Chapter 8: PLM Justification and Implementation

Title: Integrated product development as a measure to counteract increasing complexity in the telecommunications industry

Author(s): Julius D. Golovatchev, Oliver Budde, Chin-Gi Hong

Address: Detecon International GmbH, Oberkasseler Str. 2 D-53227 Bonn, Germany | Research Institute for Rationalization and Operations Management at Aachen University, Pontdriesch 14/16, D-52062 Aachen, Germany | Detecon International GmbH, Frankfurter Str. 27 D-65760 Eschborn, Germany

Reference: International Conference on Product Lifecycle Management 2009 pp. 392 - 401

Abstract/Summary: The telecommunications market has been facing a great variety of challenges over the past five years. Tough competition, price wars and regulatory risk exposure have been leading to decreasing prices, declining revenues and EBITDA margins. Product lifecycle management (PLM) is more and more regarded as a key to business excellence. Due to market dynamics and the rapid global availability of new technologies, telco providers have finally started to realize the necessity for holistic PLM as a highly critical business success factor for managing the increasing product complexity. Complexity, and the inability of an organization to manage it adequately, has to be regarded as a major obstacle for telco providers to proceed on their path towards operational excellence. The emergence of multi-layered product structures, as well as industrialization trends, call for new management approaches. Arising challenges have to be alleviated by an integrated product development approach that encompasses a company's product diversity, innovation efforts, globalization issues and continuously changing legal framework. Through a consistent reduction in complexity, efficiency potential may also be released which could lead to significant cost and process optimization and in turn strengthen the company s competitive position. The paper closes with a presentation of a short case study validating the proposed concept of integrated PLM for a company in the telecommunication industry.

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