Design Is Not Enough: Manage Change, Manage Risk

Purdue weaves CM2 and PLM into engineering technology so students learn to manage change, trust data, and reduce waste before their first job. We share classroom-to-club examples, why process beats tools, and how model-based practices build career-ready systems thinkers.

• integrating CM2 with PLM across the curriculum
• shifting from tool-centric habits to process discipline
• design intent and model as the authority
• internships and clubs revealing real-world gaps
• formal change control to cut rework and waste
• building systems thinking and traceability
• process over tools and culture’s role in adoption
• preparing graduates for strategic impact on day one

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Transcript

Purdue’s PLM And CM2 Breakthrough;

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the IPX True North Podcast where we connect people, processes, and tools.

SPEAKER_03 0:06

All right. Well, welcome back, everyone. My name is Brandy Taylor, and today we're diving into something that has the power to transform not just organizations, but the next generation of humans entering the workforce. So Purdue University has taken a really bold and what I like to say forward-thinking step by integrating CM2 and PLM directly into its engineering technology curriculum. And this gives students real-world tactical skills long before they ever step into their first job. So this isn't theory. You know, this is the language of modern product development, change control, and digital transformation. So joining me today is one of the professors at Purdue University who's leading this effort. He is capable, uh, very capable and is very excited about helping students graduate with the systems thinking, problem solving capability, and cross-functional awareness that the industry really needs. So, Professor Travis First, thank you so much for joining me today.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

Hello, thank you, Brandy. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_03 1:11

Yeah, this is super fun. So we've uh we've had an opportunity to come and speak to some of the kids in your classes this semester, which has been really fun. So I appreciate that that invitation. Um, but I think in general, I think our our industry uh in our our network here probably doesn't know a lot about you or or or what's going on at Purdue. Do you just go ahead and just start us out with a little bit of an introduction of yourself for our uh our listeners?

Travis Fuerst’s Path From Industry To Classroom;

SPEAKER_01 1:35

All right. Well, um I'm a I'm a graduate of Purdue from circa what 20 or 2000 and then 2002 with a master's in product lifecycle management. And from there I went into um the went into industry in the PLM world working for Dassault uh for Anovia specifically. So PDM. Uh from there I went on to work at Boeing on the 787 uh program, cut my teeth there, did a little work on the uh 747-8 and then the KC46 tanker programs as a SME in product data management, uh specifically Anovia at that time. Uh I transitioned to IT, got into a lot of continuous improvements, supply chain systems, and then had the opportunity to return to Purdue as a uh professor of practice in this space. So I've been back at Purdue since 2017 teaching in uh what was computer graphics technology, and then we transferred over to School of Engineering Technology, where we really belong. Um now I get the opportunity to teach um most all future Aero M E M E T IE IET students coming out at Purdue, um, introducing them to design for change, uh product life cycle management, PDM, and all of that I I explained to them is bound up under the you know under the process of CM2. Uh they don't really don't grasp that at that at that level, but understanding that the tools are not the solution, uh it's it's your processes. But that's kind of where we've been working with this for about uh CM2 has been part of our program since I believe about 20 2015 or 2014 when we uh reworked a PLM certificate program that had been uh produced for Boeing back in 2007 when I was there as part of that. Uh, and it was reworked to incorporate CM2 into the PLM certificate program, which is now being relaunched um as part of a PLM MBD uh TDP digital enterprise certificate uh to teach industry folks about that. But bringing all that back into uh the college curricula has been very important.

SPEAKER_03 3:58

Very neat. So I love this for one. I think that you know, uh often at IPX, you know, we find a lot of individuals that come to us for training and for services because they didn't learn this in college or in university. So this is not common that this is the case. Um, so so to me that that makes me super excited just because I think uh understanding some of this before we go into our first jobs and learn whatever is happening there, right, wrong, or indifferent, often typically by how it doesn't go well, which is the best way we learn, um, unfortunately. But uh that's the case. So I think having some knowledge and some, you know, starting starting out in your career on day one with some understanding of how this is supposed to go, I think really, really uh sets these individuals uh, you know, aside and and and and apart from from some of the other other uh degrees and in other curriculum that they could be taking leaving the university. So thank you for for doing that. Um and I think uh, you know, so your background, all of that, it it just makes a ton of sense that this was something that you were passionate about. You saw it and now you're bringing it into the university. Is there anything specific that that sparked your interest in pulling this into the engineering technology curriculum?

