Visibility Into the Product Record Keeps Consumer Electronics from “Cucumber Egg Tonics”

In the kids’ game “telephone,” the fun is hearing how the original message accidentally morphs into a phrase that sounds similar but takes on a totally different meaning. The fun’s in the human error; however, that sort of confusion is not so funny when project managers, who lack visibility into the original data source and product record, end up managing and organizing incorrect data, leading to flawed products. Manufacturing, as we know, is not child’s play.

A lack of visibility into the product record and build package progress, along with the lack of visibility into the true advancement of in the product record, leads to confusing decentralized project communication. This is exactly how project management problems occur, which in turn lead to product error and will make your VP of Manufacturing scream, “I said, ‘consumer electronics’! Not ‘cucumber-egg-tonics’!”

Arena’s new easy-to-use Project Management Module is a high-level, cloud-based project management tool, with basic scheduling and task assignment capability. A unique feature (one that you can’t find in MS Project) is the ability to link all schedule levels to the product record, allowing global collaboration around items, changes, requests, files and even other projects. Comprehensive reporting supports detailed project metrics, workspace wide.

The new Project Management Module allows BOMControl users to flexibly track project progress through customizable phases, assignable milestones, and tasks to ensure timely completion of projects. Reference links to items, changes, files, requests, and other projects allow users, and their extended teams, to confirm task completion by seeing direct updates to the product record in the schedule context. This means assignees can attach references directly to their tasks for auditing of task deliverables.

This module enables global collaboration through the use of schedule notes, tasks, milestone statuses, and notes from individual references that work in tandem to keep the entire team aligned. Full reporting of all project data across the workspace allows managers worldwide to get data out for detailed cross-project analysis and assessment of company effectiveness.

So once again: why is Arena’s Project Management Module superior to the competition? Greater visibility into the product record and easy global collaboration around the associated product data that can be accessed from anywhere, and viewable in the context of the schedule.  Arena stores product data in the cloud – other project management tools don’t.

With Arena’s Project Management Module, project managers can direct project progress within context visibility into the items, changes, files, requests and other projects associated with the schedule. Users can contribute directly to their tasks from around the globe. Managers can pull data from all workspace projects to evaluate project progress and generate company-wide metrics.

With Arena Project Management Module, manufacturing project managers get detailed and flexible control of project deliverables and visibility into project schedules. It can help companies to:

• Collaborate globally on new product introductions and detailed manufacturing and development efforts.
• Connect the product record directly to the schedule to see product progress in context, increase change visibility and drive efficient and accurate development — not only at a high level — yet in the details as well.
• Improve project visibility through detailed analysis of comprehensive project data.  With workspace wide reporting, identify exactly where projects are behind so you can make appropriate business decisions to get things back on track.

With Arena’s Project Management Module, you can connect your product record directly to your schedule to see product progress in context, increase change visibility and drive efficient, accurate development at a high level. No more cucumber egg tonics!

If you want to know more information about Project Management Module, contact your account representative.