Off the Shelf: The Retail & CPG Blog:Driving efficiencies through PLM: From F1 to CPG

I was watching the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix last weekend and it got me thinking on the level of efficiencies achieved by each of the racing teams. Each Formula 1 race car has over 80,000 separate components. There are over 3000 component diagrams that the car is based on. The cars are designed, manufactured and built in 120-150 days and they are transported to 17 Grand Prix races every year in different parts of the world. Inspite of this level of complexity, you rarely see starting grid problems. This is unimaginable without the efficient PLM systems they have in place to rapidly design and share specs, manufacture and build with a large group of collaborators around the world.

The CPG industry faces similar challenges with product information fragmented across thousands of SKUs that differ in minute details such as color, labels and composition. These challenges can be addressed with innovative PLM solutions.

Well built PLM solutions help manage
1) Product Data: "Single version of truth" for all product data. Streamlined, well organized product data is a key success factor for faster NPDI leading to a competitive advantage
2) Specifications: Spec Management helps manage formulas and ingredient specifications centrally. This in turn helps in traceability and compliance screening leading to faster reaction to changing laws and regulatory requirements
3) Packaging & Art Work: Efficient management & assembly of packaging materials, label specifications and art work is important. Integrating with the product development data increases accuracy
4) Product Portfolios: Product Portfolio management is used to prioritize projects based on strategic planning initiatives. This helps align resource allocation to projects against the expected return on investment for each product

While a lot of CPG companies have embarked on a PLM initiative to drive efficiencies through the above aspects and are at various stages of implementation, I think there are bigger questions that need to be answered, especially in this recessionary economy.
·          How will you enable rapid and collaborative product design to further reduce idea to shelf cycle time?
·          What steps will you take to rationalize your product portfolio?
·          How do you improve the product assortment to drive higher sales of more profitable products?

I intend to cover these and related topics in my subsequent blogs