Oleg,
One of the PLM problems is customer adoption. PLM was initial born in the big companies like Boeing, Toyota, Airbus, etc .. However, small OEMs as well as suppliers of large OEMs are having the same spectrum of problems – how to decrease a product cost, how to communicate with customers, how to manufacture faster. However, these companies are not able to solve their problem in similar way Boeing and Toyota can do. So, they question of Walmarting is a question how to proliferate in Product Lifecycle Management capabilities to the wider audience. Probably, due to this shift, PLM will need to make a significant change… Who knows? However, this is a transformation I envision in the future.
I think, Joel Spolsky made his comments in the context of analyzing of cost impact on business. I’d like to bring a notion of “good enough” for business. We can see more and more examples of “good enough” principles in many companies. Google Apps is “good enough” in terms of features in comparison to MS Office. “Vizio” is good enough in comparison to “Sony” etc. So, WalMart is good enough to achieve their goals. What will be “good enough” PLM to make it useful for a wider audience of manufacturers? This is a real question, in my view..
best, Oleg.