Teaching PDM Mindsets To New Engineers;

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Well, for me, I uh you know, at Boeing, when I was when I started out, when I cut my teeth, I was in I was in learning training and development. So in some way, shape, or form, my entire career has been centered around training and education. Uh, I will also add the fact that I retired from the Army Reserve and much of that time was spent as a drill sergeant or you know, running basic training, running, you know, teaching and training what I'm gonna say, kids of the same age uh in that environment, and or as a company commander leading the battalion uh or sorry, leading the company of drill sergeants doing the same thing. So my my goal has been to be as effective as I possibly can with as many folks as I affect as I possibly can with the least amount of effort. Um and being at Boeing, teaching engineers a new way of doing design, because you know, the last major airplane program before the 787 was the 777, and things weren't as collaborative as they are. You know, it was a it was a digital aircraft, but it wasn't as collaborative as it is today. The interface with at the time Katiya was a total transformation, going from Unix-based V4 to Windows-based V5, uh, and teaching them how to design in the context of a PDM system. Yes, they had a PDM system, but again, it wasn't as collaborative every night. You're checking your stuff in uh and running class detection and doing these things. So bringing that forward and seeing the problems we had in transitioning engineers from the old way of doing business, if you will, to this new, more collaborative way. I now get the opportunity to teach engineers, future engineers coming out of college to model in the context of a PDM system. Many of these kids come out of high school. They already know CAD, they believe they're experts in the tool. You know, through a lot of kicking and screaming and gnashing of teeth, I transformed them into relying on a PDM system instead of a file folder with crazy naming conventions. Uh, some get it right away, some don't. But my goal is not necessarily that they the students I'm talking about are talking about freshmen and sophomore. Uh the class where we teach straight up CM2 is a 300-level class for juniors and seniors, but they're first introduced to it as a freshman or sophomore in the context of doing the work. So by the time they get to that junior or senior level course, they they have some context to work with. Uh so going back to that, you know, it takes some students get it right away, some students don't. And they apply it to their clubs and their team builds. And some take a little longer. They think it's better to do it the hard way until they they realize this is much bigger than my you know, five component model that I can print on my 3D printer with my buddy. Uh, and then they start to realize the power. Actually, right now I'm we're going into week eight uh of the semester, and they're starting to do assemblies. So right now they've only been creating parts. Now they're going to be assembling parts, and they will start the light bulb comes on for many of them when we get to assemblies and how they're managed inside of a PDM system versus uh a file folder where links break and things don't connect. And so yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:45

I like where this is going. So it's it's some of that, you know, uh engineering so many times thinks that you know they should be designing and testing, and all that's really important. Certainly can't say that, right? Like I'm I'm an engineering, I have an engineering degree, all that is very important, but if you can't finish and you can't release it and you can't spread and utilize that data across the organization, um, you know, that's that's that's a big miss. So I I I love where this this conversation is going. And it sounds like you guys have infused some CM2 early as 2015. It's I think it is what you said, but I know you have now two standalone courses. One is an undergrad course that you're teaching, and also one that's a graduate level course for credit. So um tell me, you know, the need for you know the decision to go ahead and make this a standalone course.

