Big Data Demands Big Changes in PLM
February 3, 2012
There has been a lot of talk recently about big data and what to do with it especially in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry. A recent article in Financial Times, Big Innovation Needs ‘Big Data’, gets right to the heart of the issue and lists exactly what CPG must be willing to do to minimize their extraordinarily high rate of failure in data management as seen in the low success rate of CPGs across the industry.
The answer, according to the article, relies on IT departments being allowed to grab the wheel and take a lesson from marketing companies that have proven that big data is the secret to success. Many steps are required to use big data effectively. The article explains,
“The first is building the necessary infrastructure. This includes defining the data and computing architectures for extracting and analysing the data, and working with third-party sources of big data. It also means making the data available to existing innovation management and product lifecycle management systems so that those that are best able to act upon it, have easy access.”
Second and third in this three step process is “identifying operational processes” and “advocating for proper policies and governance.” Only when all three of the steps are in place can the CPG industry begin seeing the overwhelmingly fruitful benefits of big data.
With economies around the world receiving hit after hit cutting costs at any point in the design and production process can mean the difference between a company staying alive and closing its doors forever. Just like the article explains with very real urgency big data is not going away, will only get bigger, and production and designs companies must take the necessary steps to utilize it. New data management plans designed within product life cycle management plans are the last hope for many.
Catherine Lamsfuss, February 3, 2012
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