Getting Comfortable — Who's In The Room?

• Who on your team will be directly involved in evaluating or piloting a PLM solution (names or roles)? Options: VP Engineering, CTO, Head of Manufacturing, Head of Quality, IT Lead, Product Manager / PLM Owner, Supplier Manager, Other
• Which single person or role has final sign-off authority for pilot acceptance and budget? Options: VP Engineering, CTO, Head of Manufacturing, CIO/IT Director, Head of Product, Other
• What timeline would feel realistic for you to decide whether a pilot moves to enterprise rollout? Options: 1–3 months, 3–6 months, 6–9 months, 9–12 months, Unsure
• How urgent does leadership consider fixing wrong-revision / BOM escape risks right now? Options: Critical — immediate board/exec attention, High — exec is involved, Medium — department priority, Low — nice to have, Unsure
• What would make this discovery meeting feel truly valuable to you?

If a Wrong Revision Cost You $200k Again, What Would Change?

• Tell us about a recent incident where a revision escape, audit gap, or data mismatch caused material cost, delay, or regulatory risk—what happened?
• Which function felt the impact most directly in that incident (select all that applied)? Options: Engineering, Manufacturing/Production, Quality, Supply Chain/Procurement, Suppliers, Customer Support, IT
• How long did it take to detect, contain, and remediate the issue? Options: Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, Still not fully resolved
• What was the hardest part of recovery—tracing the correct revision, finding the right CAD file, supplier coordination, or something else? Options: Tracing BOM to as-built, Locating correct CAD/revision, Supplier communication, ERP reconciliation, Regulatory/audit evidence, Other
• After the incident, what immediate changes were requested by leadership (temporary fixes vs. structural change)? Options: Short-term process fixes, New tool evaluation, Pilot a single-product PLM, Enterprise program, No clear action taken, Other

Where Does Your Product Definition Live — And Who Keeps It Honest?

• Map the primary systems, file shares, and tools that currently store CAD files, BOMs, ECOs, and where each team believes the 'source of truth' lives.
• Which CAD systems are actively used across your teams and product lines right now? Options: SolidWorks, CATIA, Creo, Siemens NX, Autodesk Inventor, Altium/OrCAD (electrical), Other
• Which PDM/PLM, ERP, or supplier portals currently hold product or BOM data that must be considered? Options: No PLM / file shares only, Legacy PLM (name), ERP (SAP), ERP (Oracle), Cloud PLM, Supplier Portal, Other
• How often do the engineering BOM, manufacturing BOM, and ERP BOM differ in practice? Options: Almost always, Often, Sometimes, Rarely, Never / Not sure
• Which integration points absolutely must be preserved during the pilot (e.g., ERP write-back, CAD link, MES)? Options: ERP (read only), ERP (read/write), CAD link (real-time), CAD link (batch), MES, Supplier portal, Other

What If Traceability Was Effortless — Would You Trust It?

• If we ran a pilot, which measurable signals would convince you it delivered value (list the top metrics and targets)?
• Which single KPI matters most to your sponsor for pilot success? Options: BOM accuracy (%), Reduction in ECO cycle time, Number of revision escapes eliminated, Time to reproduce as-shipped configuration, User adoption rate
• What minimum BOM accuracy percentage do you need to pass internal or external audits? Options: >99%, 95–99%, 90–95%, <90%, Unsure
• How do you currently demonstrate change-order traceability during audits, and what pain points exist in that evidence trail?
• What adoption level among engineers, manufacturers, and suppliers would you consider a successful pilot (give % targets or participation descriptions)? Options: >90% of pilot team active, 70–90%, 50–70%, <50%, Unsure

Stop Pretending Integrations Are Simple

• Describe the toughest technical integration you've attempted (CAD, PDM, ERP or supplier systems). What broke or surprised you?
• For the pilot, do you require real-time CAD linkage, or is scheduled/batch synchronization acceptable? Options: Real-time linkage required, Near real-time preferred, Daily batch acceptable, Weekly batch acceptable, Depends on use case
• Are there security, compliance, or network constraints we must plan for (SAML/SSO, VPN, air-gapped networks, data residency)? Options: SAML/SSO, SCIM/user provisioning, VPN / private network, Air-gapped environment, Data residency rules, Other
• Which ERP vendor and modules must be read or written to during the pilot (e.g., SAP MM, Oracle EBS MRP)? Options: SAP (MM/PP), Oracle EBS, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics, Custom ERP, No ERP integration needed for pilot, Other
• Do you have existing middleware, APIs, or custom connectors we should reuse rather than replace? Options: Yes — describe in next field, No, Unsure

Who's Going To Change Their Day-to-Day — And Will They?