Why Standalone CM2 Courses Matter;

SPEAKER_01 9:33

Yeah, so essentially um we have an online master's program for School of Engineering Technology, and we added the CM2 course as uh one of the offerings for that. It's an eight-week course because you know, everything's all about the engineering, like you say. We I just want to design, I want to release, I want to get, you know, build cool things, but nobody really instructs within the engineering curriculum how to manage the data, how to manage change. Uh, so we saw we saw a gap there. Uh, and that's been a very successful course at the at the graduate level. And it's you know, not difficult to teach, just like you know, if they were to attend corporate training, they're coming in with experience. These are folks that are, you know, seasoned engineers, they've been out there and then they have the aha moment, like, oh wow, this is the answer. So that's it's not too difficult to make the leap to a graduate course. Now, we had a course that was um 313 in our it's uh manufacturing engineering technology 313, which is the business of managing product data. Traditionally, that course had been how to configure, install, or let's say how to install, configure, and use Team Center. Okay, that's great. But so so what? There was little um theory or background to that. So we took the opportunity to say, okay, this is less important because now those skills have been pushed down in terms of the usage of it uh to the lower level courses, like the the course I was telling you about and some of the other undergrad courses. So they learn how to use it, they learn how to um you know create an ECO, work through a workflow. Let's focus this course more on why. Why are you doing this? Because there's a little bit of why in each one of those, but it's it's only enough so that the students begin to accept it uh and realize that this is important. Now we're gonna get into the the nitty-gritty. And so we've infused the CM2 curriculum. We actually use the CM2 textbook uh to take them through the first uh, I believe, six courses in the CM2 um library. Each week we cover half of one of those courses. So 16 over 16 weeks we cover them all and we work through several assignments. Uh the aha moments start to click. Uh students that have had internships realize where the gaps were, where this could have been uh implemented, or you know, where it was implemented or it wasn't implemented properly. So even though they don't have the context that a graduate student or somebody coming out of industry would have, we can still marry it back to things they've done, even within their school experience. Many of the students are in clubs, you know, engineering clubs, SAE Baja, Formula, EV, they've got propulsion, uh, produce base programs, hybrids, and they see that, oh wow, we're really doing a lot of extra work and you know, burning time and burning resources and wasting things. And so we've even now partnered with those clubs to help implement CM2 and these types of strategies on those clubs at a student level. Now, it's not because they have to do it, it's because they see the value and the light bulbs really start to go off. And we see, you know, in their incorporating PDM, Team Center, Eris, uh, design principles uh throughout um, you know, outside the classroom.

Internships, Clubs, And Real-World Aha Moments;

SPEAKER_03 13:14

So those teams that they're in that are outside of class are you know bringing them those real world applications. And now with the skills they're learning, uh you like you said, it's it's about the why, right? Is is is what's the importance of managing our product data accurately and and efficiently. And you know, what are there's best practices around these things? And so let's figure out how to do this the right way, um, instead of just whatever, you know, whatever ways that that we that we tend to to navigate to. So, you know, to me, I think the why is really important. And um to me, you know, I think what what we see out in industry as well that aligns really well with what you're talking about, is how product data can be one of the most expensive risks a business can have. So bad product data is a huge problem. And this is this is what costs so much overhead, so much money. And people think that change management, configuration management is just the cost of doing business. Um, and that's that's a a very huge miss. So, you know, there's there's so many ways that we can be better at this, and being good at product data and having trust, data we can trust, is truly what drives predictable revenue and margin protection. So for me, this is this is so fantastic because this is not something that that we find many people really realize um in the engineering realm until many years later. They just think that they should continually evolve, they should change data all the time, right? My my job is to is it's quality improvement, fix problems and all that, but they don't think about that larger picture of of what that means. Um, so so yes, I I I'm I'm a big fan of this.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

