SHREE VENKATESHWARA HI-TECH ENGINEERING COLLEGE, GOBICHETTIPALAYAM

CME344-PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT

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What Is Product Lifecycle Management

Product lifecycle management is the process of managing how and when products are presented
to the market, from development to growth, maturity and decline. PLM is used to develop strategy
and make decisions around your product portfolio. Product lifecycle management is used to
determine pricing strategy, marketing and promotions and selling strategy, as well as expansion
and discontinuation plans. It’s a complex process and involves technology to help you create,
capture, manage and leverage your products to help your business maximize profits.

PLM strategy is most effective when supported by robust ERP software. Because PLM includes
elements of product development, supply chain, customer relationship management (CRM) and
more, software that can integrate these functions into one complete system connects the
information from across the organization you need to improve processes.

Key Takeaways

▪ PLM is the process of creating and updating products and bringing them to market quickly.
It includes the manufacturing and marketing of the product.
▪ PLM brings together disparate sources of information, data and teams to work more
collaboratively and efficiently.
▪ PLM is a strategy to manage your business’s intellectual assets and leverage them not only
for process improvement, but competitive advantage.
▪ Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a key component. It’s used to collect and analyze
data from different areas of your business involved in the creation, manufacturing and
distribution of the product.

Product Lifecycle Management Explained

Most products are complex and are made up of many components, or raw materials that also
require assembly. The bill of materials (BOM) could be considered the recipe for your product. It
explains where materials will be purchased and how products will be put together. A common
misconception is that the BOM is the entirety of a product’s lifecycle. When in reality, it’s an
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important step in any product’s lifecycle, but there’s more to a product lifecycle. It doesn’t account
for other aspects like design, distribution, sales and more, which is where PLM comes in.

With the help of different ERP modules, such as inventory management and supply chain
management, you can centralize information and connect each of those other aspects of a product’s
lifecycle. The modules help to reduce redundant and labor-intensive work, provide access to real-
time and accurate data and bring everyone from conceptual design to product engineering and
customer relationship management together in one ecosystem. PLM is traditionally used by
manufacturers who employ designers, engineers, marketers and others and work with already
established products, as well as develop new products.

Why Do Companies Need PLM?

Complexity is a major concern for businesses. Between product design, supply chain management,
distribution and customer feedback, this complexity is only growing. And at the same time
growing global competition is driving prices down, regulations are constantly shifting and your
business needs quick-to-market, high quality products to turn a profit.

To succeed, consider each step of the process in a product’s lifecycle, how they relate to one
another and how to bring together the technology to manage each step of the way. Effective PLM
helps organizations capture knowledge proactively, encourages and facilitates teamwork and
provides easy access to knowledge, expertise and information across the organization to reduce
time to launch and accelerate go-to-market.

The Elements of Modern PLM

In addition to inception, design, engineering and manufacturing and other areas, PLM strategies
leverage insight from the marketplace to improve existing products and launch new merchandise.
There are important elements of PLM to consider, including the different stages of a product’s life
cycle. What are the five stages of product life cycle? Implementing information and
communication technology, mapping processes, managing production methods, improving
product innovation and speeding up commercialization.
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1. Implementing information and communication technology (ICT): All of the necessary

platforms, architecture and standards necessary for PLM make up ICT. The PLM process
would not be possible without it and the first step is to break down silos so data about your
products, including design, supply chain information, marketing and sales, are connected
and can be accessed in a single location.

2. Mapping processes: Map all of the people, teams and organizations needed in the lifecycle
of your products. Identify the skillsets needed for each step of the way. List key
stakeholders. Laying out the plan for how a new product will be designed, developed and
distributed and making it available to everyone involved helps clear confusion and make
PLM effective.

3. Managing production methods: Manage product development data and processes to

accelerate time to market while balancing cost, quality and compliance.

4. Improving product innovation: Build a pipeline of ideas that can be developed into
valuable offerings.

5. Speeding up commercialization: Find sticking points that are slowing development of

new products and place special emphasis on them to speed up time-to-market.
Standardizing parts and processes can help. As can developing relationships with
manufacturing and parts partners.

What Is the Product Lifecycle?

The product lifecycle starts with an idea. That idea undergoes research and market testing and may
be made into a product. That product then needs to be marketed and sold and eventually improved
upon for new iterations. What are the 4 phases of the product life cycle? Product development,
growth, maturity and decline.