• Walk me through how an engineer typically manages a design change today—from idea to released ECO.
• What cultural or workflow barriers do you expect when asking engineers to stop working from local files and adopt a single source of truth? Options: Fear of lost productivity, Attachment to existing tools, Lack of trust in new system, Insufficient time for training, Management not aligned, Other
• Which change-management tactics have worked here before (embedded coaching, incentives, mandated gates, training days)? Options: Embedded coach/SME, Mandatory training sessions, Incentives/recognition, Process gating, Pilot champions, Other
• Who are the natural champions and who is likely to resist? Please name roles or personas, not individuals. Options: Senior Engineers (champions), Junior Engineers (resist), Manufacturing Supervisors (mixed), Quality Engineers (champions), IT (gatekeeper), Procurement/Suppliers (resist), Other
• What level of training, documentation, and hands-on support would make you comfortable that engineers will actually change behavior? Options: 1:1 coaching, Small cohort workshops, Self-paced modules, Embedded admin support, Live support during go-live, Other

If Migration Was a Decent Promise, What Would We Hold You To?

• For the pilot, roughly how many parts, CAD files, BOM lines, and years of history should be migrated?
• Which legacy sources must be included in pilot migration and which can be deferred? Options: Legacy PLM, File shares (network drives), Spreadsheets, ERP records, Supplier systems, None / Unsure
• What quality thresholds do you require for migrated data (e.g., percentage of parts with linked CAD, validated BOM line counts)? Options: >99% accuracy, 95–99%, 90–95%, <90%, Unsure
• What rollback, audit trail, or continuity requirements must be met so production is never at risk during migration? Options: Full rollback capability, Staged switchovers, Read-only shadowing, Audit logs & reconciliation, Other
• When are your blackout windows or production milestones that would prevent any migration activity?

Imagine We Run the Pilot — What Keeps You Up at Night?

• List the top three risks that would cause you to pause or stop the pilot if they materialized.
• How do you prefer incidents to be escalated and resolved during a pilot (frequency and audience for updates)? Options: Daily standups with team, Weekly exec brief, War-room on demand, Direct IT/host contact, Other
• What safety controls or test harnesses do you require to validate CAD linkage and ECO enforcement without affecting production? Options: Sandbox environment, Shadow write (no ERP write), Read-only validation, Supplier test instances, Other
• What commercial or legal guardrails must be in place before you start (liability limits, IP terms, data privacy clauses)? Options: Standard NDA, Pilot SOW with acceptance criteria, Data protection addendum, Liability cap, None / Unsure
• If the pilot shows the promised outcomes, what internal milestones trigger a decision to scale to additional product lines? Options: Executive sign-off, KPI thresholds met, Supplier adoption milestone, Budget allocation, Other

Can We Define a Pilot So Small It Succeeds?

• Which single product line, assembly, or module will be the scope of the pilot? Options: Single product line (specify), Single assembly, Electromechanical product family, High-volume component line, Other
• List three non-negotiable acceptance criteria for the pilot (technical, process, and adoption).
• Who will be the pilot RACI — who owns the pilot, who are the SMEs, who handles integrations and who is IT escalation? Options: Pilot Owner (business), Integration Lead (IT), Engineering SME, Manufacturing SME, Quality SME, Supplier Lead, Other
• What commercial or procurement steps are required to start the pilot (PO, SOW, trial agreement)? Options: Purchase Order (PO), Statement of Work (SOW), Trial agreement / pilot contract, No formal contract needed, Other
• Realistically, when can we schedule a short alignment meeting to finalize the pilot plan (pick a preferred window)? Options: Within 1 week, Within 2 weeks, In 3–4 weeks, Next month, Unsure

Start: How You Actually Run Engineering Today

• Walk me through how an engineer on your team starts a new design—what tools and folders do they touch first?
• Which CAD and ECAD systems are actively used across the product lines we’d consider for a pilot? Options: PTC Creo, Siemens NX, SolidWorks, CATIA, Autodesk Inventor, Onshape, Altium Designer, Eagle/Fusion 360, Other
• Where do you keep master BOMs and released drawings today? Options: Network file shares, SharePoint/Teams, Native CAD PDM, Existing PLM, ERP-managed BOMs, Local engineer files, Cloud storage (S3/Drive), Custom database
• Roughly how many engineers and designers would touch the product line in a pilot? Options: 1-5, 6-15, 16-50, 51-150, 150+
• Which product line would you be most comfortable piloting on, and why?

