part of the PLM Justification Toolset that can be purchased from the Store.

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