Case Study
Launching 140 new products using PLM
Groupe SEB
Easy integration of all CAD data from various sources
Since the launch of the “Cocotte minute” pressure cooker in 1953, the company SEB, and then Groupe SEB (1973) has grown primarily through the acquisition of companies such as Tefal, Calor, Krups, Moulinex and Rowenta. In the late 1990s, several successive crises led Groupe SEB to reorganize itself in line with major product groups into five business units: Cookware; Electrical Cooking; Food and Beverage Preparation; Linen Care and Personal Care, and Home Comfort; and Home Cleaning.
Before 2000, Groupe SEB companies operated independently of one another, with their own development tools, their own teams and their own production factories.
In an extremely competitive market, the factor that can often make a critical difference to success is innovation. Groupe SEB therefore adapted innovation as a strategic development axis. In doing so, it became essential to standardize all the R&D, manufacturing processes and tools. The intent was to enable faster product manufacture and introduction to market.
PLM becomes major driving force for innovation
In order to respond to this ambitious standardization project, Groupe SEB looked closely at its entire production organization. Before implementing a PLM strategy, the company felt it was important to define its major processes, which if properly reflected, would constitute the functional qualities of any new approach it would introduce. The first phase consisted of standardizing all the organizations, processes and methods for each of the major functions. Once this work was completed, Groupe SEB was ready to select a PLM tool for R&D. The tool needed to provide functionality for working collaboratively as well as for both managing enterprise-wide project data and consolidating technical product data. Multi-activity and multi-function working groups were formed in order to prepare a common set of specifications for all units. The specifications were developed to take into account the essential individual needs of each group.
Two-phase consultation leads to the solution
After an initial appraisal of the PLM market, Groupe SEB felt confident in trimming its list to two software companies. Each software company was asked to present its solution in greater depth. Groupe SEB selected the Teamcenter® solution from Siemens PLM Software. The company preferred Teamcenter for its engineering process management capabilities, which would enable the optimal control of its product and project data, and for its community collaboration capabilities, which would streamline work with the company’s internal and external partners.
The pre-configuration of Teamcenter was a particularly persuasive factor for Groupe SEB, because it minimizes the customization necessary to implement the software. In addition, Teamcenter’s ability to easily integrate data from different CAD systems presented a huge time savings opportunity.
Pilot project at Lyons validates solution
Before validating the capacity of Teamcenter to federate the different tools used by the five business units throughout the lifecycle of its products – including design, modeling, analysis and manufacture, management of orders, configurations, project follow-up and start of production – Groupe SEB and Siemens worked together to deploy a pilot site.
Groupe SEB’s “Linen Care” business unit, with its industrial site in Lyons, volunteered its services and was chosen for the pilot project. The Linen Care business unit possessed the typical conditions necessary to effectively serve as a model across brands.
The project was to take place for a year on the Pont-Evêque site (Rhône-Alpes). The initial stage was to include defining all of the core activities common to all the product lines. In the second stage, the project was to address the needs specific to the business unit, such as the management of documents, the integration of processes and the management of data flows particular to the site.
Per the requirements, all the projects carried out at the Pont-Evêque site were successfully transferred/implemented in Teamcenter. The IT team could now measure its return on investment (ROI).
The investment allows new investments
A simple calculation was used to determine the pilot’s return on investment. By eliminating the tasks that didn’t add value, such as administrative, e.g., re-inputting data, it was found that the technicians and engineers saved a considerable number of hours. In fact, the productivity gains were significant. At the Pont-Evêque, which in prior years had handled three development projects annually, eight could now be addressed. The gain was attributed primarily to the implementation of the Teamcenter lifecycle collaboration solution.
In addition to the substantial productivity improvement, Teamcenter now enables Groupe SEB to monitor its industrialization process remotely across all sites, and to access important project and product data.
Ultimately, the savings realized through increased productivity contributed directly to the financing of the next project.
Solution is deployed globally
With the pilot project a measurable success, Groupe SEB began to implement other PLM projects across its product lines, with the ROI of one project enabling the subsequent project to be financed.
Teamcenter was to be installed at all the industrial sites in France and abroad.
Over the course of two plus years, the “Linen Care” and “Cookware” business units – representing almost half of the group’s turnover – saw all their new projects executed via the Siemens platform, Teamcenter. All Groupe SEB sites are to be Teamcenter-driven within the immediate future.
Collaboration improves building blocks to success
Groupe SEB considers it a point of honor to develop its PLM projects directly via user projects. Thus all users, from the bottom to the top of the chain, are contributing building blocks to the overall structure. Their requirements and expectations are literally being built into the functionality of the tool. It was Groupe SEB’s intent from the onset to integrate user requirements into the tool as part of its global strategy.
With a genuine demonstration of work effectively performed and outstanding results achieved thanks to Teamcenter, and with a deployment rhythm aligned with the working rhythm of the collaborators involved, Groupe SEB has utilized its entire staff in making the new tool a successful part of its strategic product innovation initiative.
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Challenges:
- Getting products to market faster
- Accelerating the new product development cycle through collaboration
- Improving information flow of all project and product data
Keys To Success:
- A successful pilot project that justifies a PLM initiative for all product lines
- Easy integration of all CAD data from various sources/business units
Results:
- Self-financed global project
- Guaranteed processes, with product traceability
- Improved quality from product concept to finished products
- Definition of technology functions driven by user input/contribution
- Increased productivity across technical services
- Reduction of rejects
- Optimization of stock
- 140 new products launched in one year and at a reduced cost per product
- On schedule for a single deployment across sites
Industry:
- Consumer Products
Client's Primary Business:
Originally a regional enterprise, Groupe SEB is a world leader in small domestic appliances. With 50 years in business and a presence in more than 120 countries, Groupe SEB sells more than 6 products every second, with more than 70 percent of its sales made internationally.
Business Initiatives:
- Commonization & Re-use
Solutions/Services:
- Teamcenter
Client Location:
Ecully, Rhône-Alpes
France
"The effective product and process information management of Teamcenter contributes significantly to speeding up the introduction of innovative new products to market."
Gérard Durand
Methods and Tools Manager Research and Development
Groupe SEB
"Whether it concerns the design of a project, the leadership of a meeting or the management of technical data, Siemens’ PLM offers many advantages: time savings, reliability, immediate understanding of a campaign, and user-friendly graphics. PLM will progressively facilitate our regular exchanges with other sites all over the world, from Germany or China to Brazil or Mexico."
Michel Jouvel
Linen CareTechnical Director
Groupe SEB
"PLM contributes to taking down walls, bringing those involved in development and industrialization closer to one another. In addition, the automation of certain flows of documents will enable tasks without added value to be eliminated. PLM also increases the value of re-use, that is, making use of platforms and process standards already known and successfully implemented within Groupe SEB."
Jean-Luc Piton
SI Manager, Research & Development
Groupe SEB