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In today's crowded market, countless products launch daily, but only a few succeed while the rest fail to sustain and grow.
A lack of sufficient funding, inadequate marketing efforts, and poor timing are reasons these products struggle. Fortunately, these fundamental issues can be addressed using product lifecycle management (PLM).
PLM has become increasingly popular across industries, including manufacturing, consumer electronics, and packaged goods. By using product lifecycle management software, businesses can enhance their product development, reduce costs, and improve their time to market.
Product lifecycle management refers to overseeing a product as it moves through the various stages of its life, from ideation to disposal. The concept informs business decision-making.
Organizations must thoroughly understand PLM because it can help them make better decisions and improve their overall operations. In this article, we explore PLM's history, key features, and benefits. By the end, you’ll better understand PLM and its importance in today's business world.
Building a product is a complex process that involves several stages: ideation, product design, development, testing, production, and product marketing. For a successful product launch, these processes need to run in sync. This is where PLM comes in.
PLM allows teams to share and access information across the organization so everyone knows where everyone else stands. Teams like engineering, marketing, sales, and supply chain can collaborate to develop and launch products that meet consumer demands. By making the entire process transparent, PLM reduces the likelihood of product defects, which are costly to repair later and damaging to a company’s reputation.
PLM software is a valuable investment for companies that want to simplify their product development process, optimize their supply chains, and launch high-quality products quickly and efficiently. Businesses feel empowered to make data-driven decisions and respond to market demands more effectively, giving them a competitive edge in their industry.
The PLM process consists of several stages, each of which is critical to ensuring the product's success in the marketplace:
The idea development phase includes loads of brainstorming sessions when teams get together to discuss and generate new product ideas. This step goes through understanding consumer requirements, market research, competitor analysis, and road mapping for the project. The step-by-step process helps organize the process and breaks significant responsibilities into smaller, more trackable tasks.
Once an idea has been finalized, the next stage is designing the product. This is the prototyping stage when your team must conduct in-depth research to determine specifications and construct the product. The early stages can include steps as simple as using design software to create the product's look and test its functionality. Your prototypes can help you identify problem areas or ideation defects before you make the product.
Your product design may look great in drawings, but you have to manufacture it with actual materials to make your vision real. Getting manufacturing correctly on the first try is undoubtedly one of the biggest challenges for any business. This is why many companies are replacing outdated legacy systems with cloud-based PLM software. The growing adoption of cloud-based PLM software is a testament to the crucial role of software in manufacturing.
Some significant decisions need to be made in this phase, such as raw materials and a number of products. Say you’re building a physical product. In that case, you need to know about the materials you can make it with. This process is often complex and requires much commitment and attention to detail. Errors or mistakes in this phase can cost money.
A product launch is an important event as it marks the debut of a new product. It builds anticipation for the product, provides an opportunity to gather valuable feedback from early users, and creates industry recognition for the company.
During the growth stage, the product gains traction and experiences a significant increase in sales as it becomes more recognized and accepted by customers. Companies with developments in this stage focus on expanding distribution channels, ramping production to meet demand, and investing in marketing and advertising to further promote the product and maintain momentum. Companies must continue innovating and adapting to changing market conditions to sustain and grow.
The maturity stage is when the product's growth slows down and reaches maximum market penetration. Companies focus on extending the product life cycle and maintaining market share and profitability. Most offer promotions and discounts or find new uses for the product. Product quality or rebranding improvements are also the focus in this stage.
As competitive pressures increase during maturity, companies must differentiate their product to remain relevant. New products and pricing pressure from competitors can make this difficult. It's important for companies to prepare for the eventual decline of the product while finding ways to extend its life cycle.
In the decline stage, the product experiences a drop in sales and demand as it becomes outdated, loses its appeal to consumers, or gets replaced by newer products or services. Companies must assess whether to continue investing in the development, phase it out gradually, or discontinue it entirely. They can use insights from this stage to create and market new products and services that meet consumers' current needs. By doing so, companies can remain competitive and grow, even as some products move out of fashion.
Product lifecycle management started as a paper-based system but has evolved into a cloud-based platform used by most industries. Before PLM, product development was complex and unstructured, with each department working independently and producing results only suitable for their team.
Poor communication and lack of integration created an inefficient process. PLM solved these problems by offering a centralized system to manage product data and facilitate department collaboration. This simplified and expedited product development, reduced time-to-market, and improved overall quality.
In 1957, Oliver R. Jones wrote a report on managing the entire product lifecycle and calling for a new product development approach. Although Jones didn’t specifically use the term "product lifecycle management," his ideas laid the foundation for the concept.
The birth of computer-aided design (CAD) and other digital technologies in the 1990s made PLM more comprehensive and sophisticated.
In 1985, American Motors Corporation recorded one of the first applications of PLM. They used it to speed up the development process of the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Today, PLM is a critical tool for companies in various industries, such as aerospace, automotive, consumer goods, and healthcare. It’s become essential to digital transformation initiatives as companies employ digital technologies to improve their products and services.
Modern PLM is a holistic approach to product development that involves coordinating people, data, processes, and systems to optimize the product's performance, quality, and cost-effectiveness.
Modern PLM includes several key elements:
Implementing PLM can bring significant benefits to your business.
Although implementing PLM has numerous benefits, it also poses some challenges.
As competition intensifies, businesses must launch products quickly, attract top talent, and produce high-quality products to stay ahead.
Adopting PLM strategies can help organizations meet these demands efficiently, but investing in the right technology is crucial to effectively managing the product development process. Organizations can improve their product development process by including modern elements in their PLM strategy, improving team collaboration, and making informed decisions based on data insights.
