The roundtable on Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) emphasised balancing innovation and compliance through automation, collaboration, and data governance to drive sustainable business success
A dynamic interplay between innovation and regulatory compliance is critical for modern Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) success. While the concept of managing the entire engineering lifecycle (ELM) has been around for a long time, its widespread adoption and the specific term ‘ELM’ is emerging in many industries in India. The need for improved efficiency and compliance has driven the rise of automated ELM workflows that offer more scope for interdepartmental collaboration in product design and delivery. Hence, the adoption of ELM software is seeing an uptick among large organisations and those in highly regulated sectors, further fuelled by technological advancements such as cloud computing and AI/ML to reduce process workflow errors and for informed decision-making.
ADVERTISEMENFactoring in the rising popularity of ELM platforms, BW Businessworld recently organized an exclusive Roundtable discussion on this topic. This Roundtable brought together six experts from different industries to share their valuable insights on the interplay between innovation and regulatory compliInnovation is crucial to stay competitive and relevant in today's fast-paced, technology-driven market. However, organizations that believe in constant innovation must tackle several challenges. The foremost challenge is compliance with the regulatory frameworks of their respective industries. Kickstarting the discussion with the most critical question of what challenges have emerged in maintaining a balance between innovation and evolving regulatory frameworks, interesting perspectives emerged.
“At LTTS, we support our global clients across the entire product and solutions lifecycle, and innovation is not just about meeting evolving customer needs but delivering lasting value throughout the product lifecycle. Given that engineering lifecycles can span from three years to over a decade, it is essential to optimise engineering processes for greater efficiency and seamless collaboration at every stage of product development. Our focus on process automation enhances this efficiency, reducing manual intervention and enabling faster, more reliable outcomes. Data Engineering is also integral to this effort, addressing the complex interplay of regulatory compliance and innovation by managing large datasets with precision and ensuring adherence to frameworks like GDPR. Meanwhile, our AI-driven platforms unite PLM and Data Engineering to create a resilient ecosystem that manages current regulatory complexities in industries such as Mobility and MedTech and proactively adapts to emerging AI compliance needs. Technology evolves within cycles as short as three years, making it necessary to balance disruption with adherence to compliance. To achieve this, we employ robust controls from project inception and containerised operations, ensuring innovation and regulatory compliance go hand in hand, delivering meaningful outcomes for our clients,” said Ashish Khushu, CTO at L&T Technology Services.
Successful innovation demands close collaboration between industry and regulators to ensure that regulatory frameworks support, rather than hinder, the development and deployment of new technologies. R. Harinivas, Senior Executive Director of IT & DA Supply Chain Systems at Boeing India, shared that Boeing is focusing on new technologies, data governance, and automation to drive efficiency and productivity while navigating the complexities of innovation in regulated environments.
According to Harinivas, to tackle the challenges, Boeing invests in modern technologies such as IoT and digital engineering, including concepts like digital twins, to enhance its manufacturing processes. The company is also exploring automation in supply chain management to improve efficiency and productivity to handle repetitive and mundane tasks.
Sharing more, from an aerospace and defense engineering perspective, Harinivas said, “Data, given context, makes meaningful information that allows leaders to make informed decisions. The aerospace and defense industry deals with products with lifecycles of 30 to 50 years, which presents challenges in technology and information management. Consequently, Boeing is developing frameworks to exploit AI that allow innovation and regulatory compliance.”
Boeing invests in modern technologies such as IoT and digital engineering, including concepts like digital twins, to enhance its manufacturing processes. The company is also exploring automation in supply chain management to improve efficiency and productivity to handle repetitive and mundane tasks.
Sharing a point of view from the electronics industry, where the speed for innovation is the highest, Sumi Vivek, CDIO of a leading global electronics organisation, says, “The pace of technological change in electronics is incredibly fast. New technologies like AI, IoT, 5G, and advanced materials emerge constantly, demanding rapid adaptation and innovation to remain competitive. So, there is an increased need for agility and adaptability in processes to manage the complexities of compliance in a fast-moving product development environment, particularly for seasonal products like smartphones. Unlike industries with longer product lifecycles, the rapid introduction of new smartphone models means that compliance requirements may not be fully known in advance. This uncertainty adds complexity to the development process. The ability to adapt quickly to new compliance requirements is crucial. In a situation like this, companies need to ensure that its processes are agile enough to absorb and implement changes as they arise during the product development cycle.”