What If One Bad Drawing Became a Six‑Figure Problem Again?

• Has your organization experienced a wrong‑revision or BOM escape that caused significant scrap, rework, or customer impact in the last 24 months? Tell me what happened.
• How often do you experience production-impacting data escapes (wrong revision, wrong BOM, missing part) today? Options: Monthly, Quarterly, Bi‑annually, Annually, Rarely/Never
• When those escapes occur, which functions feel the pain most immediately? Options: Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain/Procurement, Engineering, IT, Customer Support, Other
• What was the financial or operational scale of the largest recent escape (estimate if exact numbers sensitive)? Options: <$10k, $10k–$100k, $100k–$500k, $500k–$1M, >$1M, Prefer not to say
• How did that event make the engineering and operations teams feel—frustrated, embarrassed, nervous about audits, or something else?

Where the Data Ghosts Live

• Which systems currently act as the source-of-truth for part numbers, revisions, and BOM lineage (pick all that apply)? Options: ERP (master BOM), CAD file headers, PDM system, Manual spreadsheets, Email/attachments, Supplier portals, Custom databases, Other
• Describe the end‑to‑end CAD → BOM → ERP flow today: who edits what file, where is it stored, and how does it become a released BOM?
• Which integration points are currently automated versus manually synchronized? Options: CAD→PDM automated, PDM→ERP automated, Manual export/imports, CSV handoffs, API syncs, No integrations
• Are there scripts, macros, or manual templates your team relies on to keep data consistent? Please list critical ones and owners.
• How often do you have conflicting copies of the same drawing or BOM that different teams believe is the ‘latest’? Options: Multiple times/week, Weekly, Monthly, Rarely, Never

Who Pulls the Levers — And What Happens When They Don’t?

• Who is formally responsible for declaring a drawing or BOM 'released'—role, team, and alternates?
• How are change approvals handled today (digital workflow, email, paper signatures, ad‑hoc meetings)? Options: Digital workflow in PDM/PLM, Email approvals, Paper signatures/scanned, Ad‑hoc verbal approvals, ERP-based approvals, Other
• When an approval or release is missed, how is the error typically discovered and who owns remediation?
• Are there documented governance policies (naming conventions, revision rules, ECO procedures) that every team follows, or is it tribal knowledge? Options: Well-documented and enforced, Partially documented, Mostly tribal knowledge, None
• Who would be the executive sponsor, the day‑to‑day product owner, and the IT/integration owner for a pilot?

When Revisions Slip Through — Tell Me the Story

• Think about the last time a wrong revision reached manufacturing—what sequence of small decisions or handoffs allowed that to happen?
• How long did it take to detect the mistake from the time the incorrect drawing was used? Options: Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, Detected only during audit/after shipment
• What immediate mitigations do you have (traceability to supplier batches, rollback to prior revision, quarantine process)? Options: Quarantine parts, Supplier hold, Change rollback, Rework/scrap, Trace part lot to customer, No mitigations
• When you try to reproduce an ‘as‑shipped’ configuration for warranty or audit, what missing data creates the biggest headache? Options: Missing revision history, Incomplete BOMs, Supplier changes not tracked, Manufacturing routing differences, No baseline snapshots, Other
• How would you describe the emotional impact on teams when an escape occurs (e.g., blame culture, urgent all-hands, loss of customer trust)?

If You Could Snap‑Fix One Thing Today, What Would It Be?