In the coming years, PLM is expected to be characterized by cloud-based systems, integration with enterprise systems, and a focus on sustainability. These developments will significantly boost efficiency in product development.
PLM software integrates all organization information into a single platform and helps dispersed teams manage data and interconnected processes.
Many factors contribute to choosing the correct PLM software system, but to be included in this category, the software must:
*Below are the top 5 leading product lifecycle management software solutions from G2’s Spring 2023 Grid® Report. Some reviews may be edited for clarity.
Teamcenter by Siemens is a leading choice in product lifecycle management. It provides visibility to distributed teams and helps users plan, develop, and deliver innovative products by optimizing processes for designs, systems, software, simulation, and visualization. Start-ups and large enterprises across most industries trust Teamcenter's ability to improve product development and launch.
"I have been using Teamcenter for the past three years and have found its user-friendly interface to be a valuable asset in simplifying product lifecycle management for my company. With highly structured change management capabilities, we can easily track and manage changes to our products, assign tasks, and approve drawings. Our team also relies on Teamcenter for tasks such as bill of material (BOM) creation, engineering change requests, change management, and simulation management. Documenting drawing revisions with all necessary details is also made easier through Teamcenter, especially in response to change requests."
- Teamcenter Review, Subhair S.
"Opening complex and huge models requires a large amount of RAM. If you click the open button for a large model and it starts to freeze, it becomes difficult to take measurements due to the challenging selection of points or curves. This can lead to Teamcenter freezing or even collapsing, requiring the entire model to be reopened."
- Teamcenter Review, Saravanan A.
Arena PLM & QMS brings together data and teams on a single cloud platform to enhance collaboration and accelerate product development. It eliminates common product development barriers and helps avoid product launch delays.
"Arena is a user-friendly, cloud-based platform that can house all your data in one place and allow you to access it easily without any IT overhead! You can customize your workflows and create different custom templates. BOM functionality with various viewing options makes it easy to understand, and the redline view helps review Engineering change order (ECO) changes. Arena’s help feature is robust, and the customer support team is excellent and very quick to respond with solutions/suggestions."
- Arena PLM & QMS Review, Vijay P.
"Integration with other systems can be complicated and requires detailed customization to meet application programming interfaces. Some rigid approval rules in requests and I would like to see more flexibility/automation."
- Arena PLM & QMS Review, Brian M.
Autodesk Fusion 360 Manage with Upchain is a cloud-based platform that provides businesses with a centralized location for managing product development. You can use it to create complex workflows and improve collaboration. Its focus on automation reduces time to market and creates high-quality products.
"Autodesk Fusion 360 is a powerful 3D CAD/CAM software for designing and manufacturing products. When used with Upchain, it provides a platform for managing product data and workflows across the entire product lifecycle. It improves collaboration and communication between teams. Overall, it provides a comprehensive solution that can streamline processes, improve collaboration, and ensure the accuracy and consistency of product data throughout the entire product lifecycle."
- Autodesk Fusion 360 Manage with Upchain Review, Abhishek R.
"Autodesk Fusion 360 has a steep learning curve, occasional stability issues, and some limited features. Its cloud-based platform can result in slower performance."
- Autodesk Fusion 360 Manage with Upchain Review, Sumit S.
PTC Windchill supports product devolvement by providing built-in security, interoperability, and automation features. It helps businesses manage complex products from start to end by allowing them to make data-driven decisions throughout the cycle and providing a comprehensive view of a product's lifecycle.
"I have been using PTC Windchill for four years at our company, which has made product lifecycle management simple and easy for us. We use this software for tasks such as creating a BOM, checking-in and checking-out of CAD data, design documents, process management, and design generation. The software's customizable, user-friendly interface is its best feature. We can easily handle engineering change requests (ECR) and engineering change notices (ECN), and it integrates well with PTC Creo. Product data can easily be accessed from any department within the organization. Drawing revisions is easy, and the software notifies all users in the loop of the changes made."
- PTC Windchill Review, Subhair S.
"Compared to other product management solutions, the price of PTC Windchill Premium is higher. Creating Windchill technology (WT) parts is necessary to create Windchill BOM, which can be considered an additional time-consuming task. Customer service needs improvement, as the response time for queries is very poor."
- PTC Windchill Review, Harmeet S.
OpenBOM is an advanced PLM platform that enables efficient product data management while fostering connections between manufacturers and supply chain networks. OpenBOM allows you to easily manage CAD files, catalogs, documents, BOM, and vendors in one platform. By streamlining the various silos of data within your organization, OpenBOM facilitates connected processes, improving efficiency.
"I love how OpenBOM puts a wealth of information at my disposal. The catalog feature lets me easily view parts, photos, vendor details, costs, quantity-on-hand, CAD files, and more for a specific product. The platform's high customization level also means I can tailor my experience to each project's unique needs. Although numerous features are available, I've found it intuitive to navigate. I look forward to learning how to better utilize the capabilities in OpenBOM."
- OpenBOM Review, Suzanne H.
"Some users may find OpenBOM's reporting capabilities limited, requiring data export to external reporting tools for more advanced reporting needs. While the platform offers customization options for BOMs, some users may find them restrictive when customizing the platform to fit their unique workflows."
- OpenBOM Review, Eduardo M.
Implementing an effective product lifecycle management process is key to driving business success. It enables distributed teams within a company to collaborate more effectively to generate ideas and bring them to fruition.
With PLM solutions, businesses simplify the development and production of complex products by collecting, organizing, and analyzing large amounts of data and processes involved in making these products.
Using an effective PLM solution can reduce infrastructure costs, improve operational efficiency, enhance product quality, and accelerate time to market.
Looking to optimize your software product development process? Explore the top product management software solutions available.
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