Maximize creativity

and efficiency
WITH BEST PRACTICE ADOPTION

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 Maximize Creativity and Efficiency
with Best Practice Adoption

Creativity and efficiency – can they effectively coexist in the product
design process? Both are crucial to growth, yet as companies cope
with the relentless pressures of globalization, achieving an optimal
balance becomes more difficult.
Growing product complexity, distributed teams, and other design challenges call for
repeatable standards to maintain quality and manage costs. Yet today’s customers
expect a broad choice of innovative products at an ever-increasing pace, with minimal
price increases.
Additionally, skilled-labor pools in developed countries will keep shrinking well into
2030. This will further deplete an already sparse engineering workforce and require
companies to become ultra-efficient at using their limited human resources.
“Although the demand for knowledge workers is
sure to grow, the supply will not. Governments aren’t
moving fast enough to educate workers with the
skills needed to meet the productivity imperative,
and businesses can’t afford to wait.”1
Squeezed from all sides, manufacturers must commit to both creativity and efficiency in
their product design processes to compete in today’s global market. This represents a
challenge not easily met.
Innovative organizations are finding a way to meet this challenge by leveraging a new
style of learning – a style that nurtures the unique advantages of a company’s creative
assets while embedding the most beneficial combination of proven methods into the
product development process.

1
“The Productivity Imperative,” June 2010, McKinsey Quarterly from McKinsey & Co.: Peter Bisson, Elizabeth Stephenson, and
S. Patrick Viguerie http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/The_productivity_imperative_2630

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 Maximize Creativity and Efficiency
with Best Practice Adoption

The Right Methods for Your Design Goals Seasoned instructors use a decision matrix similar to the one in Figure 1., to match the
design goals of each client with the best-possible combination of methods to achieve
When designing new products, there are literally thousands of choices an engineer can strategic goals.
make. These choices not only impact the initial design, but also reuse, future design
changes, and relationships with other parts – the list goes on.
Best Practice Academy university
PTC University created Best Practice Academy to help companies design their products
++ : Very Positive Influence Methods for Assembly Structure
using the appropriate methods that support their whole design process. As well, it + : Positive Influence
enables adoption of the proven product development best practices that best fit their o : No Influence Top-Down Placement Bottom-Up Layout Dedicated
- : Negative Influence Design with Skeleton Design Copied
individual circumstances – industry, product configurations, team size, strategy, etc. Geometry References
-- : Very Negative Influence
Skeleton

Complexity / Transparency + + o - +

Objectives for Assembly Structure

Performance / Robustness + + o - +
“…we need to get our project time down from 9 to 6 Design changes / Reuse + + + + +
months by training our engineers to design correctly the Concurrent Engineering + + - + +

first time…” Variability / Parameterization + + o - +

Standardization / Automation -- + o + +
Julio Castaneda, Technical Manager, Motorola
Ease of Use / Adoption - o + -- -

PDM File Handing - o o - -

Assembly Structure Decision Matrix

Figure 1: Example of decision matrix from Best Practice Academy Assembly Structure course

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 Maximize Creativity and Efficiency
with Best Practice Adoption

The resulting best practices are rooted in PTC’s familiar software features and functions, PTC designed its Best Practice Academy in response to customer feedback that
and are broken down into modules that can be easily applied to everyday roles (see building crucial efficiencies into product development processes is a growing
Figure 2). This process eases and accelerates enterprise-wide adoption and adherence, challenge – not just for accelerating time-to-market, but also for maximizing internal
which facilitate velocity and quality in the product development process while fostering resources (e.g., time, knowledge, skills, hardware, software, etc.).
innovation. The result is a higher level of collaborative creativity and efficiency.
This phenomenon is not unique to product development. Varied companies and
business disciplines are realizing that taking their technology training further – to a
team or process level – will maximize return from their existing hardware and software
Best Practice investments. Training solely at the individual level leaves too many gaps for waiting,
Engineering
Best Practice Academic errors, and rework.
Process
Modules
Best practices training closes these gaps, so the process is more efficient, and
Structuring designers can spend more time creating designs and less time fixing problems. This is
Assemblies quickly becoming a valuable competitive advantage.
Top-Down
Sharing
Design
Geometries
Detailed Structuring
Design
Models
Associative 3D Making Models “Yet again, technology has spawned a major change in the
Part Modeling Transparent
business world by allowing team members to collaborate
Creating Robust
Models across great distances. Wonderful efficiencies come with
Models this capability, and it certainly allows for more velocity in
Figure 2: Best Practice Academy module breakdown
Creating Robust
assembling teams and then reassembling them when new
Part Modeling Transparent
Associative 3D Making Models conditions or projects arise… Do it well, and you create lots
Beyond Skills Training Models of speed and efficiency in leveraging talent.”2
Design
Detailed Sturcturing
Typical software training builds the foundational skills that help designers stay on top 2
Klososky, Scoot, “The Velocity Manifesto,” Greenleaf Book Group Press, Austin, Texas, 2011
Geometries
of the latest tools of the trade. It Design
focuses on enabling individuals to best understand
Sharing
Top Drawn
the core “picks and clicks” within the tool they are using.
Assemblies
Best practices training focuses on how individual performance supports organization-
Studying
wide product development goals. Rather than focusing on tools (i.e., software), best
practices training focuses on making proven working methods repeatable and
Modules
efficient across the organization.
Process
Best Practice Academic
Engineering Next Page
Best Practice

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 Maximize Creativity and Efficiency
with Best Practice Adoption

Best Practice Academy Offerings
All of the Best Practice Academy workshops and programs are:
• Designed specifically for PTC customers.
• Built around people and activities that keep processes flowing.
• Created to expand thinking from individual-skills performance to end-to-end
process performance.
Choices include:
Preconfigured Workshops: Highly interactive on-site workshops built from proven
Best practices training takes what already exists at your company and makes it better –
faster, higher-quality, and more efficient product development performance – while
respecting the intelligence and creativity that opens doors to new customers, more
sales, and higher profits.
Take a free Best Practice Academy Assembly Structure class – right from your desk.
Learn how to make it work for you.
© 2011, Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC). All rights reserved. Information described herein is furnished for informational
use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a guarantee, commitment, condition or offer by PTC.
PTC, the PTC Logo and all PTC product names and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of PTC and/or its subsidiaries in
the United States and in other countries. All other product or company names are property of their respective owners. The timing of
any product release, including any features or functionality, is subject to change at PTC’s discretion.

industry product development process modules that address general product 7096– BPA–eBook– 0211
development best practices.

Configured Workshops: Designed to be specific to your organization’s processes and

objectives, we work with you to identify and combine appropriate learning modules
that will meet your organization’s core objectives.

Learning Programs: Our learning programs include a training needs analysis, an

education plan, and configured content designed to meet the specific needs of each
role involved in the product development process. As a result, best practices are
adopted across the entire organization – improving product quality and efficiency.

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