Product lifecycle management, or PLM, describes the process of developing a product from the initial idea phase through to design, manufacturing, service and disposal. Unlike other types of project management, PLM is a holistic approach that considers the entire life of a product. This is increasingly important in the modern manufacturing atmosphere because products are increasingly complex, especially those that require ongoing maintenance and support after their release.

• Sap Product Lifecycle Management
• Plm Software Companies
• Plm Software Comparison

Product lifecycle management (PLM) software manages data during the development of a product from inception through the manufacturing, servicing, and disposal processes. Companies use PLM software to increase productivity and collaboration, improve quality, bolster creativity, and shorten time to. PLM software is a solution that manages all of the information and processes at every step of a product or service lifecycle across globalized supply chains. This includes the data from items, parts, products, documents, requirements, engineering change orders, and quality workflows. This product lifecycle management tool is offered by PTC, a software and services company with over 6,000 employees in 30 countries, and used by 1.1 million users worldwide. PTC PLM breaks down silos and increases efficiency by making crucial data available to those who need it, providing a single digital product definition for product. Siemens Digital Industries Software’s product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions include digital product development, digital manufacturing and product data management.

Because there are so many steps involved in creating and releasing a new product, and each step may be attended to by a variety of workers, departments or even industries, strong organization is vital. This becomes even more important when a company outsources elements of its manufacture or design; in these situations, communication is paramount. Having a robust PLM software solution that helps to monitor the progress of a developing product will help to boost efficiency and ensure that everyone working on a project is on the same page.

Fortunately, a variety of Product Life Cycle Management Software programs exist to serve this need.

This project management software works to provide document organization and project insights that can be modified or adjusted as necessary to suit the needs of the business that employs it. From small businesses to major industrial corporations, any company that handles product development and manufacturing can benefit from a good lifecycle management software.

Does Your Business Need Product Life Cycle Management Software?

Although many businesses can benefit from implementing an organized PLM system with the help of specially designed software, such PLM platforms are not necessarily the right choice for everyone. There are problems that are signs that a business may benefit from a more streamlined and systematized approach:

Projects gone wrong. If a project is over-staying its welcome, it may be due to poor opportunities for rational assessment. This can occur when the data about a project’s viability is difficult to access or cannot be assessed without subjective assumptions. By making data available objectively to decision-making bodies and removing the human element from the equation, a PLM system can prove very effective in weeding out poor project choices.

Communication failures and complications. This is the biggest benefit to any sort of project management software, and it’s especially crucial for product development that may span numerous teams, businesses and even industries. If communication with manufacturing partners or suppliers breaks down, it can cause major delays in production. Centralized PLM communication reduces the clumsiness and delays caused by manual communication and ensures that communication errors are kept to a minimum. Centralized communication and document storage reduces time-consuming and tedious faxes, file transfers, phone calls and other related steps.

Regulatory requirements that require a paper trail. Electronic traceability is another major benefit of a software-based PLM system. Having all communications, data and documents stored in a centralized place makes it easy to look back over a project and see the “paper trail” of communication and development. This can be essential for ensuring a product meets or exceeds compliance requirements.

Costs out of control and rising? PLM systems are especially valuable in situations where companies may outsource some or all a product’s design, development or service. If a business is considering heavily outsourcing future projects, the PLM platform can provide a space for collaboration while also allowing for evaluation of the manufacturing and supply chain. Being able to see the project through a “big picture” lens can be crucial for identifying places where expenses can be trimmed without sacrificing quality.

By carefully considering your company’s business needs, you can best decide whether a PLM system is appropriate. Not every product manufacturing or design company can benefit from this type of software, but it can be a valuable tool for those who require the added organization and optimization potential of a good PLM program.

The PLM Software Solution

As an acronym, PLM is often used for both the process of lifecycle management as well as the software that manages this process. This can add a layer of confusion when talking about PLM, especially when a business is deciding whether or not to implement a PLM system.

In general terms, all product development projects will utilize some type of lifecycle management system. This system may not, however, always be formally organized into a dedicated software program. The business may, for example, utilize a series of guidelines or practices for data analysis, communication and document gathering; all of these processes would be considered aspects of PLM.

Dedicated software simply acts to make this process more organized and efficient by providing a single accessible platform through which to access all of these diverse elements and share them across multiple teams so that everyone working on a project can have access to what they need to complete their part of the job.

