Strategies to Help Product Companies Maximize ROI
Have you ever invested in enterprise software, only to find months later that adoption never materialized? Instead of reducing errors, automating processes, or delivering cost savings, the system sits largely unused.
Research shows this scenario is far from uncommon. According to Boston Consulting Group, only 30% of digital transformation initiatives meet or exceed their target value.1 Similarly, McKinsey & Company reports that fewer than 30% of digital transformations succeed.1 These findings underscore a persistent challenge: many organizations struggle to realize meaningful value from their software investments—if they realize value at all. As a result, software time to value (TTV) is often delayed.
For manufacturing companies implementing product lifecycle management (PLM) and quality management system (QMS) solutions, TTV has a direct impact on speed to market, operational efficiency, and return on investment. Faster TTV enables teams to adopt systems more quickly, align stakeholders across functions, and mitigate risk earlier in the product lifecycle.
In this ebook, we examine what time to value means in the context of PLM and why it matters. We also explore the common obstacles that slow value realization and strategies organizations can adopt to accelerate results.
Time to value (TTV) measures how quickly an organization achieves tangible benefits after investing in new enterprise software.
TTV is a critical metric because long software implementations can delay adoption and erode confidence before teams ever see results. By contrast, faster TTV allows organizations to justify investments sooner and build momentum across engineering, operations, quality, and supply chain teams.
A simplified TTV journey typically follows this progression:
Reducing friction at each stage shortens the overall path to value.
The TTV calculation is based on the duration between two key events:
Formula:
TTV = Date of First Value Moment – Date of Start
What constitutes a “meaningful value moment” differs by organization and should align with specific business objectives. For PLM and QMS initiatives, early indicators often include stronger cross-functional collaboration, faster engineering change order (ECO) cycles, smoother audits, fewer production issues, and lower supply chain risk. Tracking these early wins helps teams validate progress and build confidence in their PLM investment.
PLM initiatives touch multiple functions and often support highly regulated, complex products. When TTV is slow, organizations experience extended implementations, stalled projects, fragmented data, and delayed process improvements.
Fast TTV is especially important for PLM and QMS implementations, as it enables organizations to:
There are several recurring obstacles that delay value realization in enterprise software projects. They include:
These blockers increase complexity and reduce confidence during the critical early stages of adoption.
A fast software TTV is influenced by these three factors:
Accelerating time to value starts with the right approach. These five strategies help organizations adopt PLM faster and see results sooner.
Perform thorough due diligence when evaluating PLM solutions to ensure the platform is designed to deliver value quickly—not months or years down the road.
When assessing vendors, ask questions that reveal how quickly teams can get up and running, adopt the system, and see meaningful results.
Key questions to ask during evaluations:
Involve team members from engineering, quality, operations, supply chain, and IT in the software selection process. Early participation builds ownership, encourages adoption, and increases the likelihood that teams fully embrace the system once it’s deployed.
Take advantage of webinars, video tutorials, how-to guides, and other PLM resources to reduce learning curves and enhance user proficiency.
Deploy PLM using a phased approach. Begin with core functionality like bill of materials (BOM) management and engineering change control. As teams gain confidence, gradually expand to advanced areas like requirements and training management.
Use PLM analytics to track key performance indicators such as engineering change cycle times, training completion, and quality events. Monitoring these metrics helps organizations quantify value over time and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
Arena by PTC’s cloud-native platform is purpose-built to help product teams realize meaningful results quickly—without the delays and complexity of traditional PLM implementations. Trusted by more than 1,450 customers worldwide, Arena delivers early value while supporting long-term growth and scalability.
Key differentiators for Arena:
—Jonas Vaabengaard, Director of Project Operations, Soundboks
—John Anderson, Chief Technical Officer, Seas of Solutions
—Uli Behringer, CEO, Music Tribe
Time to value is a strategic measure of how effectively an organization turns technology investment into business impact. By prioritizing ease of use, integration readiness, and strong onboarding support, companies can reduce friction, accelerate adoption, and realize the benefits of PLM sooner.
If your current PLM system is slow to gain traction or deliver results, it may be time to reconsider your approach. Arena’s cloud‑native platform and fast implementation model are designed to help your teams move quickly from purchase to productivity.
Want to explore what Arena’s faster time to value could look like for your organization?
