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Axon is a technology leader in global public safety. The company’s goal is to cut gun-related deaths between police and the public by 50% before 2033. Axon is building the public safety operating system of the future by integrating a suite of hardware devices and cloud software solutions that lead modern policing.
Axon’s suite includes TASER energy devices, body cameras, in-car cameras, cloud-hosted digital evidence management solutions, productivity software, and real-time operations capabilities. Axon’s growing global customer base includes first responders across international, federal, state, and local law enforcement, fire, corrections, and emergency medical services, as well as the justice sector, enterprises, and consumers.
In a previous Axon customer success story, the company’s Wyatt Dincel, Configuration Control Analyst II, detailed how Arena Analytics has optimized reporting, from archaic spreadsheets to easy, configurable dashboard-driven, real-time reports. With Arena Analytics, Axon can transform business intelligence (BI) into actionable results.
We caught up with Oscar Mena, an Axon product lifecycle management (PLM) consultant and Arena PLM specialist, to learn how Axon scaled their processes as the company grew.
Arena PLM
Very easy to reconfigure as an organization grows and a great customer support system
Better process controls that provide consistent results, faster and actionable analytics based on meaningful information
Axon has been using Arena PLM to drive their operations for more than 20 years. When Oscar joined Axon, he encountered an organization that had outgrown its systems. Axon went from managing one product to several over 20 years. He said, “What was working for one product 20 years ago was not working for the number of products and engineers today.”
Fundamental product PLM practices, such as controlled drawings, structured bills of materials (BOMs), and phased product lifecycles, were either misapplied or missing. Axon engineers were sending prototype drawings via email, bypassing any form of centralized control.
There were no formal product lifecycles implemented in Arena—just basic “In Design” and “In Production” statuses, which meant there was no clear guidance for required documentation or review thresholds as a product evolved. Attributes within Arena were packed with data fields that made sense yesterday but not today. This slowed users down and added confusion. Oscar noted, “I came in and used the expertise of the Arena Support team for putting together a ‘get back to basics’ program.”
—Oscar Mena, PLM Consultant, Axon
With a deep understanding of PLM best practices and a commitment to simplifying workflows, Oscar reconfigured Arena to meet Axon’s current needs: Starting with the basics, he implemented formal product lifecycles such as engineering validation testing (EVT), design validation testing (DVT), and production validation testing (PVT), each with specific documentation requirements and approval thresholds. This is especially important as the product matures and goes through different lifecycles.
He also created new change management processes tailored to Axon’s needs, such as prototype change orders (PCOs) and structured manufacturing change orders (MCOs) that use Arena’s automation capabilities. Oscar noted, “I like to see MCOs locked down, so they don’t allow revision changes unless intended. That’s how much we rely on Arena for clean change control.”
Arena Quality, which had previously remained unused, was successfully implemented. Oscar designed formal workflows for critical processes like equipment change requests and firmware change control. These quality workflows, backed by standard operating procedures (SOPs), ensure traceability and consistent execution across departments.
One example, firmware, initially managed outside of Arena, is now tracked as a formal part of the BOM with its own firmware change request (FCR) process. This flow includes evaluations, deliverables, multistage approvals, and is tied into Arena’s automation engine to trigger downstream change orders only after readiness is confirmed. “I moved firmware releases out of ECOs until validation is complete,” Oscar said. “Now Arena automates the ECO creation once FCR approvals are done. That cut firmware turnaround from three to four weeks down to two to three days.”
Oscar also took advantage of Arena Projects, using it to track tasks and milestones related to change orders, supplier deviations, and system improvements, helping maintain focus across long, complex product cycles.
When it comes to supplier security, many organizations fear what suppliers see. They ask if suppliers are going to be able to see the organization’s intellectual property and other partners. Oscar noted, “One of the significant strengths of Arena is the ability to prevent suppliers from seeing each other when an item has multiple suppliers. Arena ensures that each supplier’s visibility is restricted, so you can be confident when sharing files, suppliers, or items.” Oscar continuously seeks guidance from Arena’s Support team to ensure he is using the system to its fullest and following best practices. He noted, “Arena Support is amazing. They saved me hours of research by taking time to explain things in just 30 minutes.”
The transformation has been substantial. By returning to best practices and using Arena’s evolving capabilities, Axon now operates with tighter control, faster iterations, and better collaboration across engineering, quality, and supply chain.
“Before, we didn’t even have product lifecycles. Now, we have clearly defined stages, BOM ownership, approved suppliers, and faster routing,” Oscar explained. “Firmware is controlled, equipment changes are formalized, and we have defined processes that everyone follows.”
He credits Arena’s automations and centralized information for much of this success. “You can tie together requests, quality records, and projects, and have them feed into ECOs automatically. That has been a game changer.”
Axon teams across the organization rely on Arena for one trusted source of information and processes—essential for a growing company operating at the intersection of hardware and cloud software.
Axon is improving its internal operations and accelerating the pace at which it brings public safety technologies to market, helping them reduce gun-related deaths between police and the public.
—Oscar Mena, PLM Consultant, Axon