The purpose of a PLM system is to streamline the increasingly complex challenges of product development. Modern technologies are more complicated than ever to design, market and support, and the demands of a global market mean that products must be of topmost quality. A thoroughly organized approach to the product lifecycle is one important step to establishing a solid foundation for a product launch.

The primary benefit of an organized PLM system is greater efficiency. When every step of product development is managed through a centralized software system, communicating with team members and identifying ways to simplify the process become simpler. This produces several additional perks:

• Reduced production time from idea to market.
• Lowered costs for prototyping and production.
• More accurate quote generation and timeline approximation.
• Higher profits as a result of more efficient processes.

Sap Product Lifecycle Management

Maximizing efficiency allows a business to reduce waste, boost product optimization and otherwise streamline the process of developing a product.

Who Uses PLM Software?

Lifecycle management software is designed to serve as an information management system, or a way to manage workflow and keep tabs on the many different aspects of a product’s life cycle. By keeping all necessary information in a single centralized location, this type of software allows the user to follow a product’s development from initial ideation through to manufacture, service and eventually disposal.

PLM can apply to any type of technology and is not limited to a specific type of product. This type of software can be used by companies working in:

• Product data management
• Computer-aided design and manufacturing
• Digital manufacturing
• Manufacturing operations management
• Predictive engineering analytics

How Product Lifecycle Management Software Works

There are multiple types of PLM systems on the market, and each software will have its own features and benefits. In general, however, certain elements are essential to quality product lifecycle management. Any software platform should:

• Establish a centralized record-keeping system that can be accessed and shared by all relevant departments or employees.
• Improve efficiency through optimization of systems and processes necessary to drive product development.
• Boost revenues and overall value through maximized efficiency and cutting of unnecessary or redundant steps and processes.

Proper organization is the key to ensuring smooth workflow and project management, and choosing the right type of PLM tools will help to achieve this goal.

Common Software Features

The setup and layout of software for PLM will vary somewhat between programs, and different users may prefer certain interfaces over others. Depending on the needs of an individual project, some or all of these PLM program features may be helpful:

Collaboration tools that allow for social networking or communication across teams. These may include in-software messaging platforms, note-taking capabilities and other tools that expedite the spread of information between teams working on a project.

Lifecycle intelligence data analysis and collection. These tools enable a user to leverage data for better decision making and process optimization. By collecting all of the relevant data in one place and providing tools for its assessment and analysis, a PLM platform makes it easy to identify patterns and create projections.

Product data management resources. Having a centralized location to store project data, including portfolio and bid information, allows for better organization.

A PLM solution should work to manage information and processes, acting as a centralized platform for data collection and communication. In other words, every document related to a product’s design, manufacturing and release should be stored in a PLM program in such a way that it can be readily accessed by all required team members.

The ideal PLM program will be specialized to the target industry. This will ensure that the solutions offered are appropriate for the individual needs of a company without additional unnecessary features that may bog down the program or make the software more difficult to use. The best PLM systems make workflow and planning simpler, not more complex.

What to Look for in PLM Software

With multiple software options available on the market, it’s important to look for the program that will best suit your needs. As with any software, not all PLM systems are created equal, and some of the more robust features may be more important for some users than others. Nevertheless, there are a handful of features to consider when searching for a PLM system:

Ease of use. If the software is not easy to navigate, team members will not want to use it or will struggle with learning how to use it. This will slow down training and encumber workers, canceling out the optimization and efficiency value of implementing the system in the first place.

System integration. Most businesses already utilize some form of project management system. A good PLM program should seamlessly integrate with your other enterprise systems or be powerful enough to replace them.

Support for existing processes. Your PLM system should work within the existing workflow and expectations. Unless your business operations require a massive overhaul, it is best to make subtle changes that will boost efficiency without destroying what already works.

Flexibility and accessibility. The greatest benefit of a PLM platform is the ability to communicate and stay organized across different teams, businesses and industries. With this in mind, the software you choose needs to be accessible to every group you wish to work with.

Speed of implementation. Installing the software, training employees in its use and integrating it into daily workflow processes should not be unduly time-consuming. This is why it is so important to choose a system that is sufficiently robust while staying accessible and easy to use.

Overall, the single most important thing to remember about any type of project management software is that it exists to make work processes more efficient. Any software that slows down development or creates additional and unnecessary complications is working counter to that primary goal.

