Data is the backbone of the manufacturing industry. Every manufacturing business uses loads of data daily; some data lies in the PLM, while some data exists in the ERP, but all of it is crucial to ensure smooth operations. Having disconnected PLM and ERP systems puts you at risk for data errors, incorrect manufacturing, and production delays.
With almost two decades of experience in enabling multiple global businesses to integrate their PLM and ERP systems, we are never short of getting the question: What are the benefits of your PLM-ERP integration solution?
This article will share the benefits of integrating your PLM system with Dynamics 365 ERP using our PLM-ERP integration framework, so you know what to expect with the solution.
What are the benefits of our PLM-ERP integration for Dynamics 365?
1. Leverages Dynamics 365 capabilities
The PLM-ERP integration solution is embedded within Dynamics 365 ERP for Finance and Supply Chain Management and follows the D365 business logic, offering a seamless user experience. It is certified for Microsoft Dynamics and follows the monthly upgrade policy of Microsoft, reducing hassles around maintenance.
Companies using or migrating to Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP can quickly implement our PLM integration solution that leverages the Microsoft technology stack.
2. Reduced time and effort
Data import and product release processes are automated and structured, reducing effort and delays. You can easily transfer product data such as revision data, bills of materials (BOMs), attributes, status information, etc., by setting up defaults in the template, which automatically populates several components of each product, saving time and effort.
3. Adaptable and configurable
The solution can be easily adapted to connect any PLM, PDM, CAD, or MDM systems to Dynamics 365 ERP. Additionally, we can integrate multiple other engineering systems with the ERP.
As a configurable framework, it has maximum flexibility to connect to external PLM systems and other designing or engineering systems.
4. Single source of truth
You have one location to store and access all product-related data. You can work with a single entity or multiple legal entities and access product data across different entities. The solution offers a quick overview and end-to-end visibility of all product data and product-related processes in a single digital location.
5. Improved collaboration
The design, engineering, manufacturing, logistics, and distribution teams can have near real-time insight into product data. Communication is streamlined with the exchange of information among multiple departments.
Different teams can view all the changes made in the past to understand how the products or processes have progressed, increasing performance and productivity.
6. Easy-to-use and intuitive
The PLM-ERP integration framework is a flexible solution based on an intuitive, user-friendly approach. The integration can easily map PLM data to the data fields in Dynamics 365 against various input and output formats with a simple configuration that doesn’t require programming.
It takes care of the high volume of critical data during integrations and the multiple dimensions while doing the data transfer.
7. Faster time to market
The PLM-ERP integration solution is easy to set up with a quick implementation time, which can be as short as two weeks. You can integrate your PLM and ERP systems with minimal operational hindrance through a precise 5-step implementation process.
With over 17 years of experience implementing solutions, our implementation team and experts can provide you with in-person or remote implementations, irrespective of your business’s location(s).
8. Ensured data quality
Our PLM-ERP integration framework ensures data quality by validating if the data is mapped correctly to Dynamics 365 ERP. Any data exported from the PLM system is first placed in the staging journal, which validates, processes, and transforms the product data before releasing it.
9. Decreased costs
All the above-discussed points indirectly contribute to reduced costs, as they have an impact on your expenses. You save money by automating previously manual processes and eliminating the ad-hoc costs around 'fixes.' As manual intervention is minimized, the chances of errors, inconsistencies, and duplications are reduced, ensuring product quality.
10. Keeps data secure
As Dynamics 365 runs in the cloud, the PLM integration framework is dependent on file storage in the cloud. The files are picked up and stored through a secure cloud on Azure file share, guaranteeing data security.
11. Access to the latest innovation
We constantly aim to enhance our solution with new features to stay ahead of the market trends and customer demands. For instance, accessing ERP data in the PLM with Product Logistic Insights or the Analytics for ECM solution, which optimizes engineering change management with powerful data-driven insights from data preparation to visualization.
12. Easily scalable and extendible
You can easily add additional data fields or attributes sent to the ERP with a simple configuration and get information about the product specifications, such as color, weight, height, and dimensions. Using our solution, you can integrate large data sets and adopt BOM changes before importing them.
Want to explore more about our PLM-ERP integration framework?
If an intuitive PLM-ERP integration solution with low coding effort and a quick implementation process interests you, our solution could be a choice.
Our PLM integration solution can support integrations for all PLM systems with the ERP Dynamics 365 F&SCM (which requires ECM) or Dynamics AX 2012 (which requires Product Engineering).
With extensive experience in the manufacturing industry, we are experts on the ECM component of D365 F&SCM, as ECM (previously: Product Engineering) is a solution designed and developed by us at To-Increase, strengthening our long-standing relationship with Microsoft.
While this article discussed our PLM integration framework, we also offer out-of-the-box PLM integrations for Siemens Teamcenter and PTC Windchill. And we provide PLM integrations with 3DX Dassault and other PLM, PDM, and CAD systems.
You could explore more about our PLM-ERP integration solution by checking out the solution factsheet, which offers insights into:
- What the integration solution can do for your business
- Benefits of PLM-ERP integration
- Features of a standard integration solution
Eric Van Hofwegen
Kandasamy Prakash
