Overcoming the challenges of global PLM implementation

Midway into a three-year phased deployment of Trace One Devex PLM, the director of R&D and shared capabilities at one of the world’s largest food manufacturers shares his lessons from a global deployment. 

Understand the needs of your organization 

The R&D team needed a better way of addressing changes in the industry to better serve customers. This meant enabling data to drive speed and agility with a solution that manages product development.  

As the team looked at Trace One Devex PLM, they realized that other stakeholders across the organization had similar needs, but no one solution was being leveraged.  

“I’m amazed at the creativity of what we did without a PLM tool, but now we understand how it can be managed and we’re on a really good path,” says the director. “We had to build that understanding.” 

Global operations require some adjustments 

Bringing new ingredients to new markets requires a harmonized effort from partners around the globe. A centralized solution like Trace One Devex PLM creates visibility, but only if everyone feels comfortable using it. This means mobilizing inclusive practices to promote adoption. 

“On a global scale, our business language is English, but we built training materials for users around the world,” the director says. “This made it easy for users to understand and adopt the tool.” 

And once everyone is using the same solution, operationally, everyone still has to be on the same page. This means accounting for regional differences. 

“Understand that there are different cultures around the world, different holidays,” the director says. 

First you have to get the data… 

The company’s primary objective for implementing a global PLM solution was to better manage data around the world. Data would give R&D more confidence in product development and validate business decisions. But suddenly having access to data is an adjustment. “No existing PLM solution meant we had trouble capturing data,” notes the director. “You’ve got to get the data, work on the data, and you need time to implement it.” 

Once the company had access to data, they needed the right resources in place to mobilize the intelligence they had received. This has allowed operations and quality teams around the world to utilize data and move forward. 

“There’s freedom in a spreadsheet, but there are more benefits to a harmonized approach,” the director says.  

…and then you have to protect the data 

Generating a global data stream for a major operation means crucial pieces of lifecycle insights are suddenly visible. If you’re not careful, important pieces of intellectual property might get into the wrong hands. 

“It’s a big focus, so we worked closely with Trace One to understand cybersecurity of PLM,” comments the director. 

Fortunately, Trace One Devex PLM meets or exceeds all industry standards related to cybersecurity in the cloud. Enterprise data is reliably available while still being access controlled, backed up, and protected.  

Start your global implementation with a good partner 

“How have we overcome hurdles?” asks the director. “Our partnership with Trace One has been a big part of that. We can lean on them and how they have dealt with issues in the past.” 

Trace One has a long history of successful implementations, over thirty-years’ of delivering value to formula-based manufacturers. This knowledge and experience means customers have a trusted partner for resolving PLM challenges, through implementation and beyond.