1. Product development: The first step of the product lifecycle, this involves planning,
conceptual design, product and manufacturing engineering and simulation.
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2. Product growth: The product is released to market. Distribution ramps up, along with
marketing and sales. Ideally the demand increases. But that also means there will be
increased competition. This is the early stage of the product and you are still working on
brand and/or product recognition and market share.

3. Product maturity: Your product is now widely available. You may need to make
adjustments to packaging or adjust marketing to appeal to new segments.

4. Product decline: As competition increases, you may have passed peak demand. It might
be time to develop an exit strategy or reimagine the product to identify areas for
opportunity, including new markets or new iterations that bring improvements or can
inspire more excitement and demand for your product.

This line graph

depicts the product lifecycle over time, from development and growth to maturity and decline.

Other Definition
Example of a product in the introduction phase:

Most artificial intelligence (AI) products (for example, chatbots like chatGPt and Bard) are
currently in the introduction phase - while they've captured consumers' attention, they're yet to be
adopted by the market at large. However, there is a definite increase in consumer interest in such
products.
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Growth Stage

In this product life cycle stage, organizations no longer have to make consumers aware of the
product - it has been accepted by the market and typically, organizations should see an increase in
sales. In this life cycle stage, the focus is on increasing the market share and ramping up
distribution. Product growth is also the stage where product managers need to manage the market
competition. Thus, at this stage, product managers rely on customer feedback to manage customer
demand and product supply, introduce slight tweaks to the pricing or marketing strategy, and
essentially, take all necessary steps to improve product adoption.

Example of a product in the growth phase

Electric vehicles are currently in a growth stage. A novelty concept at one point, electric vehicles
are now being used increasingly for personal use, as well as a commercial product i.e., as cabs.
Consequently, there has also been an increase in electric chargers because electric vehicles and
chargers are concurrent products.

Maturity Stage

At this stage, product managers have a mature product in their hands. A mature product is a product
that has been widely accepted by the market. This is where sales start to plateau. Consequently,
marketing efforts are focused on product differentiation to drive growth and stand out from the
competition. At this stage, the focus is on catering to existing customers and improving customer
satisfaction. Thus, quality management and customer relationship management also becomes
extremely important for organizations during the product maturity stage.

Example of a product in the mature phase

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Most commonly used electronics, like smartphones or laptops, have now reached the maturity
stage. When organizations introduce new models, the focus is on the competitive advantage the
new product or service has to offer - better camera, improved battery life, etc.

Decline Stage

As product sales start declining over a period of time, PLM enters the decline phase. This is when
the organizations start losing market share and sales start declining. There can be multiple reasons
for this, from market saturation to increased competition, or changes in technology and consumer
habits.

Product decline is an inevitable stage for any product, no matter how innovative. PLM allows
organizations to develop a product life cycle strategy to effectively manage product decline. This
can be introducing additional product features to repurpose the product, developing marketing
strategies to tap into a new market segment,

In rare cases, organizations may even reduce product costs to beat the competition and/or clear the
inventory before removing the product from the market.

Product Lifecycle Examples

Let’s take fictional company Dog Cone through the product lifecycle stages.

1. Product development: The idea for a new, healthy ice cream treat for dogs leads to the
creation of the Dog Cone company. The product is designed, tested and goes through
regulatory controls. By aligning all of the teams, from supply chain to manufacturing and
marketing, Dog Cone is able to create, source and distribute the new dog treat efficiently.
The product rolls out at just a few strategic boutique pet shops in key influencer markets.

2. Product growth: More pet stores, including chains, begin to carry the Dog Cone treats.
Updated packaging is rolled out and marketing continues to find new distributors.
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3. Product maturity: New competitors have entered the market with similar products, and
peak demand is reached. To stay competitive, Dog Cone introduces new flavors, varying
sizes and exciting new packaging.

4. Product decline: With increasing competition and market saturation, Dog Cone takes
lessons learned to expand its business. PLM helps keep the Dog Cone team aligned. The
supply chain benefits from standardizing procurement. Planning, conceptual design,
product and manufacturing engineering all benefit from continuous learning and software
integration.

Product Lifecycle Management Stages

Another way of looking at the product lifecycle is beginning, middle and end. By establishing the
processes and clearly communicating each step of the way, you can help coordinate efforts and
minimize wasted efforts. Learn more about the three different stages:

▪ Beginning of life: Starting with concepting and development, this phase includes planning,
design and manufacturing engineering. Marketing and promotion ramp up and the focus of
getting product to the consumer starts.

