Owl Cameras Implements Propel PLM to Manage Product Lifecycle

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Product Lifecycle Management Systems (PLM)
Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Data Management Platforms

Applicable Industries

Automotive
Consumer Goods

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development
Quality Assurance

Services

System Integration
Training

The Challenge

Owl Cameras, known for their Owl Car Cam, was experiencing rapid growth and needed a scalable solution to manage their product lifecycle. They were using spreadsheets, shared DropBox folders, and Jira, which were not sufficient for their expanding needs. The complexity of their product, which combines elements of a phone into a sophisticated industrial design, required a more robust and intuitive tool for managing engineering change orders (ECOs) and bills of materials (BOMs). With 20-30 team members working on the product, they needed full control over the product development process to handle frequent changes and updates efficiently.

About The Customer

Owl Cameras is a company best known for creating the Owl Car Cam, a security camera for cars. The company has been performing well, driven by online sales and increasing interest in tech and personal security. They are scaling rapidly and needed a scalable solution to manage their product lifecycle. The company works with contract manufacturers and has a team of 20-30 members working on their product. They required a modern, intuitive Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) platform to manage their product development process efficiently.

The Solution

Owl Cameras chose Propel's modern, intuitive PLM platform built on Salesforce to manage their product lifecycle. Propel offers a cloud-based platform that provides flexibility and frequent software updates, making it easier for users to navigate and configure. The decision to go with Propel was influenced by its integration with Salesforce, which allows Owl to have the entire Salesforce ecosystem at their disposal. This integration will enable them to move customer service and other departments into Salesforce, creating a unified system for managing all aspects of their business. The implementation process was smooth, with Propel uploading their Excel spreadsheets to get them up and running quickly. Training employees and vendors on the new system was also straightforward, thanks to Propel's user-friendly interface.

Operational Impact

Owl Cameras now manages all pertinent product information and data in one platform, including bills of materials, part numbers for software, hardware, packaging, and SKUs.
Communication with third-party vendors, especially their contract manufacturer, has improved significantly due to Propel's supplier portal, which allows vendors to access custom-created portals with vendor-specific information.
The implementation of Propel has streamlined the training process for employees and vendors, making it easier for them to adapt to the new system.

Quantitative Benefit

Implementation time for Propel was significantly reduced, with the initial setup completed quickly by uploading existing Excel spreadsheets.
Training time for employees and vendors was minimized, with some team members able to use the system independently after initial training.