Why do my employees hate PLM?

Very often PLM implementations begin with big promises on collaboration (both internal & external) and higher ROI. As a result, these projects immediately get funding from the upper management but only to realize later that the promises were not fulfilled. In my experience, this failure could be attributed to the following reasons:

• Existing processes were not fully understood before selecting the right PLM solution.
• Low user adoption as PLM applications are often difficult to use because of complicated UI.
• PLM applications are not adaptive (not easily configurable).
• PLM processes are executed in silos rather than in a cohesive well-integrated manner.
• No support from peripheral stakeholders.
• Absence of a single powerful entity that controls the end-to-end process i.e. from product design to release. The very concept of collaboration is at risk here. Every group is interested in only their processes and do want to take time to understand the end-to-end process. The management in these groups do not appreciate the end-to-end process either.

In my opinion, the last point is very important. All other points are important as well but once the upper management realizes the important of PLM and provides a foundation where different groups take up accountability (even outside the tool) then the benefits of PLM will be fully realized.