▪ Middle of life: Congratulations, your product has been manufactured and is now being
used by your customer. You’ll start to improve production and distribution processes,
gather feedback from consumers and track things like maintenance rates.

▪ End of life: The market may have become saturated. Or perhaps your product is now
obsolete. It’s time to plan your production end to avoid wasting stock. Another option is
to examine ways to reinvigorate your product through iterations, redesigns or find other
ways to stay relevant.
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This graphic shows the product lifecycle management stages progressing from the beginning
to the middle and end of life.

Benefits of Product Lifecycle Management

There is a direct tie between information integrity and the effectiveness of an organization, or its
ability to respond to a problem. About half of product development and commercialization
resources are wasted, and a whopping 90% of companies are slow to market and over budget.

PLM enables your organization to manage the information so that it’s clear, concise and valid.
With accurate data and better collaboration, companies can get product to market faster, ramp-up
to full production more quickly, capture more market share, price products accurately to continue
to deepen market penetration and find ideas for new products and functionality.

In sum, PLM allows businesses to save money and get to market faster by:

▪ Managing information all in one place

▪ Keeping data accurate
▪ Collaborating more easily
▪ Getting to full production faster
▪ Capturing more market share
▪ Pricing accurately
▪ Finding new ideas for functionality and product
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Challenges in Product Lifecycle Management

In trying to accommodate more complex product development processes, organizations struggle

with disconnected systems, processes and departments, as well as issues with data quality and
frequent engineering change orders. Disparate software systems can drive up costs because of
inefficiencies and slow product commercialization.

To summarize, some of the biggest PLM challenges include…

▪ Disconnected systems, processes and departments

▪ Poor quality data
▪ Frequent change orders
▪ Increased inefficiencies with separate tools
To overcome these and other challenges, eliminate data and information silos with comprehensive
ERP software that includes modules for supply chain, manufacturing and other teams. Other
helpful tools include setting enterprise-wide metrics and goals and adding end-to-end process
owners to decrease handoffs between teams. Getting top-level buy-in from the outset can also help
with the implementation of new or changing policies and software.

Measuring & Evaluating Product Lifecycle Management

One of the benefits of PLM is bringing together traditionally siloed teams to be more unified and
work toward common goals, financial metrics and other key performance indicators.

Product Lifecycle Management Metrics

Here are some metrics to help measure the effectiveness of your PLM efforts:

▪ Team productivity: Productivity across the board should increase with better
collaboration and information.

▪ Quality of output: Strong PLM reduces process waste and improves product quality
including improved first-pass yield, or how many units are produced without defects.

▪ Time-to-market efficiency: PLM helps organizations hit product launch target dates by
standardizing processes and centralizing information to improve efficiency.
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▪ Product development budgets: Improved efficiency with integrated ERP software

modules cuts down on labor-intensive processes and make your teams more efficient. This
helps control costs.

▪ Revenue from new products: High quality PLM results in better quality products that get
to market faster, driving up revenue.

▪ Cycle time: Track the time it takes to develop and deploy new products. Include everything
from design to testing and marketing.

▪ Product life: How long is the product used by customers? Compare that to historical data
and benchmark for future efforts.

▪ Product waste: Examine how much waste is generated per product developed.

▪ Product reliability and warranty claims: How durable are your products? Look at how
many are found to be flawed or faulty, and track the number of warranty claims per product
sold.

History of Product Lifecycle Management

Having a single repository of data to enhance productivity was the aim of the first PLM when it
was created in the American automotive industry in the 1980s. As cars became increasingly
complex, manufacturing processes and costs were rising, making it difficult for smaller
automakers to stay relevant. American Motor Company, the makers of Jeep, centralized their data
and computer aided design (CAD) as a first step in creating PLM.

In the automotive industry, a major benefit of having a central repository was that elaborate
engineering work could be completed once and used for various models with similar attributes.
The whole supply chain benefited from this design because the procurement of parts could be
standardized.
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From early roots in managing product data, PLM capabilities have grown to include quality
systems, sourcing, project and portfolio management, customer resource management, analytics
and aftersales service.

Engineering Data Management

What is Engineering Data Management?

