Digital Enterprise Society is the authority on the transformation to a digital enterprise, impacting all areas of an organization. Tune in for discussions among industry leaders about operations and action needed to drive digitization principles forward for the future of product development and life cycles. 

 

With over a year of podcasts under the Digital Enterprise Society belt, Thom Singer hosts a very special guest on today’s podcast — industry veteran Craig Brown.  Craig is taking on the role of interviewee today as they discuss the major changes that he has seen in the PLM world over the course of his career.  Craig and Thom also share top takeaways, advice, and lessons learned from the first 60 guest interviews and conversations of this podcast.  A self-proclaimed ‘failed retiree’, Craig has valuable insights for every stage of your career and shares insights about the whys and hows of bringing tools, processes and people together for anyone that wants to become a technical leader in today’s digital world.

 

On today’s podcast, you will learn:

 

The journey from aerospace to automotive

• Craig shares the historic events that inspired his career journey.

• What it meant to work on car computers before anyone knew they were there.
• The career path that led Craig from embedded software and simulation in the aerospace industry to filling the PLM gap in the automotive industry.

 

Major changes in the PLM world

• Working with vendors who once touted that they had a full toolset product that solved every problem but were never actually able to deliver it.
• The lack of a real competitive state-of-the-art PLM system from any one vendor made it easier to collaborate to develop the best for everyone’s use.
• The efficacy of processes and the skills of employees are of a far greater importance than the tools that they utilize.
• A digital engineering strategy has become more essential than ever to remain the technological leader. 

 

Main takeaways from a year of podcasting

• Craig reflects on the podcast’s most memorable guests and topics, including conversations about the cross-industry topic of the theory of constraints.
• Many of the most insightful interviews included career advice about pursuing your curiosities. 
• Surprising podcast moments, including the discovery that widely different industries use the same tools to meet the needs of their consumers. 

 

Career advice from an industry expert

• Stay flexible — you cannot always know what your next career steps are going to be.
• Stay curious — if you’re getting stale in your work it’s time to take a new risk.
• Stay informed —  keep learning about your industry processes and tools. 
• Stay connected — maintain relationships with the people in your life and career that matter most.
• Don’t be afraid and don’t limit yourself. 

 

Do you have an example of extraordinary efforts or innovation during these unprecedented times? We would love to hear your story and possibly interview you for an upcoming episode. Please reach out to us at www.DigitalEnterpriseSociety.org