Data System for Engineered Water Solutions Manufacturer

Advanced Solutions Product Lifecycle Management LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Advanced Solutions Inc. (ASI), an Autodesk Platinum Partner and Authorized Training Center (ATC), has developed and implemented the Autodesk PLM 360 solution for Zurn Industries LLC.

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is the process of bringing products or projects to market through a series of tasks, workflows, and a collection of information.

Zurn Industries, a leading brand of Rexnord, is a recognized leader in commercial, municipal, healthcare and industrial water solutions. Zurn provides innovative water solutions, sustainable plumbing products, water conservation, and total building solutions for a variety of building environments. As a pioneer in plumbing and water systems, Zurn has revolutionized the Engineered Water Solutions industry.

Zurn recognized the need for a global platform capable of integrating company-wide data into one central system that provides full accessibility, eliminates software compatibility challenges, and quickly reports product development data.

It was clear they needed a turn-key solution to quickly meet their current needs, giving them the scalability to grow their business in the future. They chose to partner with the Advanced Solutions PLM Advisors to enhance their own internal process for product development.

“There were probably other companies that could have done the work, but the ASI team was super,” said Phil Schmalzried, Zurn lead application developer. “The team was committed to the project, engaged, responsive, and knew PLM 360 very well. If they didn’t know answer, they quickly found answers and adapted.”

Advanced Solutions PLM took the existing Zurn Product Development Process (ZPDP), used to cover the full lifecycle of the product from conception to completion, and analyzed each macro and calculation of the various Excel spreadsheets to fully understand the process and workflow needed. ASI PLM technical experts, set forth configuring each precise detail into the Autodesk PLM 360 platform, providing the existing ZPDP functionality with greater efficiency and enhanced collaboration capabilities. The knowledgeable ASI PLM team took the time to familiarize themselves with Zurn’s existing development process, prior to implementation.

The tiered training approach and seamless migration into the PLM 360 tool, provided by the Advanced Solutions PLM Team, has given Zurn users access to a simple straight-forward approach to product development.

Zurn Engineered Water Solutions is a recognized leader in commercial, municipal, and industrial markets. Zurn manufactures the largest breadth of engineered water solutions in the industry, including a wide spectrum of sustainable plumbing products.

Schmalzried said: “I’ve worked with several consulting companies before, and I don’t know of any that were as amiable and agreeable to different ideas. They [ASI] just had a real can-do attitude the whole time.”

The Zurn team is now able to set up metrics company-wide to measure project status, track workflow, and productivity, while developing and redefining the process. The task management of the ZDPD versus PLM is very similar, with PLM 360 it is now more efficient and secure.

Both ASI Product Lifecycle Management and Zurn know cloud-based applications provide advantages. Accessibility from any location or device, global revision control, cloud backups, and security are what makes PLM 360 a viable solution. As Zurn continues to innovate, it will be considering additional modules for new database opportunities and integration with the help of their trusted PLM Advisor, Advanced Solutions.