Weltweit führende Hersteller von Markenprodukten sind ihrem Anspruch verpflichtet, Benchmark der Branche für Qualität, Design, Innovation und Gebrauchswert ihrer Produkte zu sein. Dieses Ziel zu wettbewerbsfähigen Preisen und in immer kürzeren Innovationszyklen zu erreichen, ist kein zufälliges Ergebnis, sondern das Resultat visionärer Unternehmensstrategien, die schon früh auf standardisierte Produktentstehungsprozesse und durchgängige, unterstützende IT-Systeme im Rahmen eines konsequenten Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) setzen.

Weltweit führende Hersteller von Markenprodukten sind ihrem Anspruch verpflichtet, Benchmark der Branche für Qualität, Design, Innovation und Gebrauchswert ihrer Produkte zu sein. Dieses Ziel zu wettbewerbsfähigen Preisen und in immer kürzeren Innovationszyklen zu erreichen, ist kein zufälliges Ergebnis, sondern das Resultat visionärer Unternehmensstrategien, die schon früh auf standardisierte Produktentstehungsprozesse und durchgängige, unterstützende IT-Systeme im Rahmen eines konsequenten Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) setzen.

Syfte – Syftet med denna studie är att underlätta implementeringen av produktlivscykelhantering (product lifecycle managmenet (PLM)) genom att öka förståelsen för vilka förmågor som krävs av organisationer när de ersätter ett produktlivscykelhanteringssystem (product lifecykle managament system (PLMS)) och vilka aktiviteter som realiserar dessa förmågor. Metod – Studien är en kvalitativ fallstudie och observerade en ersättning av ett PLMS på ett företag inom fordonsindustrin i Sverige. Intervjuer hölls med projektledare, affärsarkitekter, affärsanalytiker, utvecklare och användare, alla involverade i eller hade kunskap om den studerade systemersättningen. Totalt genomfördes 21 intervjuer och resultat genererades genom en tematisk analys. Resultat – Studien resulterade i sex domäner (1) business process and practice, (2) communication, (3) people, (4) user experience, (5) technology, och (6) system management bestående av förmågor som krävs av organisationer vid en PLMS-ersättning. Sammanlagt identifierades 15 förmågor underbyggda av 42 aktiviteter och samtliga domäner och förmågor är sammanfattade i ett utvecklat ramverk.   Teoretiska Bidrag och Praktiska Implikationer – Studien bidrar med en grundlig genomgång av den befintliga litteraturen inom PLMS-implementering, en empirisk studie av PLMS-ersättning samt vidareutveckling och upptäckt av domäner som presenteras i ett ramverk. Dessutom hjälper ramverket chefer att utvärdera om organisationer besitter de förmågor som gör att de kan utföra de aktiviteter som krävs för PLMS-ersättningar eller inte.  Begränsningar och Framtida Forskning – Studien begränsas av en fallstudie av en PLMS-ersättning i en tidig fas. Därför rekommenderas framtida forskning att validera och utöka studiens resultat i andra sammanhang. Det är också av praktiskt intresse att kartlägga aktörer inom en PLMS-ersättning och undersöka när, hur ofta och av vem aktiviteter som stöder förmågorna ska genomföras. Nyckelord – Product lifecycle management; Product lifecycle management system; Product data management; System implementation; System replacement. / Purpose – The purpose of this study is to facilitate the implementation of a product lifecycle management (PLM) approach by enhancing the understanding of what capabilities are required by organizations when replacing a product lifecycle management system (PLMS) and what activities realize these capabilities.  Method – The study employed an abductive single case-study approach, observing a PLMS replacement effort within the automotive industry in Sweden. Interviews were held with project managers, business architects, business analysts, developers, and superusers, all involved with or had knowledge about the studied replacement effort. In total, 21 interviews were conducted, and results were generated through a thematic analysis. Findings – The study resulted in six domains (1) business process and practice, (2) communication, (3) people, (4) user experience, (5) technology, and (6) system management consisting of capabilities that are required by organizations when replacing PLMS. In total, 15 capabilities underpinned with 42 activities were identified, and the domains and capabilities were summarized in a developed framework.  Theoretical Contribution and Practical Implications – The study contributes with a thorough review of the existing literature on PLMS implementation, an empirical study of PLMS replacement, and further development and discovery of domains presented in a framework. Furthermore, the framework assists managers in evaluating whether organizations possess the capabilities that allow them to perform the activities needed for PLMS replacements or not.  Limitations and Further Research – The study is limited by a single case study of a PLMS replacement effort in an early phase. Therefore, future work to validate and extend the study’s findings in other contexts is recommended. Also, mapping actors within a PLMS replacement effort and investigating when, how often, and, by whom activities underpinning the capabilities should be performed is of practical interest.   Keywords – Product lifecycle management; Product lifecycle management system; Product data management, System implementation; System replacement.