Benefits of Utilizing PLM Solutions

PLM software solutions are especially important at the outset of a project, when having a firm plan in mind can help with its development and launch. Through centralizing project information and managing communication, workflow on a project can be optimized. This makes it much easier to collaborate across departments.

Where PLM platforms truly shine is in the way they simplify the process of applying changes or modifications. If a new process must be implemented, the centralized communication tools in the software make it easy to keep everyone on the same page.

Similarly, because all project data can be stored in the same location, the risks of miscommunication can be mitigated. Everyone who needs to know some vital piece of information about a project will have access to it without needing to rely on any external forms of communication. Having product information stem from a single source helps to reduce the risk of errors and ensures that information is delivered to the correct team at an appropriate time.

Businesses that employ PLM systems enjoy many benefits:

• More likelihood of meeting product launch dates.
• Increased chances of meeting cost and revenue targets.
• Reductions in development time due to improved efficiency.
• Better product quality.

In general, these benefits arise organically from the improved communication and organization afforded by the software. In other words, businesses will only get value from a PLM system if they utilize that system as part of an overall push toward greater organization. If not incorporated into a holistic project management approach, these results may not be as dramatic.

Things to Consider Before Implementing PLM Software

Although software for project lifecycle management can be a smart business investment, there are still things to consider before purchasing or implementing this type of solution. The specific challenges or drawbacks encountered by a business may vary depending on the way projects have been managed in the past; an honest assessment of a company’s current processes and their strengths and weaknesses can help to ease the transition.

Some things to consider:

Are there any project management systems already in place? If not, you may require additional training to get your team on board with how to use the system. Establishing “best practices” for using the software at the outset will streamline the process and ensure that it works to improve efficiency rather than create an additional technological hurdle for users.

If you already have a project management system, will the PLM software replace or augment it? If your team is already trained to use one type of project management system, it may be a challenge to add another or transition between them. You may wish to see whether your existing tools could be adapted to fill the needs of a PLM system. If not, be sure to establish specific rules for how each program is used, or choose a PLM program that will fulfill all project management needs so it can replace an existing system. Otherwise, you may face confusion and poor organization as workers try to juggle two competing systems.

Do you have clear goals for what the PLM system will help you to accomplish? A project management software is a tool, and like any tool, it is only effective when put to use with a purpose. Software cannot solve productivity or efficiency problems on its own; it must be implemented with strategic goals and used toward achieving those goals. The first step to ensuring the effectiveness of a PLM system is understanding exactly what the software is and is capable of; the second step is training your team on its use so that this value can be communicated.

Armed with an understanding of PLM systems and what they can do to improve a business, you can make an informed decision about the software you acquire and how to best implement it to achieve your goals.

By doing this research in advance and taking the time to train your team, you can reap the benefits of a product lifecycle management software solution for your project management needs.

Product lifecycle management (PLM) refers to the management of data and processes used in the design, engineering, manufacturing, sales, and service of a product across its entire lifecycle and across the supply chain. Product lifecycle management has a long history in the manufacturing space, but as it stands today, the term generally refers to a software solution and a broader use case beyond just the manufacturing process.

Why Do Companies Need PLM?

Companies that manufacture goods experience a range of issues outside of the scope of design and manufacturing. Product lifecycle management (PLM) mitigates those issues and helps align and integrate key resources, quickly making product information accessible to teams across the organization.

PLM was originally designed to help engineers collaborate on the latest product designs and control information across the lifecycle of a product. But because their technology stack was on-premise, PLM solutions focused only on internal employees. Today, product lifecycle management as a methodology has evolved to include a larger portion of the organization, including customer service, marketing, sales, suppliers and partner channels.

Because of the strong focus on engineering, original PLM solutions were built with the engineer in mind. Legacy PLM was created to help engineers increase productivity, accelerate time to market, and lower product costs. Today’s next-gen PLM software includes new benefits of product lifecycle management across the entire organization and allows for faster customer responsiveness and greater customer transparency, greater product quality even for complex products, helping boost revenue and get products to market faster.

What is cloud-based PLM?

Cloud-based product lifecycle management software varies from its on-premise predecessor in that it creates a single source of truth to expedite and improve product development, and track data and processes – all from the cloud. Today's cloud PLM software updates product changes, advancements, and industry compliance as they happen in real-time, allowing for timely collaboration between all departments in the product development process regardless of location.

