Manufacturing the way we do it
New Product Development
Delivering Bottom-line Results Through Innovation
and Lifecycle Management
Today’s manufacturing companies
recognize that new product revenue
is key to growth. However, recent
focus on cost control has caused
many companies to lose sight of
the tremendous value to be gained
by managing product lifecycle.
Companies must be innovative
in developing and implementing
processes and systems, as well
as creating a proper collaborative
environment to improve planning,
increase speed-to-market, and
reduce complexity.
In addition, many manufacturers
lack proper infrastructure to support
a global, cross-functional collaborative
environment required to effectively
manage product development. Leading
enterprise applications, such as SAP, are
already integrated into the backbone
of many manufacturing companies.
However, many areas peripheral
to the initial process and systems
implementation – areas such as new
product development – have not yet
been fully leveraged.
Additional obstacles include:
Outsourced design and manufacturing:
many manufacturers outsource product
design, development and manufacturing
without considering product-centric
collaboration issues, thereby creating
a multi-tiered environment that
inhibits collaboration.
Increased velocity of change: product
lifecycles shrink, new markets appear
and disappear, alliances form and
end – all at a rapid pace.
Poorly structured
 product collaboration environments As shown in Exhibit 1, well-designed
prevent a quick response to changing product lifecycle management (PLM)
me ct

business conditions. processes and systems encompass six

lop du
nt

Aft arke
ve Pro

M
er- t

discrete categories, all operating in close

De ew

Manufacturing
SAP
N

Company Ready-To-Run Increasingly complex regulations: test coordination and using common sets
data, recycling laws, hazardous material of data:
en d

Diagnostic
em an
De nage
Ma

t
cur ing
ma m

regulations – all must be addressed in ■ Product Data and Configuration

Pro ourc
nd ent

the context of new products. Failure to

S

Management: all players operate on

respond quickly slows development
and hinders compliance efforts.
Continued move to platform teams:
many companies have formed platform
teams and launch processes, but lack
an enabling environment to facilitate
exceptions-based management.
Lack of a single product “owner”: most
companies do not have an end-to-end
product owner, resulting in frequent and
inefficient “hand-offs” during the product
development and launch process.
Fragmented legacy environment:
different departments optimize
individual functionality, creating
hundreds of systems to manage,
the same and most current product
data. This product data set includes
both product details and supply chain
data, such as weight, packaging and
cube utilization.
■ Product Portfolio Management: the best
product offering is always in front of
customers. Using standardized Bills of
Materials, manufacturers can respond
quickly to changing product designs.
■ Product Requirements Management: a
realistic set of product requirements
is maintained to reflect market needs.
Engineering BOMs must be updated
automatically and drive creation of
Manufacturing BOMs to reduce
manual intervention and mistakes.
■ Project and Program Management:

all at the expense of overall product everyone operates with the same
launch and management process. set of tasks and issues toward a
common, product related goal.
■ Collaborative Design and Visualization:

all product development participants

have appropriate input into design
development and change.
■ Collaborative Direct Material Sourcing:

the best suppliers are selected and

defined – partnering relationships are
established to provide the highest
level of service and value.
 the way we do it

Typical Capabilities for Effective PLM

Product Project Collaborative

Product Data Portfolio Collaborative
Requirements and Program Direct Material
Management Management Design
Management Management Sourcing

Foundation Operationalized Requirements Common Ability to Interact Initial and

Layer of Review of Capture, Task Issue with Internal Ongoing
Enterprise-wide Advanced and Analysis, and Milestone, and External Supplier
Product Existing Product Change and Team Design and Selection and
Information Portfolio Management Management Manufacturing Management
Partners

Over the past several years, Capgemini
has worked with hundreds of clients
to develop, plan and implement PLM
capabilities that enable companies to
master critical product processes that
span time, function and tiers of supply
chain. Some examples of our
experience are:
■ Capgemini recently assisted a
major manufacturer and marketer of
appliances in complying with a Global
Data Synchronization initiative required
by their national retail customers for
developing new business processes
and applications and integrating with
their SAP backbone.
implement a new PLM vision and
concept to accelerate new product
development while simultaneously
increasing the product range. The
PLM platform was integrated with
a supply chain management solution
for material forecasting, and created
a new web-based collaborative
environment for marketing, design,
development, commercialization,
and production. Transparent business
processes and information, top-line
growth and improved efficiency, and
reduction in raw material costs were
among several benefits realized.
■ An Integrated circuit (IC) developer

■ In another instance, Capgemini and manufacturer had engineering and

helped a global consumer products
manufacturer reduce new item
introduction lead times for its
largest customer from 10 days
to 2 days by improving their
product data management
processes and systems.
■ A major sporting goods
manufacturer decided to allow
consumers to create footwear to
their exact personal specifications.
Capgemini helped develop and
manufacturing systems that were not
integrated, limiting information flow
and creating an inefficient product
development process. The solution
created an interface between design,
development, manufacturing, shop
floor control and logistics to deliver
a BOM that was aligned with
engineering specifications and
inputs from the design and
development departments.

New Product Development

Capgemini has created a set of
collaborative tools, including our
proven Accelerated Solutions
Environment (ASE™) and
Collaboration Centers to help
manufacturers address new product
development within the context of
PLM. By working with companies to
manage products with consistency
across the entire lifecycle and the
extended supply chain, Capgemini
helps manufacturers reap benefits
such as:
Reduced time to market,
by reducing errors and using
state-of-the-art capabilities for
virtual development and testing.
Lower total development cost,
by cutting non value-added time
spent chasing information and
improving reuse of existing parts,
assemblies and tooling.
Better cost at launch, by more
effectively involving key influencers
of product cost, such as contract
manufacturers and suppliers.
More appeal for customers, by
including customer requirements
and market performance information
in the product development and
improvement processes.
About Capgemini and the
Collaborative Business Experience
Capgemini, one of the
world’s foremost providers of
Consulting, Technology and Outsourcing
services, has a unique way of working
with its clients, called the Collaborative
Business Experience.
Backed by over three decades of industry
and service experience, the Collaborative
Business Experience is designed to help
our clients achieve better, faster, more
sustainable results through seamless
access to our network of world-leading
technology partners and collaboration-
© 2006 Capgemini. No part of this document may be modified, deleted or expanded by any
process or means without prior written permission from Capgemini.
Fewer unexpected and costly
surprises, by providing visibility into
their supply chain partners’ systems,
often in real time, to sharply reduce
unplanned delays and cost overruns.
Improved service/service parts
profitability, by including service
earlier and more closely connected
to the product development and
change processes.
Optimized IT spend, by rationalizing
the myriad of systems that have evolved
to manage specific aspects of the
product lifecycle.
For more information please contact:
Jan Winters
Global Leader - Manufacturing
+ 31 30 68 975 88
jan.winters@capgemini.com
Sundi Aiyer
Product Lifecycle Management Practice
Leader
+1 972 556 7155
sundi.aiyer@capgemini.com
Floyd D’Costa
Global Manufacturing Sector PMO
+ 91 22 6755 7000
floyd.dcosta@capgemini.com
focused methods and tools. Through
commitment to mutual success and the
achievement of tangible value, we help
businesses implement growth strategies,
leverage technology, and thrive through
the power of collaboration.
Capgemini employs approximately
61,000 people worldwide and reported
2005 global revenues of 6,954 million euros.
MRD20060712_324
More information about our services,
offices and research is available at
www.capgemini.com