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User Community Meeting
 

User Community Pathfinder Meeting - Belgium

 

PLM Managers came together in Belgium in January 2020 for a working event in which they could meet and share ideas.  This was part of a drive to establish independent User Communities to gather best practice and create a 'User Voice'.

User groups have formed before in Belgium and the Netherlands, but these were based on informal and casual meetings.  This new event was the first time that a full 2-day workshop format had been tried, with the aim of going into much greater detail than has previously been possible.

   

The Workshop was run by the PLMIG with a structured Agenda that included user presentations, group discussion, PLM theory and planning.

This proved that the format works.  It generated new ideas about the role of the PLM Manager and how to manage an implementation professionally, which are now part of the deliverables.

 
   

Picanol Group hosted the Meeting in Ieper, Belgium on January 22-23.

 

The social interaction also worked well.  After working together for two days, delegates decided to continue to develop their User Community.

 
 

User Community Meeting
 

Meeting Format

 

Overview


The Pathfinder Meeting was a 2-day workshop format where there is time to do real work, and with an effective structure so that results are produced.

Participants presented overviews of their approach, or elements that they felt to be particularly important, and the group discussed them.  The PLMIG added theory and structure that enabled different approaches to be seen in context and compared.

As it was over two days, participants were able to meet over an evening meal, have longer conversations and form working relationships.  The second day included group working sessions, and the PLMIG produces the deliverables that everyone can use back at base.

 
 

User Community Meeting
 

Agenda

 

On Day 1 participants presented their own PLM scenario, methods and issues; and the PLM techniques arising from this were covered.  The group also discussed the overall user relationship with vendors and suppliers.

 

 

Day 1


    Keynote: PLM Implementation Issues and Plans at Soleras

    Round Table: Overview of PLM at other participants

    PLM:  The User Viewpoint
        - Life as a software customer
        - Issues / Problems / Wish List
        - Relationship Management

    PLM Analysis: Making sense of varied PLM Environments

    User Community Voice
        - relationship with providers
        - constructive paths to improvement

    Working Session: Common Issues and Shared Pain Points

 


Day 2 was an active working day.  After a session from the PLMIG on the PLM Manager's role and methods that can be used to improve traction, the group held two shared discussions on technical issues.  In the afternoon the group considered the ways in which it could continue in the future.


 

Day 2


    PLM Theory: What the PLM Manager needs to know

    PLM Management: Issues and Prioritisation
        - selecting the Working Issues

    Working Session: From CAD Management to BOM

    Working Session: Shared Numbering between PDM and ERP

    The Future of PLM User Communities
        - has the format worked?
        - future possibilities
        - pros and cons

    Format for the Future - Next Steps

 
 

User Community Meeting
 

Benefits

 

The benefits that were initially envisaged for this event were achieved:-

  • get feedback from your peers on your current PLM approach
  • see how other PLM Teams manage their implementations
  • learn how advanced PLM theory connects dissimilar situations and methods
  • have detailed background discussions on any aspect of PLM
  • build working relationships that will last into the future
  • take away deliverables that impact one of your major PLM issues

The sessions also showed the benefits of applying a structured and professional approach to managing PLM, in a way that can increase the leverage of a PLM Manager within his or her organisation:-

  • a review professional concepts and management practice
  • an opening Question Set on approach, organisation, communication and control
  • a review of documentation against best practice
  • how to leverage written material to set baselines and targets for progress
  • the power of a written Vision and its consequent roadmapping
  • a cross-check against the parameters of Demystifying PLM
  • application of the Governance Standard to clarify the high-level management environment
  • a focused Self-Assessment to safely bring in the views of stakeholders
 
 

User Community Meeting
 

 

The New 'Belgium PLM Club'

 

Over the course of the two days, delegates agreed that they would like to continue meeting in the future, and formed a new PLM user group based naturally within driving distance of central Belgium.  This group is now self-governing and would like to expand.  The more members, the wider the pool of expertise and the stronger the User Voice.

The key features are the ability to meet, and the structured nature of the discussions.  (General conversations are part of the benefit, but this group also wants to define ways of improving.)  The working language is English, so the group is accessible to user companies in Belgium, the Netherlands, and the north-east of France.

The PLM Club has decided trial a shorter, 4-hour format, but to maintain the face-to-face element.  It has therefore been held up by Coronavirus restrictions, and aims to resume as soon as these are eased. Currently this is expected to be the second half of this year.

 

How to Join

 

Additional members of this PLM community will be welcome.  You can find out more, and see if you might like to join, via


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