• If you had to choose one metric to prove a pilot’s success in 60–90 days, which would matter most? Options: BOM accuracy (%), Time-to-detect escapes, Number of revision escape incidents, ECO traceability completeness, User adoption rate
• What target for that metric would feel like a clear win for you (specific %, time, or count)?
• Which stakeholders must see improvement before they’ll support a broader rollout? Options: VP Engineering/CTO, Manufacturing Ops, Quality, Supply Chain/Procurement, IT, Finance
• What would a failed pilot look like to you—what specific things must not happen if we run this together?
• How important is preserving current engineer workflows (low disruption) versus achieving a clean single source of truth quickly (higher disruption)? Options: Preserve workflows, Balance both, Prioritize single source quickly

Integrations You Can't Lose

• Which downstream systems must remain connected to CAD/BOM data for the pilot to be viable? Options: ERP (SAP/Oracle/Other), MES, Supplier portals/EDI, Quality systems (QMS), Manufacturing routers/CAM, Service/Field systems, Other
• Which specific ERP, MES, or QMS products do we need to integrate with (list versions if known)?
• Are there proprietary or homegrown systems without APIs that we must preserve integration for? Options: Yes — will provide details, No, modern APIs available, Not sure — need to check
• Which supplier or contract manufacturer interactions are critical and must be preserved or improved during the pilot? Options: Supplier part sync, Tooling change notices, Approved supplier lists, Supplier CAD exchange, Other
• What security, compliance, or audit requirements must any integration meet (e.g., ITAR, ISO 9001, SOC2)?

Data Migration — Are You Ready for the Lift?

• How many part records, drawings, and historical revisions would need to be considered for the pilot scope? Options: <1k parts, 1k–10k, 10k–50k, 50k–200k, 200k+
• Do you require full historical revision fidelity (every past revision) or only the last N revisions/approved baseline for pilot products? Options: Full history, Last 3 revisions, Last 1 revision + baselines, Snapshot of approved baselines only
• Who has ownership of legacy data cleanup and mapping (Engineering, IT, a third‑party consultant)? Options: Engineering, IT, Contractor/Consultant, Shared Ownership, Undecided
• Are there known data quality issues we should prioritize (duplicate part numbers, inconsistent attributes, missing manufacturer data)? Options: Duplicate parts, Inconsistent attributes, Missing manufacturer/supplier, Incorrect units, Invalid BOM links, Other
• What are your expectations for data migration turnaround—proof-of-concept sample in weeks, pilot dataset in months, full migration timeline? Options: Sample in 1–2 weeks, Pilot dataset in 4–8 weeks, Pilot ready in 2–3 months, Longer than 3 months

Change — Will People Actually Use It?

• How do engineers prefer to work today—directly in CAD, indirectly via exports, or through a PDM/PLM client? Options: Direct CAD file edits, PDM/PLM client, Exports/CSV workarounds, Ad-hoc local files
• Who in the organization would be natural champions for adoption, and who do you expect to resist?
• What training approach has historically worked best: short hands‑on sessions, self‑paced modules, embedded coach, or train‑the‑trainer? Options: Hands‑on workshops, Self‑paced eLearning, Embedded on‑project coach, Train‑the‑trainer, Documentation only
• What incentives or governance levers (release gates, audits, manager KPIs) could encourage engineers to stop using local files and adopt the platform?
• How would you measure adoption success after a pilot (logins, number of released BOMs in platform, reduction in spreadsheet handoffs)? Options: User adoption rate, Released BOMs managed, Reduction in spreadsheets, Fewer escapes, Time saved per change

Pilot: Practical Scope and Success Criteria

• If we scoped the pilot to a single product line, what constraints would be non‑negotiable (supplier set, manufacturing site, part types)?
• What responsibilities do you expect to own versus ask us to deliver during the pilot (data extraction, integrations, training, test scenarios)? Options: We own data extraction, Customer owns training, Vendor handles integrations, Shared responsibilities
• What acceptance criteria would you require to sign off the pilot (specific metric thresholds, successful ECO enforcement, user signoffs)?
• What timeline would be realistic for a pilot from kickoff to acceptance? Options: 4–6 weeks, 8–12 weeks, 3–6 months, 6+ months
• What rollback, escalation, and risk controls must be in place before we touch production data or CAD/ERP feeds? Options: Read-only first, Sandbox environment, Backups/versioned snapshots, Approval gates, Rollback plan documented

Next Step: Who Signs Up to Make This Pilot Real?

