Core PLM for Process Industries Features and Functions
The core PLM criteria cover the base foundation of PLM for the process (or recipe-based) manufacturing industries. It covers design and product-related aspects of PLM including management of material specifications, recipes, formulas, production processes, design tools, document management and collaboration.
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Material Specification Management
Material management is a primary building block of PDM. Material management is where information on raw materials, intermediates and sub-assemblies, and finished goods is stored. Materials represent discrete items, bulk materials such as liquids and gasses, packaging, and packaged items (among others). Materials represent the physical materials themselves, and are associated with Products which are the commercial representation of the material that is to be bought or sold.
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Recipe Management
Production definitions for process-oriented materials are often best described by a recipe as opposed to a BOM and production process (routing). Because of the highly interdependent nature of the materials and the processing steps, the recipe combines information from the BOM and routing in one document. For process-oriented companies, these requirements should be considered in addition to the requirements defined in bill of material management and production process management. Recipe inputs and outputs represent the materials consumed and produced within a recipe. There is clearly overlap between these requirements and the BOM requirements, although there are differences. Recipe-based companies typically differentiate recipes from BOMs, but still use BOMs for other uses such as packaging requirements. Recipe-driven companies should fill out requirements for both recipes and BOMs. Production process requirements for recipes are defined here, in the production process (routing) management category, and process-oriented companies should pay close attention to both the production process (routing) management and the recipe management sections.
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Quality Specification Management
Specifications are typically characteristics that are measured on actual materials to determine actual values as compared to targets after production or procurement. Specifications, as defined in this RFI, represent dynamic characteristics of a product that typically do not change on a unit-by-unit, lot-by-lot, or batch-by-batch basis. Specifications differ from material attributes, in this definition, because attributes represent stable characteristics of a product that typically do not change on a unit-by-unit, lot-by-lot, or batch-by-batch basis. To verify the accuracy and effectiveness of the production process, material samples are often taken. Samples are sometimes taken for future reference or as a blind process, so not every sample is tested. In this model, we treat sampling and testing as different activities, although some manufacturers that test every sample may think of them as one activity.
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Document Management
Document management is the systematic control of documents in order to ensure that documents are properly stored, easily retrieved, and version-controlled.
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Bill of Material Management (Packaging)
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Design and Project Collaboration
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Routing, Approval, and Lifecycle Process
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Change Management
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Product Cost Estimation
Cost is typically a key consideration for products. The cost of an item can be most effectively influenced during the design phase by selecting the optimal materials, using common materials where possible and designing for ease of manufacture. Cost analysis and cost simulations for existing products are often handled by the ERP system, however developing costs for new or experimental products is handled by PLM so that cost does not become an afterthought.
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Release to Enterprise
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Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Features and Functions
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