From all three participants’ perspectives, we can understand that the simple mantra is that organisations must constantly keep their processes agile to meet new demands effectively. This requires a proactive approach to compliance management, a flexible operational framework, and the standardisation of core processes.
Compliance Management – Framing Best Practices
Effective compliance management requires a proactive and strategic approach beyond mere adherence to rules. It demands a deep understanding of the regulatory landscape, a commitment to ethical conduct, and a proactive mindset that anticipates and adapts to evolving standards. At this juncture, a question arises on how organisations integrate compliance management into their existing engineering workflows and processes and what best practices are adapted to overcome challenges in terms of data silos, collaboration challenges, etc., to simplify and improve compliance management.
Boeing, for example, emphasises a structured approach to application management akin to building aircraft. Boeing adopts a ‘system criticality management process’ that involves gathering comprehensive application information to ensure proper management and compliance. Harinivas said, “We bundle compliance activities into three broad categories, ensuring all necessary security measures, access controls, and validation rules are in place. This structured approach allows for efficient management of compliance requirements. Automated tools and workflows ensure compliance checks are integrated into the development process before writing any code. This systematic approach helps maintain high standards and accountability among experts in various fields.”
Undeniably, delays caused by compliance issues can have extensive repercussions, including financial losses and damage to an organisation's brand reputation. Compliance-related delays can severely impact market competitiveness in industries with rapid product cycles. Adding a point here, Ashish Khushu, said, “Stringent rules must be enforced from the moment a statement of work (SOW) is received, ensuring that all elements are managed carefully and containerisation must be implemented for consistent operations.”
One of IBM's Solution leasder remarked, “One critical challenge is ensuring end-to-end traceability of requirements throughout the product lifecycle. This involves tracking how requirements are met, tested, and validated, which is essential for identifying defects and understanding their impact on design and testing. Integrating AI and automation into engineering processes enhances compliance management. These technologies can streamline documentation and auditing processes, making organisations more audit-ready and allowing them to focus on innovation rather than being bogged down by compliance-related tasks.”
Agreeing to the automation requirement, Manojkumar SG of MicroGenesis TechSoft, said, “Automation is highlighted as a major factor in expediting the product development process. Organisations can quickly bring products to market by automating various tasks and ensuring compliance requirements are still met. I believe ELM solutions must provide lifecycle traceability and support a risk-based approach, particularly in industries like automotive, where compliance and quality are paramount. It is also important to maintain process documentation and its standardisation throughout the product development life cycle.”
Addressing Cross-functional And Collaboration-related Pain Points
Collaboration is emphasised as a necessity that extends beyond just the engineering function. It involves multiple departments, including manufacturing, quality assurance, and customer service, which must be integrated into the collaborative process to ensure effective product development. Wabtec is a company that fits perfectly in this situation. Wabtec has grown through numerous acquisitions, resulting in a complex organisational structure. This growth has led to the company’s operations being spread across over 100+ sites, with multiple and different ERP systems and multiple Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) instances. This adds to significant collaboration-based challenges.
Commenting on what is the need of the hour for companies like Wabtec, Neha Misra, Portfolio & Integration Programs Leader, said, “We have excellent systems in place for specific functions—such as product design (eBOMs and mBOMs), ERP processes, and quality management— but these systems operate in silos. This separation limits their ability to work together effectively. Therefore, the need of the hour is systems that can collaborate and pull information from legacy systems. To improve its processes, there is a pressing need to create a more cohesive system that allows for seamless information sharing and collaboration across all product development and management functions.”
The Ultimate Goal Of Fostering Innovation
The roundtable discussion underscored the critical role of seamless integration between compliance, automation, and collaboration in achieving ELM success. It is crucial to recognise that these elements are not barriers but enablers of innovation. Robust data governance is also essential. The collective opinion and knowledge shared indicate that when data-driven insights derived from unified frameworks can fuel innovation and drive continuous improvement, organisations are positively on the path to achieving competitive business success.
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