• Who are the decision-makers and approvers we should include in the kickoff meeting (name, role, email if possible)?
• When do you anticipate a decision about running a pilot (timeline to commit)? Options: Immediately, Within 30 days, 30–90 days, 3–6 months, Undecided
• What access can you provision quickly for a pilot: CAD repos, PDM admin, ERP test tenant, sample BOM exports? Options: CAD access, PDM admin, ERP test tenant, Sample exports, Limited/no access initially
• What would make you comfortable scheduling a short proof-of-concept demo using one of your real parts or assemblies?
• Any final concerns, non-negotiables, or ‘deal-breaker’ constraints we should know before proposing a pilot plan?

Quick Snapshot — Who's In The Room?

• Which functions will actively participate in the pilot? Options: Engineering (Design), Manufacturing/Operations, Quality, IT/Infrastructure, Supply Chain/Procurement, Program Management, Other
• Who is the executive sponsor for product data reliability (name & title)?
• Who will act as the day-to-day pilot owner or integrator (name & role)?
• What decision timeline are you targeting for pilot approval and go/no-go (best estimate)? Options: Immediately (within 2 weeks), This quarter, Within 3–6 months, 6–12 months, Undetermined

Who Really Holds the Keys?

• If a wrong revision could cost $200k again, who ultimately signs the final go/no-go and why might they hesitate?
• How are change approvals currently governed (pick the best fit)? Options: Centralized engineering change board, Decentralized per team/product, ERP-managed approvals, Ad hoc via email/spreadsheets, Supplier/partner driven
• Who has authority to grant system access to CAD/PDM/ERP for integration work? Options: IT Security, CAD/PDM Admin, ERP Admin, Engineering Manager, Other
• What political or organizational limits would most likely prevent decisive pilot decisions?

Where the Ghost Files Hide

• How would you describe the current architecture that holds CAD and BOM data—single system, several silos, or chaotic? Options: Single PDM/PLM, PDM + spreadsheets, Multiple PDMs/CAD silos, ERP as primary BOM store, Mostly file shares/spreadsheets
• Which systems and storage locations actively contain CAD and BOM data today? Options: On-prem CAD files (shared drives), PDM/PLM (vendor X), ERP (BOM module), Spreadsheets/Google Sheets, Supplier portals, Other
• Roughly what percent of your product BOMs live in spreadsheets or unmanaged files today? Options: 0–10%, 11–30%, 31–60%, 61–90%, 91–100%, Unsure
• Which CAD systems are in active use for the pilot product line? Options: SOLIDWORKS, Creo, NX, CATIA, Altium/Electrical, Other
• Describe a recent wrong-revision incident (what happened, where it started, and the first trace of failure).

When a Revision Escapes, Who Feels It?

• Imagine the most recent escape—what were the tangible consequences (check all that apply)? Options: Scrap or rework cost, Production downtime, Customer quality claim, Audit finding, Warranty repair, None/near miss
• Which team experiences the most reputational damage when a configuration error reaches production? Options: Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, Sales/Customer Service, Other
• How does a configuration escape typically get discovered (who notices it first)? Options: Shop floor operator, Manufacturing engineer, Quality audit, Customer complaint, ERP reconciliation, Other
• How does it feel inside the organization after an escape—embarrassing, urgent, paralyzing, or something else?

What Would Success Actually Look Like?

• If the pilot could guarantee you would never ship a wrong revision again for the pilot product line, what metrics would you point to first? Options: BOM accuracy (%), ECO traceability (time to trace), Revision escape rate, Time-to-release, Engineer adoption rate, Supplier compliance
• What target values for those metrics would make the pilot an undeniable win (please be specific where possible)?
• Which business outcome matters most to your sponsor: cost avoidance, audit readiness, speed to market, or integration simplicity? Options: Cost avoidance (scrap/rework), Audit/regulatory confidence, Faster releases / time-to-market, Simpler supplier/ERP integrations, Other
• How important is demonstrable engineer adoption during the pilot vs. purely technical fidelity? Options: Critical—must show people use it, Important but secondary, Primarily technical proof, Unsure

What Could Break the Pilot Before It Starts?

• What's the single most likely event to derail this pilot in the first 30–60 days?
• Which of these are currently blockers for a smooth pilot kickoff? Options: Lack of access to CAD/PDM, ERP API limitations, No test environment, Incomplete BOMs, Stakeholder availability, Data governance/security concerns
• How comfortable is IT with granting temporary integration credentials to a vendor for pilot work? Options: Very comfortable, Somewhat comfortable, Reluctant—needs heavy controls, Not comfortable/blocked
• What rollback, data protection, and risk-control measures do you require before allowing a pilot to touch live data?

