Agility in Engineering Change Management: Navigating Complexities of Emergent Changes in PLM

This paper addresses the needs of the Product Emergence Process (PEP) to adopt agile methodologies, specifically those managed in a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system. Agile methodologies are expected to provide solutions to reduced lead time, changing product requirements, rising product complexity and turbulent market conditions. Engineering Change Management (ECM) is the process that drives and oversees the process that ensures products meet expected targets and is particularly impacted with the adoption of an agile approach. Furthermore, commercial PLM systems primarily cater to a waterfall approach. The objective of this paper is to propose a conceptual solution that enables the execution of the ECM process in a PLM system while empowering the companies to manage the challenges of product development in a more agile manner. For a feasible integration of agile and PLM tools we propose DIONE (DIscovery, OpportuNity, Exploit). DIONE maps agile methods (specifically those of Scrum) to PLM artifacts of the ECM, and allows for ongoing changes, with continuous assessments during execution cycles. A practical implementation of DIONE in PLM is proposed. The paper also explores the challenges identified for implementing such a framework and the benefits of hybrid development approaches. The key findings emphasize the need for well-thought implementation of agile methodologies in ECM, the need for automation of impact analysis and leveraging engineering knowledge to support the ECM. The paper also explores organizational challenges identified for implementing agile in the PEP. In conclusion, this research highlights the importance of adopting an agile approach to manage effectively the complexity of emerging change requests in ECM. It encourages further research in automation, knowledge gathering and management, and the need to be innovative in the ways the ECM can be implemented.