img

Extend the Useful Life of Agile PLM: Part II (Add-ons)

This blog is a continuation of the series that discusses how the life of Agile PLM that customers can address their rapidly evolving business needs and unlock greater value with the right upgrades without moving to the Cloud. 

Drive Smarter Innovation Through a Dynamic Set of Add-Ons

If you have been following this series, I have identified several reasons why there is a need to up your PLM game. Traditional PLM systems are not powerful enough to meet the rapidly evolving customer expectations. Therefore, manufacturers now need to speed up innovation to ensure higher customer satisfaction.

There are multiple ways in which Agile PLM customers can rethink and enhance this software’s functionality instead of opting for Cloud PLM. You can learn about the standout benefits of the newest version 9.3.6 in my first blog.

This blog drills down to discuss how innovative Agile PLM add-ons contribute towards improved workflow management, higher visibility, more customizations, and a better user experience. I will dive into the functionality and benefits of three such add-ons offered by Xavor that have transformed PLM into a smart, connected platform for hundreds of clients.

These add-ons enable leaders to keep up with the changing industrial regulatory and business requirements, manage supply risks, make better decisions, and drive growth.

1) Assist +

Challenge

Agile PLM users are often overwhelmed by new functionality and updates to data fields. Because of these unfamiliar attributes and processes and no guidance, even experienced users sometimes go down the wrong path during data entry and updates.

Solution

Xavor’s Assist+ is a unique navigation solution to combat these challenges. It guides users at the field level during both object creation and updates to prevent any future corrective action. Assist+ also provides mouse-over hover (help) text for Agile objects, which include parts, documents, and all types of changes for content messages for important objects and edits.

It also notifies users of changing compliance and regulatory requirements as well as displays warnings, directions, or alerts. Therefore, the correct data is captured initially, which eliminates further rework of approval cycles. It also safeguards the quality of data in the Agile PLM system.

Key Features

  • Works seamlessly with the Agile PLM environment without any process extension
  • Has a web-based admin console for configuring help text
  • Supports all major browsers such as IE (8,9 and 10), Chrome, Firefox, and Safari
  • Works with all cover page, page 2, and page 3 fields
  • Compatible with Agile 9.3.X
  • Requires no extra infrastructure besides the Agile application server
  • Installs in under 30 minutes.

2) UI Wizard

Challenge

Agile PLM users face immense difficulty in creating records. This is because, each record contains hundreds of fields that can vary based on business unit, product line, or other factors.

Solution

Xavor’s UI Speed-Ups for Agile PLM simplify record creation and management. This is because, they guide users through a set of relevant questions and automate the creation of records. UI Wizard also empowers users to navigate through the complexities by reducing time to define templates. It also does so by providing a tab to autofill attributes.

Key Features

  • Captures required data for creating any record in Agile PLM
  • Guides the data flow for creation of multiple records
  • Includes validation rules for acceptable input values
  • Determines the appropriate list of values for each data attribute
  • Can be used with Augment quality, change, and investigation processes
  • Minimizes the need for training.

3) Automation Engine

Challenge

Creating custom actions in Agile PLM requires the users to write long codes. Also, these customizations have to be written using the Groovy script or Agile SDK and can be quite time consuming and difficult for the users.

Solution

Xavor’s Automation Engine solution allows admins to create custom actions without writing a single line of code. This solution is also super PX, configurable, and flexible. Customers also set-up the Auto Description Generator based on 5, 10, or 15 other attributes and use those to fill in the auto description.

Key Features

  • Point and click function to create custom scripts
  • No need for Groovy scripting
  • Slick and configurable Admin portal
  • Training time of around 60 minutes

Conclusion

The demand to develop Agile PLM tools and processes for effective data management and collaboration is on the rise. And the above-mentioned agile PLM add-ons empower manufacturers to lead with a flexible user experience, product innovation, and smarter decisions.

Xavor Corporation has spent 25 years digitizing organizations and enabling them to perform at their best potential. Xavor premium Agile PLM add-ons and extensions also help cut unnecessary expenses and put businesses on their way to success. Reach out to us if you are looking to unlock speed and agility while ensuring the highest product quality.

My next blog will list a suite of extensions that can empower businesses to drive the maximum benefit out of this software and maintain a competitive edge in the industry. 

Let's make it happen

We love fixing complex problems with innovative solutions. Get in touch to let us know what you’re looking for and our solution architect will get back to you soon.