Case USA6: How an Automotive Giant Mistook PLM Standardization for Enterprise Architecture Governance

Overview:

This case is part of our 100-diagnostic series showing how US enterprises have equated tool standardization with enterprise architecture governance.

Automotive OEMs implemented standardized product lifecycle management (PLM) tools across engineering and design units, citing reduced duplication and faster design cycles as proof of EA maturity.

Yet, without an enterprise governance model, the PLM tool became a silo — governing its own domain but disconnected from supply chain, manufacturing, and service systems.

P1–P6 Insight Preview:  PLM standardization improved component management (P4) and localized processes (P2), but governance alignment (P1) and cross-system behavior (P3) were absent. Business operations (P6) in manufacturing still struggled to sync changes, and tech operations (P6) faced high integration maintenance costs.

Role Disconnects:

1. CEO: “We’ve unified our product development” — yet downstream execution still suffers.

2. CIO: “The PLM is our architectural backbone” — but it’s not connected to enterprise-wide logic.

3. Sales Head: “New models reach market faster” — but post-launch issues spike due to integration gaps.

4. Chief Enterprise Architect: “We’ve standardized tools, not architecture” — the governance layer is missing.

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