How can PLM software track R&D project hours and support tax credit claims?

Tracking the time employees spend on individual R&D projects can give companies valuable data about how development resources are being used. When those hours are captured within the Trace One Devex PLM system, teams can maintain project-level records that may also support financial processes such as eligible research and development tax credit claims. 

Alisha Farrington, Group Leader and Formulator at NCH, identifies project-hour tracking as the Devex capability with the greatest impact on her organization. Trace One customized a feature for NCH called Project Metrics, which allows the company to capture hours spent on individual projects. Alisha says that using this project data, NCH was able to receive a $1 million tax credit the previous year. 

She also highlights the usability and flexibility of Trace One Devex PLM and the support NCH receives when considering new functionality. According to Alisha, the team shares approaches used by other companies and helps NCH identify solutions it may not have initially considered. 

In this video, Alisha discusses how NCH tracks project hours in Trace One Devex PLM, the $1 million tax credit associated with that data, and why flexibility and customization stand out in the company’s experience with the solution.

Video Transcript

“The overall usability of Devex is quite good compared to other things that we’ve seen, especially with the upgrade that’s coming out. It works a lot like a browser does. 

Selerant [now Trace One] is pretty good about helping you with your options as far as functionality and how to implement it, what are the best practices that other companies have used, and so Selerant uses their creative side to get you the right solution. 

The piece of Devex that has the most impact is the ability to track our hours per project. Selerant has been able to customize a piece for us called Project Metrics. With that piece, we can capture hours on individual projects, and we were able to actually get a one million dollar tax credit last year. 

Selerant’s greatest strength is their flexibility, I think. They’ll get you to a solution that you may not have thought of. You may think that you have a certain number of options, but they always surprise me on the solutions that they come up with.” 

— Alisha Farrington, Group Leader and Formulator at NCH Corporation