How Do Engineers Really Work (Not How You Hope)

• Do engineers typically check files into a PDM or work locally until a release moment? Options: Always use PDM, Mostly PDM with exceptions, Work locally then check in, Rarely use PDM; local files common
• How often do engineers create parallel branches or forked versions outside controlled PLM processes? Options: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Rarely, Never/Unknown
• What are the main reasons engineers bypass structured processes (speed, tooling friction, habit, other)? Options: Speed/urgency, Tooling friction, Lack of training, Perceived bureaucracy, Supplier constraints, Other
• Describe one engineering workflow you consider sacred—what can’t change about it during pilot?

Who Owns the Cutover and the Monday After?

• If the pilot requires a 2-week freeze for migration, who signs and enforces that freeze? Options: Engineering Manager, Manufacturing Manager, Program Manager, Change Board, IT
• Which roles will own these tasks: CAD integrations, ERP mapping, data migration, supplier coordination, training? Options: Engineering, IT, Integration Partner/Vendor, Program Management, Manufacturer/Supplier, Other
• What governance cadence do you need for pilot decisions (weekly steering, biweekly, monthly)? Options: Weekly, Biweekly, Monthly, Ad hoc
• If a critical issue appears in production during pilot, what is the escalation path and target response time?

Let’s Test the Test Data

• Do you have a representative product line and a complete set of CAD/BOM data that reflects the real complexities we must solve? Options: Yes—fully representative, Partial—needs supplement, No—must be compiled, Unsure
• Can you provide real examples of failure modes (e.g., wrong revision, missing supplier part) that we must reproduce in test? Options: Yes—detailed examples available, Yes—but only high-level, No concrete examples, Unsure
• Are there privacy, export, or IP concerns that require anonymizing or filtering test data before we ingest it? Options: Yes—need anonymization, No concerns, Partial—some artifacts sensitive, Unsure
• Who will be the point of contact to approve test data and sign off on test cases?

How Will We Know When to Expand?

• If the pilot hits its targets, what decision rule would trigger a roll from pilot to broader rollout? Options: Metric thresholds met, Sponsor approval, Cross-functional sign-off, Budget allocation, Other
• What minimum adoption rate among engineers would you require to consider the pilot successful? Options: 20–40%, 41–60%, 61–80%, 81–100%, Qualitative adoption only
• Beyond the pilot product line, which product families would be highest priority for the next phase?
• What budget or resources are tentatively earmarked for expansion if the pilot succeeds? Options: Pre-approved budget, Contingent on business case, None yet, Unsure

What Would Make Your Team Nervous (So We Can Address It Now)

• What worries you most about the pilot’s impact on daily engineering velocity? Options: Interruptions to design flow, Extra admin work, Tool instability, Learning curve, Integration bugs
• Have you tried a similar PLM or data-consolidation pilot before? What went wrong or right? Options: Yes—failed, Yes—partially succeeded, Yes—succeeded, No
• What single mitigation would reduce your biggest anxiety about rolling a pilot into production?

Agreeing the First Move

• If the pilot could prove ROI and eliminate revision escapes for the chosen product line in 3 months, what would you commit to today? Options: Access to systems and data, Dedicated pilot lead time, Sponsor-level commitment, Budget for integration work, I would not commit yet
• What is your preferred target start date for pilot activities? Options: Immediately (within 2 weeks), Next month, Next quarter, In 3–6 months, Undetermined
• What are the top three actions we should take in the first 30 days to set the pilot up for success?
• How would you like pilot progress communicated (daily standup, weekly demo, dashboard access, written report)? Options: Daily standup, Weekly demo, Weekly written update, Shared dashboard access, Ad hoc meetings
• Who needs to be present for the pilot kickoff meeting (names/roles)?

Starting Point — How You Landed Here

• What's the single event or frustration that prompted you to explore a new product data approach right now?
• Which function raised the issue first and who owns making the decision to run a pilot? Options: VP Engineering/CTO, Head of Manufacturing, Quality Leader, IT/Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Other
• How soon do you need a pilot to start for this to stay a priority internally? Options: Immediately (weeks), Within 1–3 months, 3–6 months, 6–12 months, Longer / exploratory
• What would you like us to know upfront about your organization or culture that will affect a pilot?

