1) Parata is a small company that designs and manufactures machines for pharmacies. They had an outdated and fragmented system with no integration between different software tools and data sources. 2) An internal team recommended replacing their current system with a PLM solution to integrate their processes. They considered Arena, Oracle, and Aras. Aras best met their requirements and had the strongest vision for future capabilities. 3) Selling the new system to stakeholders required justifying the risks of the current fragmented system, quantifying financial benefits through ROI analysis, and showing how the new system would provide a foundation for future growth.

1. Our PLM Journey
Justifying Change with Strategic Vision
Nathan Naramor
linkedin.com/in/naramor

2. Introduction
Selecting and implementing a PLM is hard.
-Many stakeholders
-Complex processes
-Unique challenges for a smaller company
How can we get our bosses, peers, and other
stakeholders on board for this massive change?
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3. Agenda
Introduction
Who is Parata?
Our Journey
Selection Process
Elements of Our Vision
Reduce Risk
Rewards
Foundation for the Future
Key Takeaways
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4. Who is Parata?
We design and
manufacture machines to
support pharmacies.
(video)
Even though we are small,
we have complex needs.
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5. Parata Data Flow (Partial)
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6. Our Situation
Our software went end-of-life six months after
we implemented….ten years ago.
We had a proliferation of “pocket databases”
Everyone has their own tools and none of them
talked to each other.
People had to be clever.
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7. Agenda
Introduction
Who is Parata?
Our Journey
Selection Process
Elements of Our Vision
Reduce Risk
Rewards
Foundation for the Future
Key Takeaways
7

8. AARP Technical Recommendation
Replace Agile
with What?
Agile Advantage
Replacement Team

9. Original Mission of AARP Team
Recommend a replacement for Agile
Advantage (AA) with limited scope creep.
Consider scalability of additional features that
Parata can grow into (don’t ignore opportunity)
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10. Requirements Gathering
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We asked how we currently used the software
We mapped our business processes end-to-
end
We filled out a massive spreadsheet of over
1000+ lines (don’t recommend)
We looked at the PLM landscape

11. Products Considered
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Cost
Features

12. Semi-Finalists
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Features
Arena, Oracle, and Aras all
seemed to reside in our
“sweet spot” of features,
connectivity, and cost.

13. Aras Selection
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We found Aras met all our minimum
requirements.
Aras also had the brightest vision for the future
– and gave us access to it.
Fit best with our company’s culture of
continuous improvement (tweaking).

14. Agenda
Introduction
Who is Parata?
Our Journey
Selection Process
Elements of Our Vision
Reduce Risk
Rewards
Foundation for the Future
Key Takeaways
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15. Reduce Risk
• Obsolete software on
obsolete hardware
• Proprietary Database
• Stuck Processes
• “Fat-Fingered” integrations
• Duplication of Effort
• Duplication of Data
• Massive Exposure
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17. Focus on Reward
• Give them numbers
• We ran ROIs on every hard benefit we could
find
‐ Time studies on reduction in duplicate efforts
‐ Increased efficiencies with connected systems
Managing BOMs
CAD Check-ins
Field Service searches
‐ Speed increases of modern infrastructure
‐ License/support costs of smaller tools
‐ Time to Market
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18. Features We Could Get with Aras
APIs
Remote Access w/o VPN (for FSEs)
In-House or Cloud Based (MIS prefers In-House)
Two-way Integration to SalesForce / Dynamics GP
Quality Module (Quality Engineering would use this)
Project Management
PDLC / SEAM
Regulatory Management
CAD File Viewing
New Product Introduction
Configuration Management
Microsoft-based Database
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19. Benefits of Lifecycle Integration
NPI
• PDLC / SEAM – Reduce time-to-market with automated
workflows and connected deliverables
• Project Management – Issue management can be driven from
many sources (web, Salesforce, field…) through API
• Quality Module – CAPAs and 8Ds also workflow-driven and tied
to specific parts/products and readily available
Sustaining
• Two-way Integration to SalesForce / GP – Material cut-ins and
substitutes can be better managed. Better understanding of cost
drivers
• Regulatory Management – Custom alerts and notifications can
eliminate gaps
• Configuration Management – System more future-proof and
capable of configure-to-order (not restricted by our tools)
Strategic
• Best chance at a company-wide platform – break down silos
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20. Focus on Reward
• Give them pictures
• Show them!
‐ Aras is available for a test drive. Having it
installed to be seen was a huge benefit.
• Give them stories
• The hard numbers will only work so well.
Benefits of system-wide integration aren’t
necessarily known beforehand. Don’t
neglect future opportunities because they
don’t have a known ROI
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21. Foundation for the Future
• Aras is designed with the future in
mind
• Open processes
• Clear databases
• Highly configurable
• Infrastructure to grow on
• IoT examples:
‐ ThingBrowser augmented-reality
maintenance call
‐ Machine-connected quality data
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22. Agenda
Introduction
Who is Parata?
Our Journey
Selection Process
Elements of Our Vision
Reduce Risk
Rewards
Foundation for the Future
Key Takeaways
22