PLM Project Mgr

I have implemented Arena PLM over the years. The basic PLM information is easy to create and control. The new features and functionality always make for a centralized location for all information on Products in all lifecycle phases. Supplier access allows seamless communication for critical changes incorporation to product lines throughout various product lifecycles. Change Order/Deviation/ Corrective Action Request interface for contract manufacturer to collaborate actions to take on factory floor with critical actions for inventory dispositioning, for material planning and procurement. Centralized location for compliance documentation associated to items within a product. Workflow for Change Orders and Change Requests. Redlines for all Change Order controlled revisions on BOM's. The system is easily modified for unique requirements per company policies. Cloud application eliminates maintenance and hardware requirements which reduces IT cost. Incorporation of best business practices for the release and controlling all product data. New enhancements make this PLM a gem in a fast pace industry.

Pros

Ease of use and all the features to control changes of product lines. On cloud enhancements and maintenance done by software provider. Many ways to make this software

Cons

Spellcheck. Minimal issues

Arena is a FANTASTIC solution for the small to midsize company

Ability to manage the product record and collaborate with supply chain partners

Pros

In the startup environment with fewer than fifty employee Arena is simple to deploy, maintain, and exceptional for collaborating with key supply chain partners. Arena's ability to scale with the growth of the company and our expanding supply chain is critical to our success. As the company evolves and grown to more that 200 employees, Arena can evolve and keep pace when your business model. The ability to add additional features such as Quality, speaks well for the capability of the Arena Solution to grow.

Cons

As an Arena system administrator and user I would like to see more flexibility to develop custom work flows. The stage one, stage two methodology is perfect for managing the review and release process gates. However, I need the ability to customize the workflow after the change orders has been released and locked. There is a need for review and approval after release with supply chain partners that can not be addressed and part of the Implementation process.

Ease to use the software

Pros

Visibility on key information that we need and ease in the set up of new account for access . Turn around time is short and approval process is easy to manage

Cons

No historical record on pricing and Arena pricing could only keep the price of one source , does not allow weighted cost for dual or multiple sources .

Proud customer for fifteen years

For a decade and a half the various modules and services of Arena PLM have been at the hub of my engineering activities. At multiple companies and across several industries this software has been able to deliver powerful, enterprise level cloud-based lifecycle management solutions in a reliable and user friendly manner, and I am amazed by the quality of support. As far as I'm concerned, Arena is one of my core suites in ANY venture, the one quantity I can depend on because it just *works*.

Pros

The sheer flexibility and ease of use, combined with a low barrier to entry and learning curve. Combine that with both desktop and mobile accessibility and you have a best-in-class offering.

Cons

There are a couple of feature enhancements that I've been waiting for a while now, but I also recognize that 1) there are workarounds for those missing elements that are functional, just not pretty and 2) Arena support has shown a clear track record of listening and responding to customer feedback, so I'm fairly confident I'll see those new addons someday.

Arena for a Small Materials Start-Up

Pros

We primarily utilize ARENA for part and document management. The main feature of ARENA that makes it an efficient tool is the ability to easily connect related parts. If a new part is generated, it is very easy to build out a BOM and attach all relevant documentation. And from the other side, it is easy to locate these items when searching for a particular part. Generating new items and documents is simple and straightforward, and the reviewing system is simple to use (and includes notifications for those who need to complete reviews).

Cons

The search function can be tricky to utilize, and is occasionally glitchy. Sometimes searches for known item numbers of document names will return no results, and wild-card searches seem finicky at best. On occasion, the behavior of the Changes functions can make Revisions somewhat difficult. Depending on whether a change has been rejected or withdrawn, it is sometimes impossible to make further edits to a revision until that change is "deleted", even though it had already been rejected. So there are a few minor issues that can impact the ease of use of the system.