To-Increase Asks, Has Product Lifecycle Management & Social Media Integration Arrived?

Norwell, MA, June 28, 2011 --(PR.com)-- To-Increase, a provider of Microsoft Dynamics solutions for Industrial Equipment Manufacturers (IEM), comments on the seeming inevitability of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and social media integration in the new blog post, "PLM Integration With (Wait For It…) Social Media Technology."

"In essence, PLM and social media technology share remarkably common traits," writes post author Luciano Cunha, Global Industry Director, To-Increase. "PLM, when integrated with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), provides global visibility into manufacturing projects. Similarly, social media technology can provide this same level of global visibility into the everyday lives of friends and family."

Cunha's post goes on to explore the concept of social computing, citing bullet points from the recent Siemens presentation, "Social Media in PLM." Each bullet point cited by Cunha details how social concepts could apply to the product development process:

A "Tweet" could be equatable to an instant communication of a design challenge
A "comment" could be equatable to shared, public feedback on design issues or concepts
A "news feed" could be equatable to progress issues or statuses

"Each bullet point above syncs succinctly with what we discuss as being the primary benefits of ERP / PLM integration, specifically:

Real time communication
Global project visibility
Faster time to market, thanks – in part – to more efficient means of communication and management of project details."

As Cunha concludes his post, he posits the idea that social media PLM integration is likely more of a reality, than inevitability.

"Social media PLM integration only sounds as though it is the next step," concludes Cunha. "In reality, manufacturers that have taken advantage of ERP / PLM integration have been experiencing the benefits of social media for quite some time."

To read this complete post, and learn more about the integration of PLM and social media, visit the To-Increase blog at http://blog.to-increase.com/social-media-plm-integration/.

About To-Increase
As a global ISV and Microsoft Gold Certified partner, To-Increase develops solutions for industry verticals, including highly specific Industrial Equipment Manufacturing, retail, wholesale, construction, distribution, and professional services segments. We offer end-to-end solutions built on Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics NAV, along with a wide range of business integration and add-on software for Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM solutions. We also develop e-Con, the leading sales and product configurator for Microsoft Dynamics. To-Increase has been recognized as the Microsoft Dynamics Outstanding ISV of the year for both 2009 and 2010, and has been a member of the Microsoft President’s Club and Inner Circle for three consecutive years. Our solutions are delivered worldwide through a network of highly trained partners.

Company Web Site: http://www.to-increase.com
Blog: http://blog.to-increase.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/36762
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ToIncrease
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ToIncrease
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/ToIncreaseSolutions

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