Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1406534
24 SMT007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2021 systems. Leveraging the digital twin or virtual representation of a product throughout its life- cycle makes it easier to predict product perfor- mance and thus shorten the time to ROI. Johnson: A common problem in tradition- al workflows is that small incremental chang- es to a design to improve manufacturing yields oen never make it back to the OEM design team's version of the design. Lewis: Absolutely. e irony is that both orig- inal equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and contract manufacturers (CMs) strive for bet- ter DFM feedback. e trouble is that existing communication systems are ill-suited to cap- ture and share this type of feedback in the con- text of the design or product record. For in- stance, emails are great to communicate, but they are disconnected from the product record itself and can easily be ignored, lost, or forgot- ten. e email may not get to the right per- son, or the right person may not be available to act—so the email sits in their inbox. e challenge is to provide effective, real- time collaboration in context to every aspect of the product design so that it doesn't get missed by those responsible for executing on the de- sign or manufacturing of the product. Cloud PLM and QMS systems create a prod- uct-centric approach to manage the full as- sembly (or BOM) with every aspect of the de- sign, drawings, models, and documentation linked to each component of the BOM. en as teams review the designs, they can collabo- rate formally with engineering change requests (ECRs) or engineering change orders (ECOs), or informally (with social chats linked directly to the affected part or assembly) so that every- one sees what feedback or issues arise through- out the product development and introduc- tion process. Johnson: You have a white paper [1] on stream- lining a product NPI on your website. Where should a manufacturer start? Lewis: Yes. ere needs to be a synergy and alignment with the manufacturer's NPD and NPI processes. Making sure that the engineer- ing design teams can continue to work with their best-in-class design systems is key. e same is true for downstream enterprise re- source planning (ERP) and customer relation- ship management (CRM) systems. We help companies bridge the gap from de- sign to manufacturing to bring the complete product design together so all teams beyond engineering can make sure that design can be manufactured effectively and in the targeted time frame. So, because NPI processes encompass many engineering and manufacturing teams, you must start by creating a single source of truth for the product record. is allows all design, operations, and supply chain teams to collab- orate on the latest information any time and anywhere. Both cloud-based PLM and QMS systems provide the centrally-controlled prod- uct record in one system to keep everyone on the same page and streamline both NPD and NPI processes to ensure all stakeholders can ultimately produce the right products at the right time. Johnson: Who's the ultimate owner of the NPI? And how much detail should that owner be alerted to? Lewis: In many ways, the CEO is responsible for the go-to-market approach of NPI launch- Making sure that the engineering design teams can continue to work with their best-in-class design systems is key.