{"id":3552,"date":"2023-12-01T13:55:17","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T18:55:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.plm.automation.siemens.com\/t5\/Teamcenter-Blog\/The-Integrated-Product-Definition-Stop-information-overload-with\/ba-p\/295346"},"modified":"2026-03-26T08:59:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T12:59:54","slug":"stop-information-overload","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/stop-information-overload\/","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\uded1 Stop information overload"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The integrated product definition: work in context \u270b\ud83c\udffb<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The concept of an integrated product definition can be used to describe the scope of <a title=\"BOM Management introduction\" href=\"https:\/\/plm.sw.siemens.com\/en-US\/teamcenter\/solutions\/bom-bill-of-materials-management\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BOM Management<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ve taken a closer look at different elements of the integrated product definition \u2013 with detailed discussions around BOM configuration management, product variant management, master data \/ information management and PLM BOM for massive products. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s take a closer look at how your approach to <a title=\"BOM management and configuration in Teamcenter\" href=\"https:\/\/www.plm.automation.siemens.com\/global\/en\/products\/collaboration\/bill-of-materials-bom-management.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">BOM management<\/a>&nbsp;and an integrated product definition affects how users work, their productivity and ultimately your <strong>time-to-market<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:17px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83c\udf2a Dealing with increased complexity <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Today\u2019s manufacturers face increasing complexity from every direction. You\u2019re making more complex products including medical implants, drone aircraft, smart phones and even smart vehicles that can literally drive themselves. These products must<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/bill-of-material-bom-management-across-departments-domains-and-disciplines\/\"> incorporate complex mechanical, electrical, electronic and software systems<\/a>. To meet unique customer and regional market demands, you may also have to master another layer of complexity, product variability management. Supply chains are increasingly more intricate, and you face an array of regulations if you want to do business in multiple geographies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All this complexity means the amount of information that must be managed for a complete integrated product definition can seem overwhelming. Companies are racing toward solutions to bring the integrated product definition to life in an intelligent, enterprise-level data management backbone. As all this information is aggregated together, a new challenge arises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your users &#8211; the designer, engineer or quality control manager &#8211; are now <strong>bombarded with information<\/strong> much of which is irrelevant to their task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2705 How do they get their jobs done?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For every product, you have to manage massive amounts of data. Typically, only a fraction of that data is relevant for a particular task. Users and groups waste time focusing on information that is irrelevant or out of scope. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consider the example of a rocket launch vehicle for sending a satellite into space. Critical to the success of this product is keeping mechanical and electrical components in synch &#8211; working together correctly. However, your mechanical engineers have no need to see all the intricacies of the electronic and software components. Having them wade through information that is not pertinent to their task wastes precious time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To address this issue, the ideal product lifecycle management (PLM) system would allow every user to work in context with their own <a title=\"BOM view web page\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/introducing-smart-discovery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">BOM view<\/a>. At a basic level, the system should seamlessly enable the integrated product definition to be leveraged by all stakeholders, allowing groups to organize and capture information that is relevant to their domain (mechanical, electrical, etc.) without affecting the other. The solution should not involve duplication of data to support different teams. Duplication requires a lot of synchronization and leads to costly mistakes due to out of date information. Critical to success is the ability for your PLM backbone to keep all pieces of the integrated product definition in synch across domains as parallel evolution of the product takes place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udca1 Is there more?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The solution can\u2019t stop with only domain specific work in context. For many products, even that would still result in massive amounts of data. Consider again the rocket launch vehicle for sending a satellite into space. An engineer doesn\u2019t really need a model of the entire rocket and payload. They are most likely focusing on one particular component or subsystem, say, an infrared camera. <strong>You must be able to work on <em>ad hoc <\/em>views that you can define on the fly to accomplish the task at hand.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:12px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2023\/12\/shutterstock_1492591766-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-16937\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2023\/12\/shutterstock_1492591766-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2023\/12\/shutterstock_1492591766-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2023\/12\/shutterstock_1492591766-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2023\/12\/shutterstock_1492591766-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2023\/12\/shutterstock_1492591766-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2023\/12\/shutterstock_1492591766-900x600.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:12px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Ad hoc<\/em> views require a powerful system that allows you to quickly search and filter across massive amounts of data to gather only what is required to fulfill a particular task, then transform it into something easily understood. Your PLM solution must provide the ability to create and manage data focused on specific tasks, but always in the context of the entire product. This approach allows individuals and teams to create and work more efficiently on their specific assignments and greatly facilitate their access to and management of in-context and relevant technical knowledge. This approach enables multiple teams in all departments and operations to work in parallel to reduce cycle times while maintaining strict compliance to all regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As products get more complex, the amount of data you must wade through multiplies. To increase productivity, reduce errors and ultimately get to market faster, you must enable teams and individuals to <strong>work in context<\/strong> \u2013 not just at the domain level, but at an <em>ad hoc<\/em> \u201c<strong>give me only what I need to get this task done<\/strong>\u201d level, as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Only a PLM system with <strong>flexible work in context capabilities<\/strong> that allow users to define their own contexts, on the fly, while maintaining the integrity of a single integrated product definition can deliver these results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:16px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-teal-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-teal-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\" style=\"font-size:21px\"><strong>Start fast and grow with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.siemens.com\/en-us\/products\/teamcenter\/teamcenter-x-cloud-plm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Teamcenter X<\/a>   |   Make smarter decisions with <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/tag\/artificial-intelligence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">AI-powered PLM<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-teal-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-teal-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons alignwide is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-16018d1d wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-width wp-block-button__width-50 is-style-fill\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-cyan-background-color has-text-color has-background has-text-align-center has-custom-font-size wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/plm.sw.siemens.com\/en-US\/teamcenter\/\" style=\"border-radius:57px;font-size:30px\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Teamcenter Solutions<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-width wp-block-button__width-50 is-style-fill\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-cyan-background-color has-text-color has-background has-custom-font-size wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/plm.sw.siemens.com\/en-US\/teamcenter\/trials\/\" style=\"border-radius:57px;font-size:30px\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>30-day trial<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>About the author<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A marketing manager at Siemens PLM Software for Teamcenter, Susan Zimmerlee&nbsp;has over 18 years of experience developing, testing, selling, implementing, and marketing Product Lifecycle Management software.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Products become more complex. The amount of data to wade through multiplies. Work in context to increase productivity, reduce errors and get to market faster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54263,"featured_media":16936,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spanish_translation":"","french_translation":"","german_translation":"","italian_translation":"","polish_translation":"","japanese_translation":"","chinese_translation":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4],"industry":[],"product":[],"coauthors":[1255],"class_list":["post-3552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-bom-management"],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2015\/03\/shutterstock_1492591766-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54263"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3552"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17283,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3552\/revisions\/17283"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3552"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=3552"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=3552"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}