LEAN and PLM: Two Complementary Pillars for ENTERPRISE AGILITY

Abstract

Faced with a constantly evolving environment, firms implement tools stemming from projects which are aimed at increasing operational agility. Whilst these projects have shown their relevance by developing axes of improvement in various sectors, the overall impact of the modifications on the rest of the enterprise has not been measured. In this article, we will focus on two approaches; Product Lifecycle Management and Lean, both of which contribute to the search for agility. Lean tools are used to improve company performance by developing its’ abilities to adapt to a given situation. These evolutions often result in the modifications of both products and the management and production methods of these products. On the other hand, PLM tools (used to ensure a good control of the system to reference the company’s products), are often perceived as an obstacle to the agility advocated by Lean. PLM and Lean projects should not be set against each other nor seen to be in competition with each other. So, we propose to apply the ambivalence paradigm to develop synergies in the search for operational agility. We will illustrate this proposition using a maintenance management project deployed at the CERN.