And I have I have you prompted a story. So one of my students that didn't go through the CM2 course, just went through the the you know the design course. Um and we were using a PDM system, and he was the lead on the Purdue ROV, it's an underwater rover program. Uh and so he was the design lead, or I can't remember leadership position. And he came into me really frustrated one day and he said, Professor First, we just we just wasted, I think he said 15 hours of machine time, the design or the um the machinist and a titanium plate, and we cut the wrong part, or it was the wrong way. I said, So what happened? What what what you know? Well, uh we needed to cut the part. So uh my uh I asked the individual or the individual that was doing the part said, you know, can you send me the part? He's like, Well, it's in Eris, it's in the PDM system. Uh send it. Well, I don't want it in there. Send just send me the part, send me the part. So they sent it outside of the PDM system to him. Nobody reviewed it. They put it on the machine, they did all, you know, well, they did all the cam work, put it on the machine, and cut the part, and then they found out it doesn't fit the um the it doesn't fit the rest of the build. So what's your what's your change process? Oh well, we just go tap each other on the shoulder and say, does this look good? Does this look good? So it provided the opportunity to enlighten him about formal change and explaining to him, it doesn't even have to be automated or through a workflow. Did somebody sign off on it? Did you do you have a record of who said this was okay? Do you have a record of you know when the change what changes were made? Do you even know it was the right part? But those are the kinds of aho moments that students are starting to get in because they're having, you know, as I explained to him, this is no different than industry. What you just experienced happens every day in any company. So they think that it's unique to them and they don't realize these are the actual problems that they're gonna face. And then he actually presented on that at a conference explaining, and everybody's you know, you know, all the industry folks, the eyes lit up like he just had the same problem we have. He's learned before he gets here, you know, and he's getting the experience before he actually walks in the door to know not to do that.

SPEAKER_03 17:26

I love the real world challenge that students are learning, right? I think that that's it, these are these are those are exactly the things that happen in industry. We hear it all the time, and and you know, that's that's the the intervention, the rework that that we hear. And and we it it is common for us to find in our intervention workshops that you know it is it is common, a minimum of people's time, 40% of people's time is spent doing things like that, the rework, the intervention, and all that. So um, yeah, and it's all based on, you know, maybe not not great processes and not great data. So, how do we make sure that we have data we can trust, that we're spreading goodness, you know? So I love that. So the realization that engineering is not just about design, but it's about the flow of requirements, right? Um, I love that. Any other thoughts from your perspective of what students walk away with that kind of give them that competitive edge?

Bad Data, Costly Mistakes, And Formal Change;

SPEAKER_01 18:24

At, you know, those that don't go on past the entry-level course, they at least come out with the knowledge that what I create is not one and done. You know, I I really try to instill in those courses that we have design intent. What is this part supposed to do? Not what does it need to look like, but how is it supposed to function? Um, because you know, I've had students early on when I started teaching uh back here at the university. I would have students, I would show them how to create the model, you know, very succinctly. It must perform a certain way. This is how you model it, this is how you infuse design intent, using constraints, using dimensions. Um, but I would have some students that inevitably say, This is what the part looks like. They wouldn't watch any content that I created. They would create the part, it would look wonderful, and then they would either grade and it would be like a D or you know, a very low score. Well, it looks like your part, you know. Well, it doesn't work like my part. They don't understand that modeling isn't about just what the part looks like, it's about how the part functions. It's you know, I essentially equate it to programming the model. You need to program the model so that somebody can come behind you and make modifications to that model without blowing it up. Um, and just like you would code and you would put notes in your code and create clean code, you need to do the same thing with your model. So, from from that perspective or or that level, of course, they're getting that out of it. And that you must have some form of data management and process to control change because things change over time. Things are gonna change. Your first iteration is not gonna be your last. Uh, and I think having that epiphany uh in these courses is is a big, is a big win because they realize it's not just me. This isn't my thing because they're so used to like building something and printing it off the 3D printer and forgetting about it today. Um for the CM2 courses, you know, uh the undergraduate CM2 course, just the realization that this is much bigger than the part they're building, you know, getting into the requirements, uh, you know, the design baseline, all of that is like, wow, this is much bigger than I thought it was. And in realizing there's so much more opportunity for error, but there's so much more opportunity to fix things before you get to a point where there is error, and realizing the impact of the error as it goes down and up the V model, you know, and and seeing that there's a process to capture all this. I think having that knowledge going out into the workforce really gives them a leg up on the competition in terms of their peers around the country because most universities aren't even touching this. It's all engineering theory, computational fluid dynamics, uh you know, FEA, but they don't really talk about how you manage that data and how you can use that data to facilitate change, nonetheless, you know, managing the change itself, you know, the ramifications of making this change, all of how the ripple effect of how it affects so many different things. Most students don't have that concept until they get out into the workforce. And even then, are they exposed to it in that first job? Because somebody may somebody else may be just giving them a task to do and they don't even realize the impact of the thing they're doing if somebody else is managing the the The larger, you know, scope of the change. So I think that perspective helps them.