When Revisions Go Rogue — Are You Comfortable With That Risk?

• Tell us about the most recent wrong-revision or escape—what happened, who noticed it, and what were the downstream consequences?
• How often do you detect incorrect revisions or unapproved changes reaching manufacturing or suppliers? Options: Multiple times/month, Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly, Rarely / first time
• When an escape occurs, how do people typically feel and react—confused, defensive, firefighting, or something else? Options: Confused, Defensive, Firefighting, Blame-focused, Calm and procedural
• Who usually bears the financial or reputational cost when an escape happens (estimate roles or departments)?
• What root causes do you suspect most often (e.g., misplaced files, parallel CAD versions, manual BOM edits, poor vendor change control)? Options: Local file copies, Multiple CAD systems, Manual spreadsheet BOMs, ERP mismatch, Supplier changes, Other

Where Your Product Truth Actually Lives — How Fragmented Is It?

• If you had to list every place product information lives today (systems and informal places), what would that list look like?
• Which CAD systems are actively used by your engineering teams and how many seats of each?
• Which of these systems are authoritative for part/BOM data today? Options: ERP, PDM/PLM (legacy), CAD files, Spreadsheets, SharePoint/Network drives, Supplier portals, Other
• Approximately how many active part numbers or unique BOM configurations would the pilot product line include? Options: <100, 100–500, 500–2,000, 2,000–10,000, >10,000, Unsure
• Which integrations are non-negotiable for the pilot to be meaningful (select all that apply)? Options: ERP (Oracle/SAP/etc.), PDM (Teamcenter/Windchill/etc.), Major CAD (SolidWorks, NX, Creo, CATIA), ECAD tools, Supplier systems/portals, None required for pilot

Who Really Signs Off — Decision-Makers and Day-to-Day Owners

• Who will be the ultimate sponsor for the pilot and what authority do they have to greenlight post-pilot rollout?
• Describe the cross-functional approval chain for an ECO today—who reviews, who approves, and how long does it typically take?
• Which stakeholders must be engaged for the pilot to proceed without political roadblocks? Options: Engineering leads, Manufacturing/Production, Quality Assurance, IT/Infrastructure, Supply Chain/Procurement, Compliance/Regulatory, Other
• How confident are you that the teams listed above will actively participate rather than just delegate or ignore? Options: Very confident, Somewhat confident, Neutral, Skeptical, Unlikely
• What does ‘go / no-go’ look like internally after a successful pilot—who signs the buying order and what budget line will it come from?

The Migration Fear and Reality — What Are You Willing To Move?

• If migration were the only blocker, what would you most worry about losing or breaking during cutover?
• How much historical data is required to reproduce an as-shipped configuration for audit or warranty (years, versions, ECO trail)? Options: Last shipment only, 1 year, 2 years, 3–5 years, All historical data, Unsure
• Which data quality issues are most common today (duplicate parts, missing attributes, inconsistent part numbers, incorrect revisions)? Options: Duplicate parts, Missing attributes, Inconsistent part numbers, Incorrect revisions, Orphan CAD files, Other
• What cleanup or governance are you willing to do pre-pilot versus expecting the platform to normalize (e.g., attribute mapping, part consolidation)? Options: We’ll do full cleanup, Partial cleanup (critical items), Expect vendor to help normalize, Prefer to defer cleanup until after pilot
• What rollback expectations do you have if initial migration causes disruption—time window and who can trigger rollback?

What Success Actually Looks Like — Measurable Signals We Can Agree On

• If the pilot is wildly successful, name the three metrics you’d point to in the executive review (pick up to three). Options: BOM accuracy (%), Time to release (days), Number of revision escapes, ECO cycle time, Traceability for shipped units, User adoption rate, Supplier change compliance
• Which single metric would cause you to sign an enterprise rollout if it improved by your target amount? Options: BOM accuracy, ECO enforcement, Audit traceability, Engineer adoption, Release cycle time, Cost avoidance from escapes
• What target improvement would you consider a clear win for that top metric (provide % or absolute improvement)?
• How will you validate the pilot results—manual audit, sample testing, external audit, or automated checks? Options: Manual audit, Sample-based tests, Automated fidelity checks, Third-party audit, Other
• Who will own the pilot acceptance sign-off and what evidence do they require?

