Products

Extend the power of your product lifecycle management (PLM) system with low code 

By Jessica Kosar

Have you ever wished for an application that could help your business improve its operational efficiency?

Perhaps you need a mobile application that allows users to work in offline areas. Or maybe you frequently switch between systems to monitor plant operation, check product performance and manage orders, and you wish you could perform all of these tasks in a single dashboard.  

The application you’re missing can be developed on top of your existing product lifecycle management (PLM) system with low code. Compared to traditional methods, low-code solutions can help you create applications up to 10 times faster and utilize 70% fewer resources.  

In this article, we’ll highlight key points from “Extend the power of PLM with low code,” a webinar co-led by Ole Richelmann and Sebastian Bersch, to explore how low-code capabilities can help your organization extend its PLM software to achieve greater business agility.  

Why is it important to keep your core product lifecycle management (PLM) systems clean? 

Typically, when businesses want to create customized processes or workflows from their various data systems, they apply those customizations directly to the core systems.  

The difference in using low-code development is that you create a separate app on top of the systems to leverage those customizations.  

Why does this distinction matter? Traditionally, PLM system customizations embedded within the core system increase complexity and can impede agility, limiting the ability to upgrade.  

When leveraging low-code solutions like Mendix, these customizations are extracted and managed separately, keeping the core systems clean. Separating customizations into low-code environments simplifies and reduces the risks of upgrades, fostering a more robust and adaptable IT environment.  

Watch the video below to hear Sebastian discuss some of the benefits of keeping the core clean: 

The benefits of keeping the core product lifecycle management (PLM) system clean with low code 

Managing customizations independently from the core PLM system is crucial for adapting quickly to changing business needs and enabling smooth system upgrades. 

Additionally, keeping the core clean through low-code solutions supports the scalability and integration of emerging technologies across the organization. By reducing the customization load on core systems, it becomes easier to integrate new technologies and platforms, further enhancing innovation and efficiency.  

What does this all look like in practice? In the next section, we’ll dive into an example of an application that extracts critical data from various core systems into one simplified, intuitive application.  

Exploring the advantages of Product View 360 in operational efficiency 

This demo showcases Product View 360, a Mendix composite application template designed to provide a 360-degree view of your product across its lifecycle.  

It pulls data from multiple systems and combines it in a cohesive application with an intuitive interface, eliminating the need to navigate multiple systems and allowing users to access the specific data needed to complete their tasks.  

This streamlined format significantly reduces time spent searching for information, enabling quick decision-making and increased operational efficiency.  

Watch the video below to see how you can interact with every aspect of your product workflow with Product View 360: 

Extending PLM systems with low-code capabilities empowers organizations to innovate rapidly and co-create dynamic applications efficiently.  

To discover more ways that extending PLM with low code can boost operational efficiency and enhance user experience, watch the full webinar. 

Interested in learning more? Check out these additional resources:   

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This article first appeared on the Siemens Digital Industries Software blog at https://blogs.sw.siemens.com/mendix/2024/05/21/augment-plm-with-low-code/