Industry 4.0 & 5.0 · PLM · IIoT · Vendor-Agnostic
Guiding Manufacturers into Industry 5.0 through PLM and IIoT
Minimize TCO · Maximize ROV · Simplify PLM
Independent consulting by Uthayan Elangovan — author of ‘Industry 5.0’, and award-winning author of ‘PLM with IIoT’ and ‘Smart Automation to Smart Manufacturing’. 20+ years of hands-on PLM and IIoT expertise across Windchill, ThingWorx, OpenBOM and Katana ERP. Certified implementation partner. Operating as Business As Service.
Independent & vendor-agnostic — the right fit for your business, not ours
3×
Published author
+ Book reviewer
+ Book reviewer
4
Industry awards
2020 · 22 · 23 · 23
2020 · 22 · 23 · 23
2
Certified platform
partners
partners
20+
Years PLM & IIoT
in practice
in practice
Certified Partner
OpenBOM PLM·
Katana ERP·
OpenBOM PLM·
Katana ERP·
OpenBOM PLM·
Katana ERP·
OpenBOM PLM·
Katana ERP·
What we do
Four practice areas.
One clear mandate.
One clear mandate.
Independent, vendor-agnostic advisory operating as Business As Service — flexible, on-demand expertise without the overhead of a traditional firm. Remote-first, with on-site availability across India and internationally.
01
PLM Strategy
PLM vision, strategy and roadmap development. Process assessment, gap analysis, requirements definition, solution evaluation, data governance planning, and digital thread initiative support.
Pre-Assessment
Gap Analysis
Roadmap
Requirements
Digital Thread
02
PLM Enablement
Guided PLM adoption from planning through to go-live. Vendor and stakeholder alignment, implementation oversight, onboarding, rollout, training, and Return on Value tracking.
Onboarding
Rollout
Training
ROV Tracking
Support
03
IIoT Advisory
Assessment of manufacturing and operational processes, identification of high-value sensor and connectivity opportunities, IIoT use case definition, architecture planning, and phased Industry 5.0 adoption roadmapping.
Use Cases
Architecture
Smart Mfg
Predictive
Phased Roadmap
04
Academic Consulting
Bridging the gap between academia and industry practice — bringing PLM, IIoT and Industry 5.0 into the classroom. Guest lectures, practical labs, curriculum design, skill gap programmes, and career mentoring for engineering students.
Skill Gap
Guest Lectures
Practical Labs
Mentoring
Curriculum
Clients & Partners
Academic
Our approach
The E3 Framework
A structured, repeatable methodology for PLM and IIoT adoption — from readiness assessment to sustained operational excellence.
01
Phase 1 · Empower
Strategy & Alignment
Establish the foundation — goals, readiness, governance and ROV measurement before a single tool is selected.
Goal setting & strategy planning
Readiness & resource assessment
Risk assessment & governance
ROV & ROI baseline
02
Phase 2 · Enhance
Design & Execution
Define the future state — blueprints, proof of concept, process redesign and stakeholder-aligned change management.
As-Is & To-Be process mapping
Blueprint & proof of concept
Change management & roadmap
Stakeholder alignment
03
Phase 3 · Excel
Adoption & Growth
Deploy, train and sustain — go-live, user adoption, ongoing support and continuous improvement loops.
Deployment & training
Acceptance testing & go-live
Ongoing support & monitoring
Continuous improvement
About
Uthayan Elangovan
Founder & CEO, Neel SMARTEC · PLM Strategy & Implementation Advisor
With 20+ years of hands-on experience in PLM, IIoT, and digital transformation, Uthayan has worked across Windchill, ThingWorx, OpenBOM, and Katana ERP — with organisations including Flex, Wipro, Syntel, PTC, Sonakoyo, and PreC Solutions — spanning automotive, electrical, medical, industrial, and electronics sectors.
He founded Neel SMARTEC in August 2018 as a Business As Service practice — flexible, on-demand consulting expertise without the overhead of a traditional firm. Engagements are remote-first with on-site availability across India and internationally. The practice helps manufacturers accelerate both Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0 adoption through PLM and IIoT.
As a Taylor & Francis Award-winning author of three books on PLM, IIoT, and Industry 5.0 — and holding an ME in Computer Integrated Manufacturing from PSG College of Technology — Uthayan uniquely bridges deep practitioner expertise with academic rigour.
