How MOBILITY transforms Product Development, Manufacturing and Service – TV Report

The product development, manufacturing, and service practices of many companies are undergoing almost paradigm-shifting changes. The cloud, mobility, big data, the “app explosion”, 3D printing... the list of phenomena introduced in a very short time may be even longer, but the bottom line is that these changes are rapidly driving new product delivery approaches for many companies.

In this TV-report, we focus on trends related to MOBILITY, which many analysts forecast to be one of the most important trends in IT. Gartner predicted that by 2015 almost 50 % of all business applications (including PLM and ERP solutions from big program developers) will be accessed by mobile.

ENGINEERING.com's European correspondent, Verdi Ogewell, introduces the topic from the famous Las Ramlas Street in Barcelona, where he lays out the fundamental connections between product realization and the latest IT platforms and tools. He highlights how competitive realities are driving demand for increased efficiency in the product development and service processes.

Smartphones and tablets will become increasingly important to the product realization cycle as improved connections to PLM and ERP systems create the foundations for a more effective exchange of information.

Verdi shares insights from several interviews at the IFS World Conference 2013, including:

• Analyst Ray Wang from Constellation on the drivers of the mobility trend and his forecasts for new form factors and new uses in product realization
• IT-broadcaster/journalist Stephen Prichard on the conclusions of a panel discussion
• IFS expert, Martin Gunnarsson on what happens if a chosen technical platform, like Blackberry or even Nokia, gets obsolete?

Also in this report are real examples of mobility solutions in action from ERP vendor IFS including:

• Report on field service at telecom giant Ericsson
• Manufacturing and inventory control at manufacturer Remmele Engineering
• Management reporting at European cable manufacturer FlexiFrance's

In this series of TV-reports ENGINEERING.com and VerkstadsForum.se will look closely at the changes that the big IT trends will have on product development, working methods, customer interaction and back-end solutions like PLM and ERP systems.

Watch for the next episodes where we will look at:

THE CLOUD, and how the PLM vendor Autodesk shifts into high gear on its strategy to get all of its users over to the new “360” platforms