science

PRTM

PRTM is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand PRTM rather than just read about it. In short: PRTM is a management consulting business established in 1976, and now part of PwC. PRTM's capabilities centered on the areas of operational strategy, supply chain innovation, product innovation, and customer experience innovation.

Key takeaways

PRTM belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect PRTM to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of PRTM from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

PRTM is a management consulting business established in 1976, and now part of PwC. PRTM's capabilities centered on the areas of operational strategy, supply chain innovation, product innovation, and customer experience innovation. PRTM was specialized in these industry sectors: automotive, aerospace and defense, chemicals and process industries, telecommunications, consumer goods and retail, electronics, energy, financial services, healthcare, private equity, public sector, semiconductor, and software.

History The firm was founded in 1976 in Palo Alto, California. When the firm added eastern United States operations in 1977, it was incorporated as Pittiglio, Rabin, Todd & McGrath after its founding partners Theodore Pittiglio, Robert Rabin, Robert Todd, and Michael McGrath. Today, the firm is known as PRTM. The firm began benchmarking business performance for its clients in 1982. PRTM's international expansion started in 1985. In 1988, PRTM created the "Product and Cycle-time Excellence" (PACE) framework to provide companies with a multidisciplinary approach to innovation. PRTM co-developed the "Supply-Chain Operations Reference-model" (SCOR) with the Supply-Chain Council in 1996. In 1997, the firm launched a subsidiary, The Performance Measurement Group, LLC (PMG). On June 24, 2011, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) acquired PRTM and the deal closed on August 22, 2011.

Bibliography Making Innovation Work: How to Manage It, Measure It, and Profit From It (by Tony Davila, Marc J. Epstein, and Robert Shelton, Wharton School Publishing, 2005, ISBN 0-13-149786-3), Strategic Supply Chain Management: The Five Disciplines for Top Performance (by Shoshanah Cohen and Joseph Roussel, McGraw-Hill, 2004, ISBN 0-07-143217-5), Strategic IT Portfolio Management (by Jeffrey Kaplan, PRTM, 2005, ISBN 0-9766093-0-4), Next Generation Product Development: How to Increase Productivity, Cut Costs, and Reduce Cycle Times (McGraw-Hill, 2004), Setting the PACE in Product Development: A Guide to Product And Cycle-time Excellence (by Michael E. McGrath, Butterworth-Heinemann, rev. ed. 1996, ISBN 978-0-7506-9789-7), Voices into Choices: Acting on the Voice of the Customer (by Gary Burchill and Christina Hepner Brodie, Joiner Associates, 1997, ISBN 1-884731-13-9), Product Strategy for High-Technology Companies: How to Achieve Growth, Competitive Advantage, and Increased Profits, (by Michael McGrath, McGraw-Hill, 2nd ed., 2000, ISBN 0-07-136246-0).

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with PRTM

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what PRTM claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to PRTM before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about PRTM ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of PRTM

In research: PRTM appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses PRTM in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: PRTM is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1976 establishments in California, Companies based in Waltham, Massachusetts, Consulting firms established in 1976, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for PRTM outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study PRTM in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what PRTM means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain PRTM out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is PRTM in simple terms?

Why does PRTM matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study PRTM?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on PRTM.