What is Product Data Management? Part 1.

Product data management (PDM) is the use of software tools to track and control data related to a particular product. The data tracked usually involves the technical specifications of the product, specifications for manufacture and development, and the types of materials that will be required to produce the good.
History:
PDM was an offshoot of the engineering design activities that created product drawings, schematics and specification using CAD tools and paper drawings/documents.
Capabilities:
The need to control documentation evolved into key capabilities including the following core requirements.
(1) version control:
the ability to clearly distinguish changes as engineer’s progress through the design.
(2) Access control:
The ability to lock down components, assemblies, documents based on rights and rules defined by management. For example, component libraries should be maintained by the administrator or component librarian to ensure that standards are maintained.
(3) Collaboration:
The ability to have multiple users work on the same product structure. Most PDM systems have check-in / check-out capability which locks the objects to prevent loss of work and inadvertent over-writes.
(4) Product Structure
The product structure provides a hierarchical classification of the items which form a product. With the product structure, the understanding of the components which compose a product as well as their attributes, can be represented. The product structure shows the material, component parts subassemblies and other items in a hierarchical structure that represents the grouping of items on an assembly drawing or the grouping of items that come together at a stage in the manufacturing process.


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What is Data Management?

There are two popular definitions:
One from DAMA
“Data Resource Management is the development and execution of architectures, policies, practices and procedures that properly manage the full data lifecycle needs of an enterprise”
Another from DMBOK
“Data management is the development, execution and supervision of plans, policies, programs and practices that control, protect, deliver and enhance the value of data and information assets.”
Companies of all size have to manage their data in order to meet their customer’s requirements in a timely manner.

Industry specific definitions

In the medical and pharmaceutical communities, Data Management is a term generally used to describe analysis of database information which has been collected during clinical trials. It also is used to define how data is identified, collected, and analyzed to establish clear evidence of outcomes.
In the modeling and simulation world, Data Management is described as "model-based", and is defined as planning organizing, and managing of data by defining and using rules, methods, tools, and respective resources to identify, clarify, define, and standardize the meaning of data as pertains to relationships.
In the information technology arena, DM is defined as a type of client/server computing where some portion of the application data is executed on two or more computers. It is also described in its IT application as control of data handling operations – such as acquisition, analysis, translation, coding, storage, retrieval, and distribution of data – but not necessarily the generation and use of data.

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Data vs Information

Data are plain facts. The word “data” is plural for “datum.” When data are processed, organized, structured or presented in a given context so as to make them useful, they are called Information.
It is not enough to have data (such as statistics on the economy). Data themselves are fairly useless. But when these data are interpreted and processed to determine its true meaning, they becomes useful and can be called Information.
Example:
Data is what you collect, for example you may collect a sample of heights, ages, genders within a given geographic area.
Information is what you extract from that, i.e.: average height by age, or average age by postcode.

Data Management is a critical part of business strategy as it is responsible for the transformation process of data into information. Information is the lifeblood of a business; its health is vital to an organization and is fundamental to your success and competitive edge. Good information reduces uncertainty surrounding decision making, and contributes to aspects such as improved productivity, compliance, and more focused marketing and customer loyalty.

"Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are my own only and in no way represent the views, positions or opinions - expressed or implied - of my employer (present and past) "
"Please post your comments - Swati Ranganathan"

Problem solving 101, Part 3.

Cause and Effect Diagrams were developed by Kauro Ishikawa of Tokyo University in 1943. Cause-and-effect diagrams or fish bone are used to list the many and varied causes that can be attributed to a problem. These diagrams can help identify the reasons why a process is not performing as intended or hoped.
Cause and Effect Diagrams help you to think through causes of a problem thoroughly. Cause and Effect Diagrams are also known as fish bone Diagrams, because a completed diagram can look like the skeleton of a fish.
How to Use the Tool:
Follow these steps to solve a problem with a Cause and Effect Diagram:
Identify the problem:
Write down the exact problem you face in detail. Where appropriate identify who is involved, what the problem is, and when and where it occurs. Write the problem in a box on the left hand side of a large sheet of paper. Draw a line across the paper horizontally from the box. This arrangement, looking like the head and spine of a fish, gives you space to develop ideas.
Work out the major factors involved:
Next identify the factors that may contribute to the problem. Draw lines off the spine for each factor, and label it. These may be people involved with the problem, systems, equipment, materials, external forces, etc. Try to draw out as many possible factors as possible. If you are trying to solve the problem as part of a group, then this may be a good time for some brainstorming. Using the ‘Fish bone’ analogy, the factors you find can be thought of as the bones of the fish.
Identify possible causes:
For each of the factors you considered in stage 2, brainstorm possible causes of the problem that may be related to the factor. Show these as smaller lines coming off the ‘bones’ of the fish. Where a cause is large or complex, then it may be best to break the it down into sub-causes. Show these as lines coming off each cause line.
Analyze your diagram:
By this stage you should have a diagram showing all the possible causes of your problem that you can think of. Depending on the complexity and importance of the problem, you can now investigate the most likely causes further. This may involve setting up investigations, carrying out surveys, etc. These will be designed to test whether your assessments are correct.
Strengths
Rigorous analysis which overlooks no possible problem source
creates an easy to understand visual representation of the causes, categories of causes, and the problem statement
Weakness
The simplicity of a fishbone diagram can be both its strength and its weakness. As a weakness, the simplicity of the fishbone diagram may make it difficult to represent the truly interrelated nature of problems and causes in some very complex situations.

"Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are my own only and in no way represent the views, positions or opinions - expressed or implied - of my employer (present and past) "
"Please post your comments - Swati Ranganathan"