As a product moves through its lifecycle, from concept to manufacture, it amasses an ocean of data
along the way: part numbers, descriptions, drawings, material sheets, supplier/vendor information
with multiple version on each iteration.

Engineering Data Management (EDM) is the practice of consciously creating a systematic

framework for taming the data-ocean that goes into building just about anything.

1. Map your processes

Map every stage the product will go through.

If you’re going to organise your engineering data, you’ll have to capture it first. Identify each step
the product goes through on its journey from idea to reality. Everything from initial concept to the
moment it reaches the factory floor.

2. Assign responsibility

Identify who’s in charge of every step.

Assign a point of contact for each stage of the lifecycle. Whether it’s the department head, or a
team leader, the important thing is that there is one person who takes responsibility for capturing
the data in their area. This way you won’t have to chase five different people for one document.

3. Capture data

Collect all the information you can.

You can anticipate what data you’ll need in the future, but you won’t be able to accurately predict
it. Capture every single data point you can at each step: the documents, drawings and component
information, brand name, part number, description. Even the metadata is crucial: who created it,
when, what it is, why it exists, when it was last modified. You never know when you’ll need it.
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4. Define nomenclature

Create a standard way of labelling files.

Allowing everyone to name files in their own individual way is a recipe for confusion. Establishing
a common standard makes it easy to establish what the file is, what it’s for, and how current it is.

5. Centralise storage

Keep everything in a single, secure location.

When everyone’s working from their own local drive it’s easy to miss an update from someone
else. Keeping everything in one place helps avoid duplicated work and creates a convenient, single
source of truth.

6. Share documentation

Educate everyone on data management.

The success of engineering data management depends entirely on everybody in the organisation
following the same guidelines. Maintain a set of standards for everybody to follow and make sure
that everyone has access to this document for easy reference.

7. Collaborate

Use data management processes to work together better.

Having all your data in one place, with a standardised structure, makes it easier for people to work
together across teams. With your data centralised and organised, any questions can be put to the
person best placed to answer them rather than whoever’s closest. Just ensure your guidelines
include only one individual working on a document at a time, and your system sends alerts
whenever a file is updated.

PRODUCT DATA MANAGEMENT

What is product data management (PDM)?

Product data management (PDM) is the process of capturing and managing the electronic
information related to a product so it can be reused in business processes such as design,
production, distribution and marketing. It usually involves the use of a dedicated software
application and centralized database.
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What does PDM include?

PDM typically encompasses multiple products' technical specifications, engineering models,

design drawings, bills of materials and related documents. PDM software provides version control
and security to ensure that the information stored in the central repository is accurate and up to
date, which in turn can reduce data processing and make operations, such as manufacturing, more
efficient.

While engineers are typically the heaviest users, PDM is also employed by operations managers,
salespeople, marketers and others who work with a product throughout its lifecycle.

PDM vs. PLM

PDM is a precursor and major component of product lifecycle management (PLM), a broader
strategy for managing and collaborating around product information. PDM sprung from the
computer-aided design (CAD) industry as a way to track CAD drawings and information.
While PDM is a standard component of PLM, it is also offered as a dedicated module in many
enterprise resource planning suites.

What is Product Data Management (PDM)?

The definition of product data management is a system for recording and managing design and
engineering files, like computer-aided design (CAD) files, design drawings, engineering models,
technical specs, manufacturing requirements, and bills of materials.

PDM can also refer to an organization’s more general system for collecting, storing, managing,
and sharing data. It allows information to be passed easily from engineers and designers to
production, distribution, sales, and marketing teams.

If you develop or manage products, you know there’s a wide variety of data involved: safety and
sizing information, shipping times, SKUs, visual assets. When your products need to conform to
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very precise measurements and specifications, it’s even more important to have detailed, accurate
information like pressure, voltage, and temperature-resistance specs. Ensuring your products meet
measurement standards can be the difference between a usable, profitable product and a dud.

For many manufacturers and retailers, PDM is vital to building an effective digital ecosystem. But
do you need product data management software?

Benefits of Product Data Management Software

Are you drowning in data? Awash in information? Product data management software can help
you organize and distribute it, which has tons of benefits for your business, including:

Improved collaboration. Effective PDM means that every department is always working from the
latest information. Sales, marketing, product management, engineering, and quality assurance can
be sure they’re referencing the right version, from development to procurement, improving
collaboration, streamlining workflow, and breaking down silos.