The evolving workforce and increase in remote employees require more robust and collaborative software systems with a better user experience to operate in today’s business landscape. Most new PLM solutions have adjusted to this need and offer multi-layered communication and process management, allowing different sites, employees, and partners to collaborate seamlessly no matter where they are in the world.

Do I need PLM?

PLM isn’t just a buzzword. It simplifies, organizes, and integrates data, allowing an in-depth view of each manufactured product and how it will be received in the market, maximizing efficiency and profitability in the following areas:

• Design and manufacturing integration: A company’s production process may use a range of software applications for design and manufacturing. PLM can optimize the entire production process in real-time. Without PLM, valuable data may not be communicated across all these systems and people.
• Product commercialization: PLM assures products are ready for global rollout, with effective, reliable data, document management and process governance. Unified data and collaborative workflows across the organization keep things running smoothly and allow teams to respond quickly when challenges arise.
• Virtual environments that support global operations: PLM provides a central product data management (PDM) repository that integrates the entire global process from concept to customer.
• Accessible data: PLM makes all product information available to each department, improving production efficiency and allowing for a closed-loop for all teams involved.

The Product Lifecycle and the PLM Process

A product’s lifecycle typically begins with an idea. Maybe it happens in an office, maybe on your drive home or famously it happens in a garage in Silicon Valley.

When we think of products we assume that once that idea gets legs, it crystallizes into a design it is later manufactured for the world to see. But we can’t forget the steps in between: purchase, service, and repair, and ultimately – disposal or retirement.

In high-level terms there are four stages to a product lifecycle:

• Introduction: Costly and risky, new products that are introduced to the market can mean low sales, as well as costs from research and development, consumer reaction, and marketing.
• Growth: The product gains popularity and sales and profits grow. Marketing increases to maximize benefit.
• Maturity: Product popularity dictates more focused marketing as well as future predictions for product improvements or changes to the production process.
• Decline: An inevitable end, decline in product popularity happens with increased competition, or lack of customer return. Companies focus on reducing production costs and introduction to less popular markets.

Product lifecycle is the progression of a product through these four stages and all of the finer grained processes, including inception, engineering, design, manufacturing, sales and marketing, distribution, service, and disposal. PLM is the management of that lifecycle, aligning the people, data, processes, and business systems that make their entire product portfolio a success. The PLM process includes the following key elements.

The Lifecycle Stages

Design

PLM brings concurrent capabilities to the table, allowing design, engineering, simulation, marketing, engineering, manufacturing, and tweaks to the entire process to run at the same time. When a product is in the design and engineering phase, PLM allows changes to happen as the design is being tested. The ability to design in real-time expedites completion of a final product, which in turn quickens time-to-market and eventual profit.

Companies often spend up to 25 percent of their revenue on new product development. Even a one percent decrease in lost time or increase in margin delivered by PLM software can significantly impact a company’s profits. Companies operating in a high-tech PLM environment can easily deliver innovation, while simultaneously tracking and responding to customer feedback in real-time.

BOM Management

Bill of materials (BOM) management is at the heart of PLM. PLM connects BOMs with accurate product definitions, source information, manufacturing data, documentation, and pricing.

It's what makes up the product that a company delivers to its customers, and it can include hardware, software, manufacturing data, documentation, pricing, and more. BOM management involves engineering design, design collaboration, sourcing and procurement, and go-to-market strategy. For products to succeed in the market, companies need to make sure that BOM management also incorporates external collaboration with partners, suppliers and sales channels. BOM management is closely associated with change management since updates can happen between engineering, manufacturing and marketing as a product gets ready for sale.

The PLM integration of computer aided design (aka CAD systems) with BOMs improves processes by synchronizing engineering and non-engineers throughout the design of the product. When a CAD system exchanges information with a BOM through a PLM system, the result is better collaboration, accuracy, and in the end the one thing we really want, faster time-to-market.

Engineer-to-Order

Engineer to Order (ETO) is a specific use case of design in PLM. In this case, customers are highly involved in the design and requirements for a product. PLM for ETO provides a single, secure, easy-access solution for providing information to sales, engineering, and operations for product review, design, and delivery. In addition, it includes information that can be shared not just with engineers, but also with partners, suppliers, and customers.

