As prices for just about everything continue to rise, sustainability is earning it’s place in the spotlight over efficiency. PLM may indicate whether a product is created more efficiency, but is it a product that should be created in the first place? Products that don’t incorporate sustainability have been facing greater scrutiny in recent years, and today’s guest would argue that there is a better way to think about PLM.  On this episode of The Digital Enterprise Society podcast, Thom Singer and Craig Brown welcome back Patrick Hillberg for a conversation about the economic side of product development. 

 

On today’s podcast, you will learn:

 

What drives economies? 

• What would happen if the demand for oil diminished greatly?  $100 per gallon oil would drastically change the demand for oil. 
• Externalities are the costs associated with a transaction that are not borne by the producer or the consumer. 
• As our understanding of our impact increases, externalities also increase in their effect. 

 

Increasing sustainability in PLM

• Most leaders agree that sustainability needs to be addressed. 
• Redefining PLM is a critical step to incorporating sustainability as PLM doesn’t tell you if you’re making the wrong product. 
• PLM only helps with improving the efficiency of whatever product you’re making. 
• Digital disruptions caused by the pandemic- and Zoom specifically- have improved efficiency. 

 

How do disruptions change PLM?

• MPL- managing product lifecycle- might be a superior approach than PLM. 
• This approach focuses more on creating products that bring the greatest value to society. 
• PLM has become a very technical topic that often misses the business aspect. 
• Fossil fuels and batteries are an example of PLM disruptions. 

 

Engineering toward sustainability

• The skills of digital engineering are transferable, and can be redirected toward more sustainable efforts. 
• The electronic and mechanical worlds are intersecting as both are working toward greater sustainability. 
• Patrick’s new paper, “What if gasoline were $100?” argues that high density power might not be available and that we should start thinking about correcting for it now. 
• Efficiency often misses out on innovation and resilience, a problem that digital factory twins can help resolve. 

 

Continue the conversation with us within the Digital Enterprise Society Community at DigitalEnterpriseSociety.org.

 

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