How PLM Saved Christmas: A True Story

Christmas was as good as cancelled. The news was that bad. The once joyous event had become a PR nightmare. Trouble started last year when Santa had gained so much weight, he got stuck in a chimney. After being rescued by firefighters, who used dish soap to help extricate the soot-covered intruder, he was arrested for illegal entry, an invalid passport and providing false information to a police officer who was seeking a true and proper address.

Other victims quickly came forward claiming that Jolly Saint Nick had broken into their homes as well. One homeowner vaguely recalled Santa as someone she’d met on an online dating site, making her claims of home invasion particularly unsavory.

Making matters worse was the unexplained disappearance of Rudolph “the Red Nosed” Reindeer aka ‘Rudy the Nose’ aka ‘Red’. Santa supporters claimed to witness that on a practice flight over New York, the eight flying reindeer were hit by a flock of seagulls, momentarily stunned, and then sucked into the engine of a Boeing 747.

However, conspiracy theorists speculated that the real estate crash of 2006 had crippled the North Pole financially to the point of desperation, forcing the insatiable Santa to eat his beloved reindeers. As ridiculous as these allegations were, Christmas enthusiasts and the FAA wanted a scapegoat. Santa — with his noticeable weight gain — was an easy target. And with Rudolph’s disappearance, his workforce decimated, and the stigma of a criminal record, Santa was forced to face the truth: If there were any chance of Christmas happening, he had to lose weight.

Fortunately, St. Nick was aware there had been significant improvements in wearable fitness electronics with leading edge passive sensors, sophisticated functionality and a more contemporary design. Santa began his research online to find the top wearable fitness products.

He read wonderful articles by the New Yorker, C/Net, and Business Insider and quickly learned about the top wearable fitness products. Marveling over the quality of the products, he wondered — being a manufacturer himself — what tools these three companies use to develop such innovative products. Much to his shock, he discovered that ALL of the top four wearable fitness manufacturers use Arena PLM.

“Apparently, these companies use Arena’s PLM BOMControl to accelerate product development,” explained Santa. “Your bill of materials (BOM) contains the parts and instructions that make your product a reality,” said Santa. “Arena PLM keeps bill of materials data centralized, controlled, and up-to-date — for fewer errors, less scrap and rework, higher quality and better cost control.”

Wearable fitness products helped Santa to lose weight, put on some serious muscle mass and enabled him to slide down chimneys and save Christmas. On a side note, he also decided to implement Arena PLM into his own innovative toy design processes. “Manufacturers of all sizes and at all stages of production use Arena PLM to bring their products to market,” said Santa. “ With the flexibility and control that centralized product documentation offers, manufacturers are free to focus on the innovation that makes them so amazing. If you’re making remarkable new things, you need Arena PLM.”

Make sure to add these fitness gadgets and Arena PLM to your holiday wish list. Contact Arena sales today for a demo. Santa did!


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