SPEAKER_03 22:05

I couldn't agree more. And you know, speaking to the students we were in last time, I loved how, you know, some of them are, some of them are going into aerospace. You know, but you ask of them all about what they want to do. And some are saying they wanna, they they want to improve processes, some wanna, you know, manage manufacturing processes, some are wanna talk about supply chain, you know. So so it was a really interesting mix of of the different things that that that the students want to go into and how this to me uh is a value to that, because it's it's really the truly the integration, right, of the organization. So it's they're they're opening their eyes that it's not just I'm gonna design and test and I'm all this is good, then I'm gonna, you know, throw it over the wall and everybody else can do their thing. You know, it's it's that it's the bigger picture impact there. Um, so I think about, you know, from your perspective, how does teaching CM2 in the university help students shift from a task level thinking to systems level thinking? Tell me a little more about that.

Design Intent And Model As Authority;

SPEAKER_01 23:05

Yeah, it yeah, systems level or strategic. You know, they they can think, they think bigger than themselves. And that that is really the hard part about uh studio, especially when you get to the the freshman sophomore, junior, senior, maybe they've been to an internship and then it clicks a little more, especially usually by the time they take the CM2 uh course, the 313, they've at least had one or maybe two internships, and they can directly correlate what we're talking about and realize there may have been more to the task they were given. They were just given a task, you know, to perform and not not realizing that there were certain requirements behind that. Um and understanding how, in terms of the system, the systems aspect of it, how they fit into the larger system. Uh, because I don't think they they get a lot of that uh knowledge, especially in in the courses they take, you know, because it's all very all the classes in college typically are one and done. I'm taking thermal, now I'm taking um, you know, calc three. And there's really nothing to tie it all together that unless you have a really good advisor or a professor that kind of walks you through why this, why you need this, so you can go do this course, so this, how these courses relate. They are all interpreted as individual modules that I have to complete to get my degree. Very few students, I think, see the the curriculum path that are developed by the faculty, uh, which I think is is something that needs to be worked on, right? There's very few things that tie these courses together. One of the things we're trying to do to fix that within SOET is we're trying to have the same assembly that they'll create in my course, which is the design course, design for change, take that into the documentation course where we do GDT. Now you're gonna put GDT on this, and then they take it into the machining course, and then you now machine it. And now you can see that's we're not throwing this thing away and never touching it again. No, we're you're gonna walk this through the entire process and see, you know, at least from the design to manufacture the system that's required to get this from point A to point B and to get it there accurately, right? And if you need to make a change, how does that change occur in a PDM system? I hope, and document, and you're just not like updating a drawing, uh, you know, and getting them away from uh thinking only in 2D with drawings, thinking model-based definition, PMI. Uh, the model is the uh is the authority because you know it we're still hung up in many ways on drawings, 2D, 2D entities. Um, and that's one thing I try to instill is that hey, the model is the authority, the drawing is a derivative. That's the way things are, you know, should be now. Now, in some places, that's not the case. Drawings are still the authority, but we should be moving away from that. So, in a city, you know, but from the systems aspect, moving from that individual contributor to thinking uh from a systems, I think another advantage of this is the students that are coming out with this knowledge are going to hopefully find themselves in more strategic or I want to say leadership positions, not necessarily management. I I I hate to push any college student into management too early. Uh and I tell them that. But, you know, at least in that advisory role, hey, I learned this new thing in college, why aren't we doing this? And at least sparking the discussion with their lead engineer or somebody that may not be aware of it, you know, maybe just be doing it the old way. Uh, so helping them uh get that leg up and and and infuse these new, or they're not even new, these concepts into the workforce.