The huge landfills from solid waste generated by the massive utilisation of different products from domestic sources are badly affecting the environment. About 70% of the solid municipal waste, two thirds of which comprises of household waste, is dumped as landflll all over the world. For efficient product lifecycle management via upgrade, maintenance, reuse, refurbishment, and reclamation of components etc., storage of product related information throughout its lifecycle is indispensable. Efficient use of information technology integrated with product design can enable products to manage themselves in a semiautomatic and intelligent manner. It means that products themselves should contain informationú that what to do with them when they are of no use. More advanced products may locate themselves and communicate with their recyclers through internet or some other communication technology. In this regard, different types of technologies have been investigated. These technologies are broadly classified as passive embedded information devices and active embedded information devices. Methods of automatic identification in combination with information technology can act as passive Embedded Information Devices (EID) to make products intelligent enough in order to manage associated information throughout their life cycles. Barcodes, Radio Frequency Identification tags, and a new technology called i-button technology were investigated as possible candidates for passive EIDs. The ibutton technology from the perspective of product lifecycle management is presented for the very first time in the literature. Experiments demonstrated that RFID and i-button technologies have potential to store not only the static but dynamic data up to some extent, such as small maintenance logs. As passive EIDs are unable to store the sensory data and detailed maintenance logs regarding a product, therefore, in addition to these demonstrators for passive EIDs, an advanced active EID demonstrator for lifecycle management of products with high functional complexity is also presented. Initially, the idea is presented as smart EID system that r~cords the sensory data of a refrigerator compressor and stores the detailed maintenance logs into the product itself. However, this idea is extended as intelligent EID that is implemented on a gearbox in order to predict the gearbox lifetime under an accelerated life test. This involves developmen,t of a novel on-chip life prediction algorithm to predict the gearbox lifetime under accelerated life testing scenario. The algorithm involves a combination of artificial neural networks and an appropriate reliability distribution. Results of accelerated life testing, simulation for the choice of appropriate reliability distribution and the life prediction algorithm are presented. Bi-directional communication software that is developed in order to retrieve lifecycle data from the intelligent EID and to keep intelligent EID updated is also explained. Overall, embedded information devices can be proposed as a good solution to support a sustainable approach to lifecycle management.

The thesis is focused on developing a set of work standards or framework to the company, Isaberg Rapid which has changed its parent company and because of it lost many of its experienced employees. Subsequently a lot of implicit knowledge is lost along with the employees, which later became evident when challenges recurred in production. The aim of the research project is to create a proof methodology to avoid this loss by storing this tacit knowledge for any references, even if the employees involved with the product are lost.

A gestão do ciclo de vida de produtos (Product Lifecycle Management) é uma abordagem para a gestão integrada dos processos de negócio e das informações relacionadas aos produtos. Tal abordagem requer a utilização de sistemas de informação (Sistemas PLM) para apoiar a colaboração na empresa estendida, ao longo de todo o ciclo de vida. O problema prático que motiva a realização deste trabalho é a dificuldade enfrentada pelas empresas, atualmente, em avaliar os sistemas PLM existentes no mercado e em selecionar a alternativa mais adequada aos seus processos de negócio. A análise da situação atual da pesquisa na área indica que faltam métodos e instrumentos para apoiar a seleção de sistemas PLM. Visando preencher essa lacuna e propor uma solução para o problema identificado, o trabalho tem como objetivos definir um modelo de referência de sistemas PLM, que represente de forma genérica as funcionalidades que caracterizam esse tipo de sistema, e desenvolver um método para a seleção de sistemas PLM baseado em modelos de referência. A fim de atingir esses objetivos, são gerados quatro resultados principais. O primeiro resultado do trabalho é o framework conceitual de elementos do PLM, que organiza o conhecimento existente sobre PLM de forma estruturada, para que ele possa servir de referência em projetos de implantação da gestão do ciclo de vida de produtos em empresas. O segundo resultado é o modelo de referência de sistemas PLM, que permite estabelecer uma base comum para a comparação entre os diversos sistemas PLM disponíveis comercialmente. O terceiro resultado é o modelo integrado processo-sistemas PLM e a ferramenta para utilização desse modelo integrado na prática. Por fim, o quarto resultado é o método de seleção de sistemas PLM com base em modelos de referência, que utiliza o modelo integrado processo-sistemas PLM para orientar a seleção do sistema mais adequado a uma empresa específica. A avaliação dos resultados indica que os instrumentos e o método propostos neste trabalho contribuem para auxiliar as empresas, especialmente as empresas de médio porte, na identificação de um sistema PLM adequado para atender aos requisitos de seus processos de negócio. / Product Lifecycle Management is an approach to the integrated management of business processes and product-related information. This approach requires information systems (PLM Systems) to provide collaboration support throughout the business and across product lifecycle. The practical problem that gave rise to this research was the challenge companies currently face in assessing existing PLM systems and in selecting the best alternative for their business processes. Examining the status of the research carried out in the field to date shows that there is a lack of methods and tools to effectively support companies in choosing their PLM Systems. Aiming at closing this gap and offering a solution for this problem, the goals of this study are: to provide a definition for PLM system reference models that generally represents the functionalities that characterize this kind of system, and to develop a method for choosing PLM systems based on the reference models. In meeting these goals, this research arrived at four main results. Firstly, at a conceptual framework of PLM elements providing an organized structure of the existing knowledge developed so far on PLM. This framework can be used as a reference in projects to implement product lifecycle management in companies. Secondly, at a PLM system reference model that establishes a common basis for comparing the many PLM systems available in the market. Thirdly, at an integrated PLM process-system model and tool for using this integrated model in practice. Lastly, at a method for selecting PLM systems based on the reference model, that uses the integrated PLM process-system model to support and guide users in choosing the best system for a certain company. The assessment of the results shows that the proposed tools and method effectively help companies, specially medium-sized businesses, in identifying the most adequate PLM system to meet their business process requirements.

