Dedicated Computing Implmenting Aras

Our journey implementing Aras
Need, Plan, Implement
SUCCESS!

Agenda
• Who is Dedicated Computing?
• What drove our need for a Product Lifecycle Management
(PLM) Solution?
• Search for a PLM Platform
• Planning the Aras Implementation
• Executing the Aras Implementation
• Where are we now?
 Process/Tools Summary
 Deep Dive on Projects
• What’s Next?
• Implementation - What worked well?
• Implementation - What challenges did we encounter?
• User Feedback
• Summary of benefits seen using the Aras platform
• Questions
2

Who is Dedicated Computing?
An innovative technology company dedicated to
creating value for our customers through the
application of connected, secure and complete
technical computing solutions.
339 associates at three Wisconsin locations
Operations
Sales & Marketing
Technical Engineering
43
142
154
OUR EXPERTISE
Products & Services:
Embedded Computing
Remote Monitoring
Networking Solutions
Engineering Design
Quality Processes
Supply Chain Management
Life Cycle Management
Program Management

Our Technical Computing Solutions
Connected. Secure. Complete.
Engineering Services
includes unique purpose built
hardware feature design &
development, software and
driver development, life cycle
management and
professional services
Advanced Servers
application & network ready
embedded computing
solutions optimized to deliver
the right balance of power
and
performance, security, netwo
rk connectivity and
manageability
Secure Service System
provides secure remote
field device
monitoring, software
stack management, data
center access and system
optimization

Our Market Focus
Military
Flight Training
& Simulation
Systems
Radar &
Sensor
Systems
Unmanned
Systems
Healthcare
Imaging
Systems
Lab
Diagnostic &
Patient
Monitoring
Computer
Assisted
Surgery
Systems
Oil & Gas
Engineering
Control Systems
Seismic Imaging
Systems
Industrial
Automation
Industrial
Automation
Building
Control
Security
Physical
Security
Intrusion
Detection

What drove our need for a
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution?
• Many custom tools used to manage multiple Bills Of Material
(BOMs)
• Lack of part/product searchability
• Tools do not support ability to view BOM Revision History
• “Projects” within the business were managed in many
different ways using custom tools and forms
• Business processes managed using a combination of custom
tools, “word of mouth” and e-mail
6

Search for a PLM Platform – road to Aras
We first looked at 4-6 other PLM platforms including:
• TeamCenter
• Oracle Agile
• Omnify
• Arena
Each of these solutions had a significant Total Cost of Ownership
(TCO) to evaluate which led us to Aras
7

Search for a PLM Platform – road to Aras
Why Aras?
• Instant use
• Configurability
• High Value / Low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
• Support
• Roles & Workflows
• Searching Options
• Revision Control & History
8

Planning the Aras Implementation (Q4 2011 & Q1 2012)
• Initial review and investigation by a small team
• Prepare Project Charter and gain executive buy-in and
approval
• Project Planning
• Determine which business processes to transfer from existing
tools to Aras platform
• Form Project Core Team
 Business Project Manager
 IT Project Manager
 2 IT resources to code and configure Aras
• Attended 2012 ACE conference
• Determine business process owners
 Process owners responsible for definition of processes to
be configured in Aras
• Decision to use a phased process implementation approach as
opposed to a “big bang”
• Complete and maintain project schedule
 Activity Analysis (Work Breakdown Structure)
9

Planning the Aras Implementation
• WBS (Work Breakdown Structure)
10

Aras Implementation Project Plan –
Phases & Milestones
Phase 1 - Project Kickoff and Aras Platform Installation/Training
(January – March 2012)
• Creation of project core team
• Identify Business Process Owners
• Aras subscription purchase, installation and training for project core team
Phase 2 – Aras Process Configuration / Validation & User Training & Implementation
(April 2012 – June 2013)
• Business process definition
• Aras process configuration
• Custom software modifications and integrations coded
• Aras process testing
• Aras and modified systems software validations
• Data mapping and migration
• Process documentation updates
• Classroom user training
 Walk through of execution of Aras processes
• Aras Implementation
 Phased process launches in Q4 2012 /Q1 & Q2 2013
Phase 3 – Manufactured Parts Implementation
(July 2013 – December 2013)
• Manufactured parts process definition
• ERP modifications and integrations coded
• Launch of manufactured parts
Confidential 11

Executing the Aras Implementation (Q2 2012 – Q2 2013)
• Weekly Project Core Team meetings
• Work with Business Process owners and other stakeholders to
identify current processes, improve as needed and define
Aras configuration
• Configure business processes in Aras
• Migration of existing data to Aras
• Aras process review sessions with stakeholders to update as
needed
• Software validation of Aras processes
• Update of Quality documentation to reflect new processes
and use of Aras
• Aras Training
• General (all users)
• Process Specific (affected users of process)
• Launch of processes in Aras and retirement of old tools
12

Where are we now?
• 16 business processes now implemented on the Aras
platform
• Engineering
 Pre-production orders
 Hardware design
 Software development
 Hardware validation
• Engineering and Project Management
 Projects
• Quality
 CAPA (Corrective Action / Preventive Action)
 Customer escalations
• Sourcing
 Qualified supplier list
 New part creation
 Part change notices
• Manufacturing
 Continuous improvement ideas
13

Where are we now?
How many tools and forms have been eliminated so far as a
result of implementation of processes in Aras?
• 16 Tools
• SharePoint
• Webspeck (Custom Tool)
• 5 Forms
• Excel spreadsheets
 Checklists for various processes
 Spreadsheet trackers
14

