Operations Management Now
Insights into Weekly News and the APICS OMBOK
updated December 14, 2009

Is PLM Becoming a Necessity?
Last week, Manufacturers Monthly, an Australian manufacturing news web site, featured an article on how product lifecycle management (PLM) has moved from an ancillary feature of some systems to a necessary tool for many businesses.

The author interviewed Rajiv Ghatikar, vice president and general manager for Siemens PLM software business. “We are now able to show so many proof points of our success, such as reducing cycle times, wastage, and design time. These are significant enablers to driving revenue and bringing product to market quicker.”

PLM is a core concept in the APICS Operations Management Body of Knowledge (OMBOK) Framework and is covered under the section on product and service design. Although all operations and supply chain management professionals need to have a strong understanding of lifecycle planning, a recent APICS survey indicates that individuals working in supply chain, distribution and logistics, scheduling, and purchasing consider this area to be highly relevant to their positions.

APICS CPIM Strategic Management of Resources (SMR) curriculum goes into great detail on the importance of the product and service design process that is supported by PLM. Participants in APICS SMR courses learn that, in today’s competitive environment, speed and scale of changes and introductions is much more important than in the past. Therefore, it is critically important that design processes support the objectives of speed, dependability, flexibility, quality and cost.

SMR: APICS capstone
Strategic Management of Resources is typically the last module our members and customers review prior to sitting for the APICS CPIM exam. It is our capstone module and builds upon entry and business process modules including Basics of Supply Chain Management, Master Planning of Resources, Detailed Planning and Scheduling, and Execution and Control of Operations. SMR encourages a higher-level of thinking about the relationship between strategic business planning and the development and execution of a competitive operations strategy.

Mastering the content included in SMR is a challenge. It requires individuals to focus on the strategic issues of management they may not be encountering on a daily basis. The importance to a candidate’s career of mastering the SMR, however, cannot be overstated. SMR prepares operations and supply chain management professionals to participate in strategic conversations within their companies.

In 2009, a large team of authors, editors, and subject matter experts (SMEs) worked on a major update of the SMR module for both the exam and the course. You will find that the content is extremely relevant in the current business environment. The SMR courseware authors and SMEs have worked very diligently to make them more accessible. In addition, the SMR Exam Committee has compiled a custom publication, the APICS Strategic Management of Resources References Sourcebook, which includes the specific sections from the primary references supporting the SMR exam. This sourcebook provides candidates with a less expensive and more focused alternative to buying the primary references.

Thanks to the efforts of our dedicated volunteers for this work and for continuing to ensure that APICS CPIM continues to be a valuable and relevant service that meets the needs of operations and supply chain professionals worldwide.

In other News

• Shoppers showed up, but spent on bargains: Results of Black Friday shopping: same as last year—The New York Times
• For the hotel industry, recovery is a long way off—The New York Times
• Companies more prone to go ‘vertical’: Oracle CEO among others reviving vertical integration—The Wall Street Journal

Related APICS Education

• Small, Yet Mighty
  By Steve Bell, CFPIM, and Mike Orzen, CFPIM, CMA, PMP
  June 2007, APICS magazine
  
  
• Practitioner, Lean Thyself
  By Don Frank
  March 2006, APICS magazine
  
  
• Under a PLM Sky
  By Olin Thompson
  July/August 2005, APICS magazine

• Pre-order the APICS SMR References Sourcebook
  
  
• Learn more about the APICS CPIM designation
  
  
• APICS Members: Download the APICS OMBOK Framework

How Operations Management Now Relates to You
Operations management is everywhere. Today, operations management professionals have unprecedented impacts on the global economy. Consider these questions and how today's edition of APICS Operations Management Now relates to you and your career:

• PLM is a necessary tool for many businesses. How can you more finely tailor PLM to suit your company’s needs?
• How has PLM affected your business in recent months? Alternatively, if your company or position has not been strongly influenced by PLM solutions, what areas have been affected?
• Design processes should support the objectives of speed, dependability, flexibility, quality, and cost. List one or two examples where these objectives have been met in product design at your company.

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