Will Engineers Actually Use It — The Human Side of Success

• Imagine a new system that adds one extra click to your engineers’ current flow—how likely are they to adopt it versus bypass it? Options: Very likely to adopt, Some will adopt, others bypass, Mostly bypass, Will actively resist
• Where do engineers keep copies of work today (local drives, shared network, cloud folder, PDM) and how often do they work offline? Options: Local drives, Shared network drive, Cloud folders (e.g., OneDrive), PDM system, USB/external drives, Other
• What incentives or controls have previously shifted engineer behavior successfully (training, performance metrics, mandatory approvals)?
• Who would be the internal champions for day-to-day adoption and what time can they commit during the pilot?
• What training formats work best for your engineering teams (hands-on workshops, recorded sessions, in-CAD tooltips, written guides)? Options: Hands-on workshops, Recorded videos, In-CAD tooltips, Quick reference guides, Peer mentoring

Pilot Design — Let’s Make the First Win Unavoidable

• What product line or assembly would make a convincing pilot—complex enough to prove value but limited enough to control risk?
• Which integrations must be in scope for the pilot to be realistic (mark required and nice-to-have)? Options: ERP (required), CAD (required), Supplier portal (nice-to-have), Legacy PDM (required), MES (nice-to-have)
• How long can the pilot run before you need measurable outcomes (weeks/months)? Options: 2–4 weeks, 1–3 months, 3–6 months, 6+ months
• What acceptance criteria would fail the pilot even if the technology worked (e.g., unacceptable downtime, no ECO enforcement, adoption < X%)?
• Who will be the day-to-day owners of pilot tasks and how do you prefer task tracking to be handled? Options: Internal PM tool, Shared tracker (e.g., spreadsheet), Platform task board, Vendor-managed tracker

Risk Register — What Could Trip You Up and How We’ll Prevent It

• What single hidden risk worries you most about a pilot (integration failure, supplier non-cooperation, data loss, cultural pushback, budget overruns)? Options: Integration failure, Supplier non-cooperation, Data loss/corruption, Cultural pushback, Budget/timeline overrun, Other
• For each of the risk areas you selected, what mitigation would make you feel comfortable (e.g., staging environment, backup plan, supplier SLA)?
• What are your acceptable outage windows or 'do not touch' dates where pilot activity must be avoided (production ramps, audits, launches)?
• Who will be the escalation points for technical issues and for executive decisions during the pilot?
• What form of risk reporting would keep your leadership comfortable (weekly dashboard, incident emails, cadence calls)? Options: Weekly dashboard, Daily incident emails, Ad-hoc executive alerts, Bi-weekly cadence call, Other

Commercial & Timeline Realities — What Would Make This Simple to Say Yes To?

• What procurement or contracting constraints should we know about (PO process, security reviews, legal terms that always block pilots)?
• Is there an internal budget window or fiscal quarter that will determine when a purchase can be signed post-pilot? Options: Current quarter, Next quarter, Next fiscal year, Dependent on outcomes, Unsure
• What commercial models do you prefer for a pilot (time & materials, fixed-fee pilot, success-based fee)? Options: Fixed-fee pilot, Time & materials, Success-based, Subscription trial
• What timeline pressure exists from external stakeholders (customers, regulators, acquirers) that we should factor into the pilot schedule?

Commitments & Next Steps — Who Does What After This Conversation

• Given our discussion, what would you need to see from us within the next 7–14 days to move toward scoping a pilot? Options: Detailed pilot plan, High-level proposal and budget, Technical integration checklist, Reference case studies, Security/compliance docs
• Who from your side should be in the pilot kickoff meeting and who will be the single point of contact?
• What blockers (technical, political, budgetary) would prevent you from authorizing a pilot this quarter?
• How would you prefer we maintain a shared channel for pilot communication (Slack/MS Teams/email/CustomerNode workspace)? Options: CustomerNode workspace, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Email, Other
• On a scale from 1–5, how ready do you feel to proceed to a formal pilot proposal after this discovery? Options: 1 - Not ready, 2 - Slightly ready, 3 - Somewhat ready, 4 - Mostly ready, 5 - Fully ready