Fewer errors. When you’re able to track every iteration of a product, you can reduce errors while
creating better designs. Engineers won’t repeat tasks that have already been done or make the same
mistakes that others have made. Then, the correct information will be input in your product
information management (PIM) system, so sales and marketing know exactly what they should be
talking about.

Greater efficiency. When your teams are collaborating and making fewer mistakes, it’s easy to see
how PDM can improve productivity. You can find the correct data, faster. You can communicate
changes to your team in minutes. You can reduce your cycle time and improve supply chain
orchestration. Ultimately, you can optimize your resources and reveal new efficiencies.
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Better customer experience. The link between product experience and customer experience is
undeniable. You need to have the right data about your products so that you can communicate it
clearly on your website and in your catalogs. It’s that simple: effective product data
management leads to a great customer experience.

Major Components of PDM Systems

Product data management definitions vary based on industry and product type, but most PDM
software tools have several major components in common. If you’re in the market for PDM
software, you should look for:

File management. Product teams and engineers work with a huge number of files—and those files
are large, up to 50 MB or even more than a gigabyte. It takes a powerful software to be able to
organize and manage so much data, but that’s what PDM was made for.

Change orders and Bills of Materials (BOM). If you have a lot of stakeholders and input, keeping
track of change orders can be a headache. And when you generate Bills of Materials at the end of
a project, you need to be sure they’re correct. Product data management software can help with
both of these processes.

Collaboration tools. Collaboration is a big benefit of PDM, and many systems come with
additional tools you can use to share your work. Getting direct feedback within the same software
you use for revisions and version control can streamline the process even further.

Role management and access privileges. One big piece of the definition of product data
management is security: You need to protect your intellectual property rights. PDM software
allows you to do that by managing the roles and access privileges of users so they don’t see more
than they should.
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What is the difference between PDM and PLM?

Product data management software collects and organizes data during the development phase,
while product lifecycle management (PLM) software ensures that data is continuously updated
throughout the remaining phases of its lifecycle.

The product data from a PDM system provides the foundation for PLM by creating a single source
of data for synchronization across ERP, PIM, and eCommerce systems.

As the product leaves the development cycle and enters the marketplace, the initial data migrates
from the PDM to the PLM. From there, it’s updated throughout the lifecycle and helps inform
continued product development and strategy.

While there is a difference between PDM and PLM, the real question is which one you need. PDM
is typically used during the design and engineering phases, while PLM tracks a broad range of
information, including inventory, application code, sourcing, and distribution.

Can PDM alone meet your needs? Or do you need to orchestrate more complicated relationships?

COLLABORATIVE PRODUCT DEFINITION MANAGEMENT

Collaborative product development (collaborative product design) (CPD) is a business strategy,

work process and collection of software applications that facilitates different organizations to work
together on the development of a product. It is also known as collaborative product definition
management (cPDM)
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Collaborative Product Definition Management or Collaborative Product Development

Management (CPDM) Market is expected to witness high growth in the forecasted period owing
to the increasing awareness among individuals or organizations to reduce cost and time through
Product Lifecycle Management. It is basically a business strategy that collects software
applications that allow different organizations to work together on developing a product. It helps
companies or individual users to view, manage and share the Computer-Aided Design projects
without incurring much cost and complexity in purchasing an entire Product Lifecycle
Management (PLM) solution.

PLM is a strategic business approach that applies a consistent set of business solutions to help the
collaborative creation, management, and dissemination across the extended enterprise from the
concept to the end of life. CPDM also allows the organization to maintain system architecture,
deployment of security mechanism, and prototype development and enables them in forming a
collaborative architecture, shared resources, and shared team spaces to work together as virtual
teams.

CPDM help in effective product data management, collaborative product commerce, collaborative
product visualization, effective integration of CPDM with enterprise applications, and supplier
relationship management. Its solutions assist in manufacturing and production processes for
efficient business operations. Ultimately, it helps in bringing innovative and profitable products
that enable in evolving the e-business web-based environment.

CPC (Collaborative Product Commerce)

Collaborative product commerce (CPC) describes an e-business strategy that uses new web-
based commerce opportunities throughout the product development and product life cycle
processes. CPC is often comprised of a collection or suite of web-based software and services.
Enterprises and SMBs can collaborate more easily in product design, creation, development, and
production by using a CPC suite.