“My favorite part of the conference? I don’t know, everything!”
After two full days of insights and discovery, this sentiment expressed by Gabriela Pastushenko (AppliedVR) was shared by a great many attendees at Propulsion 2024.
The goal of the event was to bring Propel Software customers together in person to showcase not only the power of the platform but also the power of their peers’ ideas and ingenuity.
That’s why chances to learn from fellow users were embedded throughout the event — from customer presentations to small-group sessions, even casual conversations during breaks. These moments of inspiration drove the success of the conference.
An Inspiring Outlook
Set in the heart of Chicago, at a hotel overlooking the river, attendees were unable to escape the general feeling of inspiration — whether from the ideas presented or the panoramic views of the city.
Propulsion was "a time to collaborate and connect with the Propel team and customers — with valuable insights into their experiences, excellent hosts, food, drink, and a beautiful venue," remarked Jeannie Villalobos (Breg), speaking to a feeling that defined the conference.
The three-day event was never meant to be a gathering to jot down some notes about Propel’s products, it was a deliberate catalyst to spur innovation. It was a collaborative hub, providing a way to feel social and productive at the same time.
In attendance, users ran the gamut. There were companies represented using Propel’s product lifecycle management (PLM), quality management (QMS), and product information management (PIM) solutions, or a combination thereof. There were small startups and large enterprises, newly founded organizations, and 100-year-old brands. Medtech, high tech, and consumer goods. B2B and consumer-facing.
But what they all had in common was the drive to harness the most advanced technologies available and to capture market demands that shift on a whim. No matter their experience level with Propel, they all had something to learn from each other.
As Chris Pasternak (Ascensia Diabetes Care) put it:
“The networking was the best part. Meeting people that are using the system the way we want to.”
Turning Vision into Practice
Curated sessions at Propulsion 2024 were led by expert industry analysts, Salesforce insiders, and, of course, Propel customers themselves.
Real Stories, Real Solutions
From the customers presenting, attendees heard innovative success stories, each diving deep into the technical implementation of their solutions, sharing their lessons in excellence.
Tomasz Stefańczyk, Head of Engineering at AMS Technologies, demonstrated how his team is building an interconnected tech stack, and why the effort is so important for driving long-term revenue growth.
Dmitriy Geler, VP of Quality, NPI Engineering & Transformation at BekaertDeslee, offered insights and strategies for creating a culture of transformation and continuous growth at any organization, including how to “look at frictions as opportunities.”
Erika Blair and Serena Oaks, Product Development Leads at Breg, detailed their non-traditional decision to buck the trend of incremental process-by-process implementations in favor of a “big bang” approach that immediately delivered positive ROI in the first year.
While sessions throughout the day informed the audience of major market trends and industry advancements like the sure-to-be huge impact of AI, the customer success stories left especially indelible impressions.
From exploring the capabilities of AI in streamlining operations to leveraging cloud-native features for enhanced scalability, the customer presentations were rich with actionable takeaways designed to drive businesses forward. It was clear that the learning went beyond features and functions; it was about envisioning and executing a digital transformation strategy that aligns with future industry landscapes.
One of the Salesforce panelists, Bruce Richardson, emphasized the value of these stories: “If you want to learn how to best implement and use PLM, you have to attend Propulsion 2025 and hear from the customer experts."
User Roundtables: Small Sessions with Big Impact
While the presentations and panels rooted ideas in the minds of users, the roundtables were the fertile ground where definitive next steps were formed.
We called these small group sessions “Expert Roundtables” because an expert in each topic guided the discussions. These ranged from design for supply chain, supplier collaboration, change management, risk assessment and validation, audit readiness, and migrating from Agile PLM.
Whether it was a startup looking to disrupt a traditional market or a century-old company aiming to innovate its way to the next level, everyone was part of the conversation.
Pastushenko reflected why she found the roundtables valuable: "I liked connecting with other peers who're already using Propel, along with experts to guide you through the discussion and Propel team members collecting customer feedback so they can continuously improve."
Conclusion
As guests traveled home from Propel’s inaugural in-person conference, they left feeling inspired to get more from their solutions. They didn’t just leave with notes and contacts but with actionable insights and a renewed vision for what’s possible.
“It's just so insightful to be part of this revolution with Propel on creating optimal PLM and quality management systems and finally going into PIM,” said Diana Sehawneh (MaryRuth’s). “It was a great experience overall. I am so excited for next year, and I hope there are more people to collaborate with.”
When the conference came to an end, the energy didn't dissipate. The momentum from the event transformed into a collective anticipation for next steps.
Customer and presenter Erika Blair (Breg) captured this feeling:
“I've been thinking about our digital transformation journey. Hearing the presentations clicked for me that this is actually our first step in a broader future-proofing of our company. Now, we have the right tools. Propulsion really gave me that point of view that I didn't have before. Like, what's coming next?”