SPEAKER_03 26:44

Yeah, I I really like how you know what I hear you saying is you're teaching these students the business of running a business, you know, and and what does that mean, right? Is is giving them that that broader purview of how an organization should work and can work and needs to work. So, so almost giving them that interest to not just just focus in their silo, that they have to reach out more and make sure they understand, you know, the handoffs and and what's happening next and and what what good or bad data does to the next person, right? Because in the end, we all need to rally around a profitable business. So if we all can open our minds better about the bottom line and waste all that and and just everything of what what your data does. And if you can have data you can trust, it certainly sets up everybody uh for for a for a much better, a better position to be in, more efficient, effective way of working.

SPEAKER_01 27:40

Absolutely. And and I think that's another thing of waste. Students don't understand what waste is, they're just okay with that. I'll just redo it. Redo it. It's like you don't understand, you're not paying for or the customer is not paying for you to redo it. You know, you have to do it, it has to be value added, you know, done right the first time. The customer has to care. And you know, if if you're not doing that, you're you're paying for it. It's coming out of your bottom line. And I don't, you know, that's another aspect that the students come away with that intervention resources, these things, they're not, they're not, you know, providing uh income for you. This is money you're just kind of throwing away, and there's and it doesn't have to be that way.

SPEAKER_03 28:23

Yeah, yeah, completely agree. Thinking about you know the exposure to digital tools. Um, I really love that you're there getting hands-on PLM exposure in your course so they get that real-world application of what we're talking about. Again, it's not just the theory of how we should be managing change, making good decisions. Um, tell me more about you know some of that digital exposure, because I know digital transformation is big. Um, single sources of truth are really important, automation and and all that moving forward into the future with AI-enabled engineering. I think that there's just so much here. So tell me more about the importance of exposure to these digital tools.

Systems Thinking Over Task Thinking;

SPEAKER_01 29:03

This goes back for me, it goes back to when I was, you know, first of all, my my master's was in product lifecycle management. So I, you know, I picked up on the database stuff, uh, the PDM in my graduate program. Uh, I think actually in my undergraduate, I took a database class. I'm like, this is where the this is what I like. Yeah, I can model. Okay, this is fun, but I like the data management. And then I parlay that into you know, 2000, early 2000s was the PLM boom, right? The new buzzword coming on and everything. So hey, I I cobbled together a degree in product lifecycle management and then got to go and work for, you know, a PLM with if they as they would call themselves, a PLM provider, uh, you know, in terms of DSO. And I got to, you know, really understand uh the tool. Uh I didn't know what the tool really did. I mean, coming out of coming out of my undergrad and my master's, I was like, I understood the concept, but I really didn't understand the basic stuff like effectivity. You know, I I could teach it in a class, but I didn't understand it. You know, and then so until I went to work for one of our customers as one of them, then the light bulb went off, right? And I'm like, oh, that's what effectivity is. You know, uh, I get it now. That's what a change order is. This is how, you know, I've been working with the objects for years. I'd be teaching it in a class, you know, just going by the book and teaching this stuff, but I really didn't understand it. And so for me, coming being able to come back to the university and provide, you know, and well, and then I go become a you know, an educator, uh, a workplace coach is what I was within Boeing, um, teaching engineers how to use these tools and and you know, provide the context of of what they're doing in the in terms of the in their processes in the context of the tool. And seeing that really had to give them the why, why, why you need to do this, because you know, nobody wants to, they feel control, they're losing control because they have to do it in a PDM system. So therefore, I'm losing my and have to win them over. You know, what's in it for me? Why is why should I be doing this? Because everything we taught was in the context of the process within the within the engineering process inside the tool. You know, it wasn't go take tool training and then figure out how to meld this into the process. The tool training was the process. Coming back to the university, now I have the opportunity to prevent students from having the aha moment so late because they get, you know, I tell them what I'm teaching you may not come across as valuable or you may not get it. It may be your first internship, it may be your second internship, it may be three years into your first job before the the light bulb clicks. But I don't want the first time you see this to be at your internship. I don't want it to be at your first job. I want it to be the third or the fourth time that you've seen this stuff and the light bulb comes on faster. Because for me, going back that far and not, you know, I was literally teaching industry professionals how to use the PDM system and explaining concepts that I didn't even understand until I became the user. So if I can at least front load that initial experience and the light bulb comes on faster, I'm and I tell the students they'll they can they cuss me, they you know, did they they hate it and it's like that's no different than an engineer. You're no different than anybody in the industry. Nobody wants to do this until you see the value and embrace it. So that's that's kind of where I see the value of putting this stuff in the classroom, even though it's it's a very intensive, you know, technology-wise and infrastructure-wise to do it. It requires a good IT team, it requires knowledge and understanding these tools and systems and keeping them up. Because I tell students if the system goes down, this is an enterprise system, this isn't Microsoft Word. It has problems. There are multiple servers. I show them the architecture and you know, understanding the complexity of this thing. This isn't just, it just doesn't happen because I said so. Um, and so having that understanding too that you know, if things break, if processes change, it's not the end of the world. And guess what? This is your life going forward because they're so used to uploading a file to a website, an LMS, and saying submit and I'm done, and I walk away, and that's it. Having them go through a workflow, now they get all worked up. Because why is this so hard? It's like, well, this is what this is what real life looks like. It's not just upload file and say done. Um so giving that exposure too.