The product development today handles increasingly complex products and to be able to compete on the current market companies need an effective PLM/PDM system to manage the lifecycle, models, and data connected to their products. Three of the factors for success in product development are time, cost, and quality. Which need to be supported by the processes and tool used in a project. Product development often uses both physical and analytical prototypes. The analytical method of simulation is an important element in product development that has started to shift from being a validation and verification tool at the last stages in the development process to be more included in the early stages. Simulation models often generate a big amount of data and because of this, the storing and management of them can be troublesome. Therefore, there is a need to have closer integration between design and simulation. The purpose of the thesis is to do an inquiry about what a PLM system contributes to in a company regarding their product development and why and how simulation models can be connected to the company’s PDM system.The methods used during the study were literature reviews, interviews, workshops, and a survey. The results show that in the literature the benefits of using a PLM and PDM system are connected to the factors for a successful product development which are time, quality and cost. While the employees think traceability, reuse of data and storing is the most important benefits. Simulation models are beneficial to the product development process and should, therefore, be stored in a way that there is a connection between the simulation model and the design model. For the employees, the highest-ranking benefits with adding simulation models to the system are traceability, reuse of simulation models and control over simulation models. A manual for how the simulation engineer can utilize the system and add simulation models to it are presented.

The management of information is one of the key aspects within a successful andefficient product development process, particularly regarding complex products.Scania CV AB is at the moment developing a new IT-system, OAS, which aims tomanage the company’s product data. With this as a background, the purpose of thismaster thesis is to identify the cross-functional user needs within Scania’s organizationconcerning product data and the management around it. To fulfill the purpose, an empirical study consisting of 40 personal interviews with 50representatives from different functions within Scania’s organization was carriedthrough. The empirical data was then analyzed focusing on identifying thecross-functional needs and issues. The study points out that there is a big potential regarding improvement among themanagement of product data. For example, a lot of time is spent by the users to findthe requested information and to copy data manually from one IT-system to another.The most important findings, in terms of cross-functional user needs within Scania’sorganization, are the integration of Scania’s many IT-system and to make informationmore accessible. Further needs are regarding the ability to follow a product’s entirelifecycle, better support for the user’s understanding of the complex product, anenhanced management of Engineering Change Orders and a better supportconcerning the product structure.

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Due to the fast development of IT, quick change of market demand and collaboration in business operation between companies, departments, and individuals, the concept of collaborative commerce has drawn much attention gradually. However, the tools of collaborative commerce used in the past, just like PDM and CPD, are merely used for control in a single stage; despite functions of data management and collaborative design are more capable of doing cross-function work. New PLM solutions can recover the disadvantages of past collaborative commerce tools in the new product development process, make the RD control link from spot to line, in order to control process effectively, establish operation standard, and accumulate experiences of new product design and manufacture. During the process of implementing IT, although not perfect in the beginning, enterprises will find the problems out only when users apply IT and find some problems which don¡¦t be found before implementing IT. It is just the purpose of enterprises to take advantage of implementing IT to review business processes. Technology and organization should make an adaptation in order to solve these problems and the key way to judge the IT to be successful or fail is to see whether IT and organization make a good adaptation. There are few successful cases applying PLM solution to support new product development process in Taiwan; moreover, manufacturing industry is the most representative of industries in Taiwan. For this reason, manufacturing enterprises which have implemented PLM solution and succeeded in closing the case are chosen for case studies, and based on adaptive structuration perspective to research the adaptation done by three structures of technology, organization, and task after PLM solutions are implemented into enterprises. Through this research to find that the adaptation degree is different in the interaction and appropriation between technology, organization, and task. Discrepancy events will also produced in the adaptation process. The key factors to decide whether enterprises take advantage of implementing IS to get advantage are the degree of solving discrepancy events by enterprises. In order to make enterprises get more competitive advantages through implementing PLM solution, the manager should realize more deeply that what changes are result from IT implemented in enterprises and what reason to make this change, so as to know well what advantages PLM solution make.