Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is a strategic concept for managing a product throughout its lifecycle – i.e. from design through production to disposal, related services such as creation of technical documentation included.

PDM (Product Data Management) and EDM (Engineering Data Management) cover an important part, but are mostly limited to the conception and design phase. The PLM idea is dedicated to the entire lifecycle of a product.

Product Lifecycle Management aims at supporting the creation, editing and provision of all necessary data for all relevant processes while using only one common data source. Therefore, PLM influences the entire knowledge management of a company, creates synergies that save time and money and increase quality, which surely is a competitive advantage.

When PLM is applied for the German Federal Armed Forces, special requirements must be taken care of. For more details, please refer to: PLM and the Armed Forces.