How can PLM systems effectively aid returns management/reverse logistics?
My views on the topic at MCADCafe Blog: http://www10.mcadcafe.com/blogs/plm/2012/05/13/effective-product-returns-using-plm/
Monday, May 14, 2012
Effective Product Returns using PLM
Labels:
PLM,
Product Returns,
Returns Management,
Reverse Logistics
Friday, April 27, 2012
My PLM blog crosses the 10,000 page views mark…
Yeah I know a lot of sites have 10,000 visitors every day (probably
before even I begin my day), so my blog crossing the 10,000 Page views mark (in
fact its 11000+ views now) over the course of two years might not be a big occasion
for some. But anytime the page view stat crosses a certain order of scale you
have to celebrate it some way – especially when you are a hobbyist/weekend
blogger and write on a very niche topic.
I usually
do not check the stats – and when I did today I was delightfully surprised. So –
I want to appreciate my readers from around the world for perusing the posts
and recommending the articles for others to read. Thank you so much!
As usual please feel free to leave comments if you like. I
look forward to hearing from more of you.
Labels:
PLM
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Cloud Based PLM and Enterprise Application Integration
Putting PLM in the cloud is not enough – What matters most is enterprise application integration.
Read my thoughts on this topic at MCADCafe: http://www10.mcadcafe.com/blogs/plm/2012/04/03/cloud-based-plm-and-enterprise-application-integration/
Read my thoughts on this topic at MCADCafe: http://www10.mcadcafe.com/blogs/plm/2012/04/03/cloud-based-plm-and-enterprise-application-integration/
Friday, April 6, 2012
Increasing Software in Automobiles – Can ALM-PLM Help?
My thoughts on increasing amount of software in today's automobiles and how a ALM-PLM solution can help.
Read more at MCADCafe: http://www10.mcadcafe.com/blogs/plm/2012/03/06/increasing-software-in-automobiles-can-alm-plm-help/
Read more at MCADCafe: http://www10.mcadcafe.com/blogs/plm/2012/03/06/increasing-software-in-automobiles-can-alm-plm-help/
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Competing on Analytics – Time for PLM based Analytics?
In my opinion PLM vendors currently provide fragmented analytics
tools – Most of them address only a very specific section of the
addressable market need. Also the problem seems to be compounded by the
fact that not only companies implement a closed-loop PLM system thereby
making data collection much tougher. PLM vendors should start taking
note of the emerging trends (specially the “big data” problem) and start
providing value-added analytics products to customers.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Holiday Spending, Returns and Need for a Closed Loop PLM System
I was reading about the 2011 U.S. Christmas Holiday Retail
Data this weekend and noted some interesting points:
- According to the National Retail Federation, December retail industry sales (which exclude automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) increased 4.1 percent to $471.5 billion – slightly surpassing NRF’s holiday sales forecast of 3.8 percent growth. [source]
- Gifts are the most common purchase that consumers make during the major holidays (nearly 50%). Top gifts categories were: Clothes, Gift cards, Electronics, Jewelry, Home and garden, Personal care, cosmetics and pampering, Toys, sporting goods and hobbies.
- Shoppers are expected to return 9.9% of their Christmas purchases, which would be the highest return rate since the recession. [source]
- $46 billion of merchandise is predicted to be returned, which would be a 4% increase when compared to holiday gift returns in 2010. About 33% of shoppers said they return gifts in the NRF 2011 Holiday Returns Survey. [source]
- Reasons for returns vary: Buyer’s remorse, better deals elsewhere, unwanted gifts, too many of certain kind, shopping error etc. [various sources]
One of the major reasons for return also is because of manufacturing
defects. Usually all merchandise with manufacturing defects that are returned
by customers are claimed back to the producer by retail vendors, even if this
occurs after the “selling season”. Although I couldn’t get any specific data on
the amount of returns due to faulty products but I assume it will be a
significant amount in dollar terms.
Managing product returns due to manufacturing defects, obsolete
products and shipping errors is difficult to say the least. Manufacturers must manage
the reverse flow efficiently to ensure maximum recovery, and reduced wastage. While
larger manufactures due to deeper pockets might be able to withstand the
financial effects of high returns, smaller manufacturers tend to lose a lot
more.
Hence it is imperative that they:
- Integrate their Quality Lifecycle Management (QLM) and Reliability Management solutions with their PLM solution. This will not only trim down the cost of poor quality but also will allow them to utilize lessons learned to augment product designs (thereby closing the loop in the product lifecycle).
- Integrate Warranty Management into PLM so that manufactures can build an early-warning closed-loop system which will enable continuous product and service improvement.
- Develop strategies for End-Of-Life Management so that returned products can be refurbished, repaired or disposed efficiently and in a cost-effective manner. For high-value, high-velocity products it makes sense to integrate the Returns Management platform with PLM for better asset recovery, warranty, returns, repair, and refurbishing, packaging and repackaging services.
My 2 cents – Would like to hear your thoughts on this.
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