PLM expertise
PLM consulting and integration firm for industry
Is your product data scattered across CAD, Excel files and ERP? Our PLM consultants structure the bill of materials, change management and configuration, from product design through to end of life.
Why work with an PLM consulting firm?
PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) is the backbone of product data. It connects the design office, manufacturing engineering, purchasing, production and after-sales service around a single version of the truth: parts, bills of materials, documents and changes.
Working with a PLM consulting firm means securing a long, far-reaching project: choosing the right solution, defining realistic processes, migrating years of history and getting demanding engineers to adopt the tool. CNEXT brings dual expertise, business and technical, and an outside perspective on your organisation.
The problems we solve
Situations we regularly encounter with our industrial clients.
Inconsistent bills of materials
Several versions of the bill of materials circulate between the design office, manufacturing engineering and ERP, leading to re-keying and errors in production.
Poorly controlled changes
Change requests and change orders are handled by email; the impact on parts, tooling and stock is discovered too late.
Configuration and variants
Options and variants multiply, and the exact definition of a delivered product becomes hard to retrieve.
Ageing PLM
An old, heavily customised solution holds back upgrades and the move to the cloud or to 3DEXPERIENCE.
Our PLM services
We support you at every stage, with one-off expertise or over the full duration of the project.
- Scoping and audit of your existing PLM
- Solution selection and support with the vendor tendering process
- Business-side project assistance (AMOA): requirements definition, acceptance testing, integrator management
- Solution, software and infrastructure architecture
- Integration, configuration and custom development
- Migration and legacy data transfer
- Version upgrades
- Interfaces with other information system components
- Change management and training
- Third-party application maintenance
These services are part of our four offerings: strategy consulting, business consulting, integration and deployment and support, maintenance and training.
What you gain
Tangible benefits, which we measure with you throughout the project.
A single version of the truth
Parts, bills of materials and documents are shared by everyone, up to date, with no local copies.
Controlled changes
Every change follows a traceable approval workflow, with its impact identified before it is applied.
Smoother industrialisation
The engineering bill of materials becomes the basis of the manufacturing bill of materials, with no re-keying.
A usable history
You can retrieve the exact definition of a delivered product, even years later.
Our method
A step-by-step approach, tailored to the size of your project.
1
Understand
Workshops with business teams, analysis of processes and the existing landscape, identification of pain points and priorities.
2
Design
Target architecture, solution selection, phased roadmap and data migration plan.
3
Deliver
Configuration, development, interfaces and acceptance testing in iterations, with key users.
4
Embed
Training, go-live support, application maintenance and upgrades to make the solution last.
Keys to a successful PLM project
- Start from the processes (part creation, change, release to manufacturing) before talking about features.
- Define from the outset which system is master for each item of data across PLM, ERP and MES.
- Prepare data migration early: it is often the project’s critical path.
- Stay as close as possible to the solution’s standard to make upgrades easier.
- Involve the design office, manufacturing engineering and purchasing in key structural decisions.
Technologies we master
PLM solutions on which consultants from our pool of 3,600 experts work.
- Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE
- CATIA
- ENOVIA
- DELMIA
- SIMULIA
- SOLIDWORKS
- 3DVIA
- 3DEXCITE
- EXALEAD
- NETVIBES
- GEOVIA
- BIOVIA
- PTC Windchill
- PTC Creo
- PTC Arbortext
- PTC ThingWorx
- Siemens Teamcenter
- Siemens NX
- Aras Innovator
- Centric PLM
- AVEVA
- Zuken
- Altium
- Cadence OrCAD
- SEE Electrical
Profiles deployed
Depending on your needs, we build a team or provide a targeted expert.
- PLM project manager
- Product Owner
- PLM solution architect
- Functional consultant / Business Analyst
- Software architect
- Tech Lead
- PLM developer
- Infrastructure architect and consultant
Industries served
Our PLM consultants work in particular in these industries:
Frequently asked questions
Why work with a PLM consulting firm rather than the software vendor?
The vendor knows its software; a firm like CNEXT starts from your processes. We help you choose the solution, challenge the integrator as your project assistance provider and stay in control of your project.
Which PLM solutions do you work on?
Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE (ENOVIA, CATIA, DELMIA…), PTC Windchill, Siemens Teamcenter, Aras Innovator, Centric PLM, AVEVA and others. CNEXT is a Dassault Systèmes Consulting & System Integration (CSI) partner.
Can you migrate our legacy PLM?
Yes. We prepare the data migration (parts, bills of materials, documents, history), define the transformation rules and secure the cutover with dry-run migrations.
Can PLM exchange data with our ERP?
In fact, it is one of the first expected benefits. We design the PLM–ERP interface to transfer parts and bills of materials without re-keying, clearly defining which system is master for each item of data.
A PLM, ERP, MES or EAM project? Let’s talk.
Speak with an expert to scope your needs, with no obligation.
contact@cnext-consulting.fr
La Turbine, 32 boulevard du Port
CS20001, 95015 Cergy-Pontoise Cedex