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Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is a strategic process that enables companies to manage the entire lifecycle of a product from ideation to end-of-use, and everything in between. As products and technologies become increasingly complex, PLM has become a crucial tool for businesses to streamline processes, reduce costs and get innovative products to market faster. This article provides an overview of PLM, its key benefits and stages of implementation.
What is PLM?
Product Lifecycle Management refers to software applications and business strategies that help organizations manage product data and related processes throughout a product’s lifecycle. PLM systems provide a centralized digital repository for all information associated with a product, including requirements, designs, manufacturing details, support documentation and more. All critical data is stored in one place for easy access and sharing between functions like engineering, quality, procurement, manufacturing and after-sales service.
PLM helps align people, processes and technology across different departments involved in product development, manufacturing and maintenance. It brings visibility and control to various product lifecycle stages from conception to service. Key functions of a modern PLM system include computer-aided design (CAD), product structure management, document management, bill of materials (BOM) management, change management, quality management and compliance.
Benefits of Implementing PLM
There are significant benefits businesses can realize by implementing an efficient PLM strategy and system:
– Improved Collaboration: PLM breaks down information silos by providing a single source of truth for all product data. This facilitates seamless collaboration between cross-functional teams.
– Reduced Time-to-Market: Streamlined processes and automation help accelerate product development cycles. Issues are resolved quickly with a centralized view of product data.
– Lower Costs: Optimized workflows eliminate redundancies and waste. Managing engineering changes centrally reduces costs of additional design iterations and rework.
– Higher Quality: Better tracking of requirements, designs and manufacturing helps improve product quality and reliability through the lifecycle.
– Compliance Management: PLM supports compliance with industry standards and regulations by enforcing processes and managing certification documentation.
– Knowledge Reuse: Lessons learned and best practices are documented for future reference and application to new products through effective management of product knowledge base.
Stages of PLM Implementation
Successful PLM implementation requires careful planning and execution of various stages:
Assessment of Current Processes and Systems: Audit the as-is state to understand gaps, pain points, areas for improvement and integration needs with other systems.
Solution Selection: Evaluate different PLM platforms and select the one best suited to business objectives and IT infrastructure landscape. Key criteria are functionality, integration, costs and upgrade roadmap.
Implementation Planning: Detailed project plan is made covering scope, timelines, resources, change management and training requirements.
Data Migration: Legacy product data from various source systems is migrated to the PLM repository for a consolidated view.
Configuration and Customization: PLM platform is configured as per processes and requirements. Templates, workflows and rules are set up.
User Acceptance Testing: System is tested thoroughly by end users before going live.
Training and Change Management: Comprehensive training and communication ensures people are prepared for process changes with the new system.
Go-Live and Support:Product Lifecycle Management System is launched for ongoing operations. Continuous support and periodic upgrades are provided.
Post Implementation Review: Audit done to evaluate impact, ROI achieved and scope for further optimization. Feedback received for system and process enhancements.
Effective PLM implementation requires cross-functional collaboration and commitment at the leadership level. But when done right, it delivers immense value by transforming product innovation and business performance.
*Note:
1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it