Competition in the marketplace, changing customer needs, and customer satisfaction, are vital to the success of a product launch. Modern PLM software uses cloud technology to manage engineers, purchasing tools, and requests related to the ETO process. Information from partners, suppliers, and customers is then used to provide a working overview of the process to provide improved response time to customers, more accurate quotes, increased employee productivity, better product development and delivery, and customer loyalty.

Production

Lowering development and production costs, and improving time-to-market are two of the most important end results of PLM. Change management, cost management, and supplier qualification play key roles in these outcomes.

Change management is how a company deals with changes that occur during inception, design, manufacturing, and use of a product. An effective change management process organizes revisions and cancellations, keeps track of different versions of documents, and follows the workflow process. Information generated by changes along the process are crucial for communication between departments and outside partners.

Cost management is similar to change management, tracking costs involved with tools and components from the earliest stages of the product development. Cost transparency is crucial for profitability and modern PLM software can provide accuracy and cost savings that might otherwise be missed. It goes without saying that better communication and review of sourcing options are best done in the planning stages. Cost management inside of PLM gives way to this early information and allows manufacturers to evaluate and avoid possible delivery or cost issues and prevent product launch hiccups.

Plm Software Companies

Distribution and Service

PLM provides tools and information about distribution and service of products. Product information management (PIM) is the phase after the product is manufactured. In order to market and sell their latest and greatest product, companies need an effective way to make sure all their sales channels are receiving and displaying the correct product information.

Plm Software Comparison

PIM provides companies with timely product data for sales channels, including direct sales, distributors and e-Commerce. Ideally, PIM solutions should be closely tied to PLM—or better yet, one in the same—so there can be a single repository for product data that can be used by sales and marketing as well as engineering and manufacturing.

PIM provides all the tools necessary to take product information from engineering into a saleable entity that sales teams can use to sell the product, including accurate product attributes, SKUs, and pricing.

To the same effect that marketing teams can benefit from the accurate product information provided throughout the product lifecycle. Marketing needs the most up-to-date information when generating product manuals, imagery and any other content needed for distributor portals or eCommerce platforms.

Once the product is on the market, customer satisfaction is key to survival and any other future versions of the physical good. While quality management (QMS) permeates every business process, staying on top of quality issues in the field is key for sustaining product success. Tying customer issues, quality processes, and engineering updates into a closed-loop process helps ensure that products receive positive customer adoption and repeatable steps for future product iterations.

PLM Software Must-Haves

Project lifecycle management software combines all organization and readiness tools mentioned above into one platform to manage and connect data, processes, and business systems with the people who use them. When used correctly, PLM software can increase innovation, improve productivity, get products to market faster, and reduce unnecessary expenditures on resources and time.

Data Sharing

• PLM provides open information sharing between employees, partners, and customers, which works to:
• Speed up planning and development in the design phase
• Address complex issues in real time
• Manage engineering challenges
• Create a customer and product connection
• Update pricing, product attributes, and sales information during product launch
• Improve product viability with information garnered by sales and marketing
• Enhance products with sales and service input
  

A PLM platform that meets data sharing needs will enhance the decision making processes for project and design review, change requests, maintenance, and support. Data sharing also streamlines processes with efficiency and better communication. Global companies need to share data around the world, and real-time access is imperative—not only with employees, but with partners and customers.

Change Management

PLM software offers important capabilities for change management, the ability for a company to manage changes and challenges that arise during the entire product lifecycle. PLM software allows companies to track product revisions, change document versions, and allows users to follow change orders from engineering, marketing, or operations. It can also provide an impact analysis with data such as inventory, market timing, and production changes, as well as keep track of workflow and approvals.

Project Management

Project management can cover the entire product lifecycle from concept to customer but is typically used for the process of developing, producing, introducing, and delivering products in a timely fashion. It assures that timelines are met, resources are available when needed, and products are delivered.

PLM software enhances project management by creating a collaborative environment from concept to the moment it is in the customer’s hands. It tracks the process and progress of the product through time, assures the schedule is met, and makes sure that all the parties involved have the information they need to successfully complete their given tasks as they relate to the product.

PLM Integrations

PLM software is only as good as its ability to integrate a company’s processes and technologies. PLM should incorporate a CAD design system with enterprise resource planning (ERP) and they should communicate with each other flawlessly. Customer relationship management (CRM), managing all relationships with customers, and PIM, providing the latest product information, must also work together for best results.

Data integration from the Internet of Things (IoT) gives engineers direct access to real product performance information, allowing companies to respond with unprecedented speed and accuracy.

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