Digital Tools, Workflows, And Readiness;

SPEAKER_03 33:53

Yeah. Yeah, I'd like it because I think it helps people understand that, you know, first time yield and process variability is not just something for the manufacturing floor, right? So, you know, these things affect us uh upstairs as well, and uh and making sure that we have that consistency across. And so that way we have, you know, we're we make sure that we're we're, like you said, given the right data, they got the right information, they're building the right part. Um, all of that is uh extremely, extremely important um from a quality perspective as well as reputation and all sorts of things. So there's so much power inside these individuals' hands when they they go into industry. So helping them be career ready on day one is is is really is a really cool opportunity, I think you're bringing to the courses. So very fun.

SPEAKER_01 34:38

And it and I and I'll add, it also makes them double check their work because so many they hit submit and they walk away. But many have been caught, they submit and it wasn't checked in, they walk away, they didn't check the workflow. I turned it in. No, you didn't, you missed the deadline. You know, because you have to check what you you know, you have to check and double check your work, and you're an engineer. The things you're now you're you're you're you want to be an engineer, the things you are creating affect people's lives and having that realization too. It's like you're not just walking into something that it's good enough. It's like you have to make sure that it's good enough so we don't have corrective action, so we don't have accidents, so we don't have these things happen. So every piece of the implementation of these systems, it goes to the core of what they want to be and the importance of making sure that it's right the first time.

SPEAKER_03 35:30

Very good. So I guess you know, thinking about um, you know, your experience so far with the students, if there's anything, you know, that you would share to any students about, you know, being interested in configuration management or product data or anything here, is it any uh any words of wisdom for uh for other students out there to be searching out this kind of information?

SPEAKER_01 35:53

Yeah, I would say just you know, just like back, you know, back when I was working with uh industry professionals, you know, in the mid-2000s, be open to change. You know, things are changing a lot faster than they used to. Um don't fall on don't fall on the system or excuse me, don't fall on the tool that's gonna fix your problem. You really have to focus on your process and your people and the tool, you know, find the tool that that will facilitate a good process. Also, you know, it's a common thing we do when you when you implement when you have a process and you then the the process is solid, you've gone through it, and then you implement the tool, you have to start thinking about what you're doing. Are some of the steps necessary because now you're using the tool? Don't you know really evaluate the things that you used to do and say, is this even necessary? Are we just doing it because we used to do it that way? We're not thinking uh in a new way. So you really have to reevaluate each of the steps in your process once you implement the tool, but the tool is not the solution, which most folks, especially students, because students will come to me and say, Hey, we want to we want to do this. Um with a club specifically, we we need this tool. It's like, okay, stop, back up. What are you trying to do? What's the end result? And actually, that's not the tool you need. You have the tools necessary, you just need to fix your process. You know, and that's not just a student problem, that is a you know, industry professional problem too. We always seem think the next shiny tool is gonna fix our problem. And it really is the process. And that's getting out of the technology piece, we got to get back to the get back to tools and people because the people too, as we know, what is it? Um, culture will eat strategy for breakfast, innovation for lunch and dinner. Well, yeah, no matter how good your process is or how good your tool is, if if the people aren't on board with it and you don't give them the whiff them or the the what's in it for me, that you know you're you're probably not gonna get very far with that. So focus on the processes and the people and then the tools.

