My last post outlined the importance of having an integrated PLM and PCM solution. Siemens PLM implements this vision though its Product Cost Management application bridging the gap between traditional PLM and ERP. With Teamcenter PCM, companies can migrate from disconnected tools to an integrated solution. The integrated IT environment platform helps them to manage cost knowledge with consistent data, build standardized obligatory cost methods and models, and create fact-based and cost-driver-transparent calculations; at the same time, it enables cross-functional collaboration and communication.

Product Costing

The highlights of product costing capabilities include Cross-functional Calculation of Pre-/Quotation Costing, Calculation of R&D Costs, Purchase Price Analysis, Open Book Accounting, Profitability Calculation/Project-ROI, Differentiated overhead calculation (freely selectable degree of detail), Process-based bottom-up calculation and cost models (cost engineering approach), Cost rate calculation with company-owned data records, Integrated cycle time calculators (die casting, injection molding, machining, MTM, client proprietary, etc.), Versioning of calculations (documented change history), Flexible simulations of what-if scenarios (e.g., production alternatives, volume adjustments), Profitability calculations (return-on-investment over product lifecycle), Flexible reporting functions (e.g., multi-stage cost driver analysis), Integration toolkits for data exchange with customer specific systems (e.g., ERP), Import and export of cost breakdown sheets (supplier and customer), Multi-lingual, multi-currency, freely configurable costing methodologies, cash flow calculation, and data management for reuse.

Tool Costing 

Teamcenter PCM’s parametric and 3D-based tool costing has support for both quotation costing in tool-making and cost analysis in tool purchasing. Tool Costing delivers fast, reliable and detailed information on manufacturing times and costs. Tool Costing also enables both buyers and tool manufacturers to precisely and repeatably understand knowledge data, secure this information within the enterprise and document it in an audit-compliant manner with the option of using 3D data for calculations. Teamcenter provides a variety of tool technologies, including injection molding, die casting, and composite tools. 3D data can be read automatically or manually to create the geometry parameters. Both the tool buyer and the tool maker – whether injection molding, die casting, cutting, stamping, or other production tools – can make decisions regarding the tool costs that are fully integrated within the Teamcenter product cost management solution.

Cost Knowledge Management 

Teamcenter PCM has a standard and extendable cost knowledge base for costing calculations including worldwide factor costs (labor, production area, energy, interest rates etc.), physical material data of all prevalent materials, reference machines with economic and technical data for all prevalent manufacturing technologies, and complete reference processes for many manufacturing methods with the ability to integrate customer specific corporate costing library.

Profitability Calculation

The integrated profitability calculation in Teamcenter gives project and product controllers and managers a powerful business case analysis and decision-making tool while delivering the necessary instruments to ensure success, including: Consolidation of multiple product(s) in a single project (general project data, lifecycle, quantity progression, unit costs and prices, etc.), year slice presentation of cash flows for project-specific investments (plants, tools, engineering, etc.), dynamization of unit costs and sales prices for the individual year slices in the product lifecycle, calculation of common profitability ratios such as net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), return on capital employed (ROCE), return on sales (ROS), amortization period (payback), project-based profit and loss accounts, as well as discounted cash flow accounts and trend curve for cumulative (discounted) cash flow, variant calculation, and sensitivity analyses for comparing various what-if scenarios and premises.