So you’re a manager at a manufacturing company. You make things that are useful to your customers and you answer to the executives regarding matters such as budgets, efficiencies, timelines and deliverables. You will have at least heard of PLM; perhaps you have attended a conference or two. But how badly do you need to implement it or retool an existing setup?

Here are 10 indicators:

1. Your staff is always late meeting deadlines. This results from poorly executed projects, inefficient processes, and lack of clear deliverables. All of these problems can be addressed by a PLM system, starting with the enforcement of common processes and followed up by proper project planning.
2. Department costs are creeping up. You are held to a tight budget by the organization. You are always close to or exceed your budget and it is difficult to get a handle on why. A PLM system can help this in two ways: more efficient processes leading to greater productivity and by providing better information to managers.
3. Rework is rampant. A lot of work needs to be repeated or reworked because it was not correct the first time. A PLM system can certainly help with this problem by supporting common working practices and introducing checks at crucial points.
4. Your department is constantly battling other departments. There is a lot of finger pointing and blame that goes around the organization. No one can pin down who is responsible or when information was provided. PLM can provide automatic notifications, timestamped deliverables, and clear and unequivocal instructions.
5. There is no accountability in your department. It is difficult to diagnose where mistakes were made and who is responsible. People are always blaming other people. A PLM system can provide objective data that allows the root cause of accountability to be addressed.
6. Overtime is out of control. Excessive overtime worked in your department is always a concern. A PLM system can help improve productivity and give managers better information regarding where inefficiencies exist.
7. Your competitors always seem better. Your bosses are always holding you up against your competition and showing how they are better. A PLM system can put you ahead because there’s a good chance the competition do not have a PLM system, or have not made good use of it if they do.
8. External customers complain that they do not get the information they need. You owe your customers information at various stages during the design cycle and they often don’t receive it in a timely manner. A suitably configured PLM system can improve this dramatically.
9. Your suppliers provide the wrong information. You are constantly going around in circles with your suppliers regarding information. But do your suppliers have the right capabilities to begin with, and do you have the capability to meet them on the same terms? PLM technology can bridge this gap.
10. Process adherence is poor. Although you have some level of documented processes, adherence is poor. A correctly configured PLM system can fix this quickly.

Do you have three or more of these issues keeping you up at night? Time to take a serious look at a PLM system.