Process Over Tools And Culture Change;

SPEAKER_03 38:08

Oh, yes, and and and tools they'll sell themselves as solutions. Um, everyone wants to see that, and we see that in industry as well, is my current tool. And so I need another tool to do what I think my current tool is not doing. Um I think it's it's again, it's uh it kind of all goes back to requirements, right? It's the same thing when you're designing product is how do we have clear requirements so we can make sure that the tool's doing what it needs to do, because these tools will automate anything. We said that the other day. They'll they'll automate your credit process as well as a good process. So, you know, we want to make sure that that we got good goods going in. Um, and it's not just a very expensive repository, right? Like if you're just using it for your repository for your data, that's you know, pretty expensive solution for that. So, how do we make sure, like you're saying, is challenging that process, making sure the process is working for you. And don't just accept the status quo because it's how we've always done it. Because what worked for us in the past doesn't always necessarily work for us today or or help us move forward in the future. So uh that continual improvement mindset is is is important. So very cool. Absolutely. Well, Travis, I think um, you know, um many, you know, many of our contacts within industry reach out to us at IPX for CM2 candidates. So, you know, I would love to be able to help connect some of these great students um, you know, with our network as well. So um, so as they, you know, I'd love to stay in contact with you. And if there's anyone that uh out there listening that would like to connect, they can either reach out to me, but is there anyone any way they could reach out to you directly as well to learn more about maybe some of these great students or anything more about what you're doing?

SPEAKER_01 39:43

Absolutely. Uh feel free to tag me on LinkedIn, um Travis first and then uh email. Uh it's my last name, F-U-E-R-S-T-T at Purdue.edu. Yeah, absolutely. Would love to connect.

SPEAKER_03 39:56

Right. Excellent. Thank you so much, Travis. I really appreciate your time and all of the awesome work you're doing. And um, it's been really fun uh getting to know the students and and seeing what they're up to. So appreciate that.

SPEAKER_01 40:06

Yep, and I thank you guys for supporting and being there and Brandy for your yeah, for your dedication to it. Because, you know, uh coming up and having people come in like yourself and and talk, they you know, they realize that I'm just not you know, I'm not lying to them. Because a lot of times with professors, it's like at some point it's like I keep talking. Um, I'm telling you the truth. But you know, uh having having you guys come in and reinforce um the concepts and and them seeing it, uh, you know, uh listening to your experience on top of ours. So anybody that's out there that uh would love to, you know, would I would love you to come in and be a guest speaker. I have opportunities for that uh throughout the semester, especially in this class, you know, uh engage with the students, be do it virtually, do it uh in person. We can make it happen. Um, they really like you know the the uh industry guest lectures that I have uh towards the end. After I've given them all of the you know background, you know, they they muddle through that, and it's like now they know at least what to listen for. They understand the the vernacular, uh the acronyms, so it's like they can actually consume and then ask questions. Um, so this is good.

SPEAKER_03 41:21

I love it. Excellent. And uh we have a job board I know on our uh website too, if anyone's not aware that that you know, we are constantly searching in industry for uh jobs that are requiring CM certifications and and expertise. So uh happy to try to, you know, that's that's one of our our core uh core virtues is trying to connect people um with great careers and jobs and things as well with just great knowledge. So thanks so much, Travis. And uh again at some point. Thanks.

SPEAKER_00 41:48

All right, take care. Thank you for tuning in today. Don't forget to subscribe and review the show. And for more information on IPX, visit ipshq.com.