Virtually Perfect: Driving Innovative and Lean Products through Product Lifecycle Management

Virtually Perfect is the key to products being both innovative and lean in the 21st century. Virtual products, which are the digital information about the physical product, create value for both product producers and their customers throughout the entire product lifecycle of create, build, sustain, and dispose. Both product producers and users will need to change their perspective of products being only physical to a perspective of products being dual in nature: both physical and virtual. Dr. Michael Grieves, the pioneer and internationally recognized thought leader in the field of PLM, extends the concepts of his first book, Product Lifecycle Management: Driving the Next Generation of Lean Thinking deeper into the realm of producing value for product producers and users alike. Dr. Grieves grounds his perspective of PLM with examples from leading organizations that include NASA, Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Apple, and Ford Motor Company who have adopted and implemented his PLM concepts and approaches. The substantial benefit that these organizations have gotten for themselves, their customers, and their stakeholders sets them apart from their competitors. Organizations that strive for the same success will need to understand not only the technology, but also more importantly the people, processes, practices, and cultural changes that will need to drive both innovation and efficiency in order to become Virtually Perfect. Dr. Grieves introduces and discusses innovative, new ideas in this book about products and their lifecycles that include: Information is a trade-off for wasted physical resources Organizations are not simply about processes, but engage in practices Thinking about products as both physical and virtual drives both productivity and innovation Supply Nets are for virtual products what supply chains are for physical products Quality is a holistic lifecycle attribute and not simply a manufacturing one The audience for this book is executives, managers, engineers, manufacturing and product support experts who engage with tangible products in any part of the product lifecycle. This book is also for professors and their students who are interested in preparing or participating in the 21st century workforce in engineering, manufacturing, product support, and product disposal.