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Last Updated: Jul 2nd, 2008 - 21:15:22 |
(NUI) - Does it take rocket science to make a golf club? One company thinks so.
Solo Enterprises used to specialize in producing bomb casings for the U.S. Department of Defense. But bombs aren't in constant demand. Golf clubs are.
So this family-owned business decided to apply its metallurgy expertise to building a better golf club. But they faced a few major obstacles. How could they get their business going on the large scale they wanted?
They found the answer in product lifecycle management. PLM is the process of computerizing all aspects of product development - from design and manufacturing to supply chain management and aftermarket service. In the past, PLM was strictly the domain of Fortune 100 firms: big companies building complicated products such as autos or fighter jets. But thanks to recent developments in IBM technology, PLM is now accessible to small- and medium-size organizations, with some PLM software applications even fitting on a laptop computer.
As a result, smaller firms are harnessing PLM to compete at the highest levels of global commerce. In fact, the analyst firm CIMdata projects that small and mid-range companies will account for 23 percent of the total PLM marketplace by 2006.
PLM software enabled Solo Golf to quickly take advantage of an opportunity to enter a new industry by employing cutting-edge defense technology in a new golf club design. Solo Golf has already received accolades from the golf community, and the upstart has won a place among larger, more established competitors.
In addition, Solo Golf is now able to expedite its club approval process with the United States Golf Association. By creating a computer-rendered model of its clubs, inspectors can evaluate the clubs thoroughly without spending as much time on multiple prototypes and clay models.
For information on how PLM can help your business compete on a much larger scale, go to IBM's Web site at www.ibm.com.
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