Chronicle
World Leaders: What does it take to be a winner?
It is no coincidence that world leading companies use PLM in their operations. I’d say that to be a leader in today’s business world, PLM is a prerequisite. Big words? We see it in customers such as Sony Ericsson, Electa, Scania och Skanska. Compare the challenges they face, now that market optimism has returned and many sectors are in a restart mode, with the start in a sailing championship. In such a race, the world’s best sailors are present. The crews have endured long and tough preparations. Materials have been tried and tested. Maneuvers have been trained over and over again.
Which boat will win? No doubt, the boats with the best prospects are those that have made the best preparations and bought the best quality equipment. The same goes for companies. Their preparations also include a number of “musts” to increase their chances of being leaders.
One is the speed it takes your company to go from idea to ready product on the market: the time to market. This process needs to be fast, in particular in markets with similar products, and in which new ideas are quickly sucked up by competitors. If not, your company won’t have the time to capitalize on its good ideas. If you are slow, the risk is that competitors with speedier processes catch up and zoom past.
Another must is being able to handle globalization. Companies are increasingly outsourcing parts of their operations, sometimes to a degree in which knowledge of actual production is no longer in the company’s home country or even within the company itself. But the responsibility for production is still with them, regardless of suppliers. The company has to retain control of every detail in the product cycle. Not least is this important with regards to heightened demands on traceability, sustainability and CSR. Regulations and demands on compliance keep growing.
Another crucial factor for many world-leading companies is growth. To take market shares and to grow can be an important strategy – and sometimes it is necessary for survival. But to grow and to be profitable at the same time is not easy. It is not enough to simply increase staff. Growth is also about continuously rationalizing and improving processes, down to the smallest details. And for that you need a technology and a system to help you.
PLM can help with all these musts. That why I can say that PLM is a prerequisite for a world leader.
At the sailing race, the start pistol goes off. All preparations, training, equipment – now is the moment for the best-prepared team to show what it can do. The boats glide over the starting line. The race is on. It does not take long to see that those that have been improving their processes, with time-to-market, in traceability and compliance are already in the lead…
Yours sincerely,
Jonas Gejer, CEO & President at Technia
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