Deep Dive - Projects
“Before”:
• Many tools/forms used during the execution of a project
 Many “checklists” existed to ensure project activities were
completed
• Processes were defined but were managed in different ways and
project activities/ownership were not readily apparent
• Difficult to see aggregate view of project progress and status
15
NPI Tool
Product
Brief Tool
3 SharePoint
Tools
3 Excel
Forms
Aras

• Currently using for mostly Engineering projects
• Central view of project owners and status
• Use of project templates to drive lead roles and standard sets of activities
• Easy stoplight status visibility for management to take actions as needed
• Calculation of Engineering hours worked per project
• Data is exported and feeds into Engineering Resource Model
16

• Use of project
classifications to
drive specific
attributes per
project
• Use of “Core
Teams” for quick
and easy
assignment of
Lead Roles for
project activities
17

• Use of project relationships for easy access to other Aras items
connected to the project
18

19
“After”:
• Consolidation of project forms and tools into central area
• Standard view of project activities and deliverables required to
execute project plan
• Notification and accountability for project activities through
Aras InBasket
• Visibility to project progress and Engineering hours worked for
management
• Standardized process for executing projects that can be
reviewed and improved

What’s Next?
• Complete implementation of remainder of business processes per
project plan by end of Q2 2013
• Parts
 Component
 Platform (hardware)
– Link of data to product offerings on our website
• Assembly parts
• Engineering Change Order (ECO)
• Deviations
• Complete implementation of Manufactured Parts by end of 2013
 Significant tie to ERP system that will require updates
• Maintenance/enhancement of current Aras processes
• 30+ requests so far for updates to workflows and other Aras
items after process launches
• Implementation of Strategic Project process
• Review and prioritization of other forms/processes to put into Aras
in 2014 and beyond
• Potential options:
– Utilize Aras document control for Quality Manual documents
– Review Requirements management module and apply to project
process
– Customer/Supplier interaction
20

Implementation - What worked well?
• Having the business process owners engaged throughout the
implementation process
• Ownership of definition of their processes in Aras
• Collaborative approach to process definition
 Led to user buy-in for use of Aras platform
• Validation of the configured processes in Aras
• Training the affected groups
• Combination of workflow/lifecycle reviews and Aras hands-on
for process training
• Using a phased process implementation approach
• Iterative “learning” with each process launch
21

Implementation - What challenges did we encounter?
• Training people on Aras is 20% of learning - actual Aras usage
is 80%
• Despite the training “On the job” assistance required once
processes were launched
• It is difficult to get people to remember to Save/Unlock/Close
Aras items so others can edit them
• Be prepared for an immediate round of process
enhancements after launch
• Retired tool interactions/dependencies on other tools
• Perception that executing Aras workflows is “more work”
• “I have noticed that while all the checks and balances to
move on to the next step in the workflow are good, they also
make work more tedious.”
• Resistance to workflows due to increased visibility and
accountability
• Departure of IT project manager in November 2012
22

User Feedback
• Project Management
• “For projects, it is very nice to have everything in one place. Any
requirements, design or sustaining requests, new
parts, documents, orders, etc. are all right there for you.”
• “The ease of centralized activity tracking, workflow
management, and overall visibility brings a great advantage to
project management.”
• “The ability to utilize digital signatures for cross functional reviews
within projects and workflows decreased our whitespace and
helped move us away from the paper and pen signatures of the
past.”
• “Activity management from one InBasket provides associates with
a great outlook to their current and future workdays.”
• “Dynamic work breakdown structures have increased our
connectivity across project core team members and provide great
benefits in portfolio management.”
23

User Feedback
• Engineering
• “The project manager views exactly the same thing that I
do. Everything is real-time and there aren’t multiple revisions of
project plans stored in different places.”
• “You can assign a work package to someone’s Inbasket so the
members of the project team know what they are responsible
for. Prior to Aras there was no good visibility as to who was
assigned to what.”
• “After implementing Aras for management of our Engineering
projects, we saw a drastic reduction of our activity durations and
signoffs were gathered a lot quicker as people saw the activities in
their inbaskets. Activities are being completed quicker because of
the status colors since people do not like to see red boxes tied to
their activities.”
• “Having every signoff and document in one location makes finding
and updating reports so much easier.”
24

User Feedback
• Information Technology (IT)
• “One of the biggest benefits from an IT perspective is that it
gives us a single platform to replace many internally developed
tools that are often heavy on maintenance.”
• “The configuration options are very robust. One does not need
to be a software developer to configure Aras items.”
• “It has amazing flexibility, especially when coupled with the
ability to create custom methods.”
• “Security is worry free.”
• Sourcing
• “With Aras, we are able to execute the work in the proper order
and delegate tasks when necessary. It is much more efficient
and easier to understand the status and progress.”
• Quality/Compliance
• “There has been a significant uptick in compliance to response
time for CAPAs since moving to the Aras platform.”
• “We have much better visibility of CAPA items in Aras than we
did in the old system.”
• “From an auditing standpoint the linkage between systems in
Aras is very advantageous.”
• “My efficiency has improved as we replace our old tools with
more functionality in Aras.”
25

Summary of benefits seen using Aras
• Reduction in tools used in the business
• Centralization of project and engineering information and
activities
• Better visibility of projects (status, progress) to organization
• Product/part attribute searchability
• System controlled workflows for business processes
26

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