Vendor-agnostic by principle. As a fully independent consultant, recommendations are based purely on what fits your business, budget, and goals — never on partner incentives or vendor commissions.
PLM
Certified OpenBOM Implementation PartnerAuthorised to implement and onboard OpenBOM PLM across industries and geographies
ERP
Certified Katana ERP PartnerImplementation, configuration, and training for Katana manufacturing ERP
AUTH
Authorised PartnerCassiniPLM · StockTrim · CloudStudio IIoT
EXP
Practitioner expertise — Windchill & ThingWorx20+ years hands-on experience across PTC Windchill PLM and ThingWorx IIoT platforms — informing vendor-agnostic advisory
T&F
2020 Taylor & Francis Award WinnerOutstanding Professional Book — PLM: A Digital Journey Using IIoT
PUB
3× Published Author · Book ReviewerIndustry 5.0 · PLM with IIoT · Smart Automation — reviewed 6 proposals for CRC Press & Palgrave Macmillan
LEAN
Lean Green Belt · PTC Best Presentation AwardFlex Global Business Excellence 2016 · PTC World Conference 2007
Advisor & Mentor
John Stark
PLM thought leader · Author of 18 books including the most frequently cited publication on PLM · Advisor to 100+ companies worldwide
Recognition
Awards & Accolades
Recognised globally for excellence in management consulting, business leadership, and academic publishing.
2022 · Wealth & Finance International
Management Consulting Awards 2022
Recognised for outstanding contribution and excellence in management consulting services.
Wealth & Finance International
Verify award
2023 · APAC Insider
Most Effective Business Consulting Services CEO — Tamil Nadu
Awarded as the most effective Business Consulting Services CEO in Tamil Nadu for 2023.
APAC Insider
Verify award
2023 · CEO Monthly
Best Product Lifecycle Management CEO 2023
Recognised as the Best PLM CEO of 2023 — global recognition of leadership excellence in PLM.
CEO Monthly
Verify award
2020 · Taylor & Francis Group
Outstanding Professional Book Award
PLM: A Digital Journey Using IIoT — recognised by Book Authority as one of the Best Industrial Management Books of All Times.
Taylor & Francis · CRC Press
Verify award
Publications
Thought leadership in print
Published by Taylor & Francis (CRC Press) and Momentum Press — the world’s leading technical publishers. Recognised by Book Authority as among the Best Industrial Management and Manufacturing Automation books.
🏆 2020 Taylor & Francis Award for Outstanding Professional Book
Client feedback
Trusted by manufacturers and academics alike
“
Neelsmartec provided us with a structured roadmap for PLM implementation. This has given us clarity on how to optimise our processes, enhance collaboration, and improve compliance. We now have a clear direction for our digital transformation journey — this will be instrumental in scaling our operations efficiently.
Ganesh N
COO, SMS Solutions
PLM Strategy & Roadmap
“
We wanted to take full advantage of the OpenBOM SaaS model and accelerated implementation. We selected Neel SMARTEC — it was absolutely the best choice for us. They came ready to go, trained and onboarded our entire team with a fast, high quality, targeted implementation plan.
Raghunandan Jagdish
CEO, Nandan GSE
OpenBOM PLM Implementation
“
Excellent workshop! Extremely well done and very beneficial. Details explained outstandingly. Uthayan’s industrial IoT experience was exactly what our team needed to understand real-world digital transformation.
George Suresh
Managing Director, Vasanth Products
IIoT Workshop
“
Thanks Uthayan for spending your valuable time to share your industrial IoT transformation experience with our Operations Management students — extremely useful for developing future career direction.
Dr. Swee Kuik PhD
Lecturer, School of Business & Law · CQUniversity Australia
IIoT Academic Workshop
“
His depth of knowledge in PLM and IIoT allows him to speak to audiences from many different fields, always showing them how these skills work for their career. His ability to explain the real business applications of Industrial IoT in easy to understand terms is notable. The feedback from all attendees was extremely positive. I strongly recommend Uthayan to any educational institution or organisation that needs an expert in PLM and IIoT.
Karthikeyan Natarajan
Guest Lecture Organiser
PLM & IIoT Guest Lecture
Get started
Ready to move into Industry 5.0?
No obligation. Typically responds within 24 hours. Or reach out directly via the contact details below.
1
Send your enquiry
Fill the form with your situation — the more context, the better the response.
2
Get a focused reply
Uthayan personally reviews every enquiry and responds within 24 hours.
3
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