Should your path to PLM implementation begin by organizing your data? Or does the most value derive from getting your processes enabled by PLM? Duelling analysts Jim Brown and Chad Jackson disagree. Vote for the most compelling argument. Loser suffers pain, as usual.

Dueling analysts Jim Brown and Chad Jackson disagree about the practicality of simulation in concept design. Vote for the debate winner, and watch the loser of the last debate become a moving paintball target.

Mobile Devices are a new technology platform that can make PLM data more accessible and bring new functionality. Analysts Jim Brown and Chad Jackson disagree about the future direction for mobile PLM. Be sure to cast your vote!

Today’s “Smart” products embody elements of mechanical, electrical and software design. That makes the requirements increasingly interdependent. Systems engineering is the integration of these functions into a unified design. In this episode, Chad and Jim debate whether systems engineering is ready to be integrated in the PLM system, or should stand apart using best-of-breed applications.

Small design teams face a tough choice for managing product data. Should they implement a simple document management solution? A CAD-only data management tool? Or go for something bigger that manages the BOM through to manufacturing?

Where’s the better value in CAD software? Is it in integrated suites that preserve data integrity? Or in stand-alone tools that better fit individual tasks? And why was Jim willing to take on a topic so close to the debate he lost in an earlier episode?

In this episode Chad and Jim debate the roles of PLM and ERP in managing product data and surprisingly don’t agree (not!). Jim also makes a bold prediction about the future of these solutions. Vote for the debate winner below, and be sure to watch the loser of the last debate doing a polar bear swim!

Chad and Jim debate whether PLM or CAD is the right technology to take the lead in platform design. This episode also features the consequence of the last episode - somebody got a really bad haircut.

In this freewheeling conversation, industry analysts Chad Jackson and Jim Brown talk about how CAD is really used in engineering design processes. While they agree that engineers really can use CAD for design they disagree about how they should do that. And of course, you'll get to see who lost the last debate and had to get a temporary tattoo. Don't forget to vote for this episode's winner.

Social technology tools hold great promise for collaborating on unstructured product development tasks. They could capture the information in all those informal communication channels like phone calls and email, or perhaps even replace them. But are the tools ready? And are businesses ready for them?

The vision of using simulation results to drive design decisions has been around for some time. The advantages and benefits of simulation are self-evident. But, who are the key roles to enable the change: engineers or analysts?

PLM drives value by integrating product data with business processes. But now some companies are challenging this long held notion.