Product Lifecycle Management, PLM
PLM is product lifecycle management. The life cycle of products is a set of processes performed from the moment of identifying the needs of society for certain products to the moment of meeting these needs and utilization of the product.
The main stages of the product life cycle: design, production, technical operation, and utilization. On closer inspection, 11 to 13 stages of the product life cycle are distinguished:
- Marketing and market research (CRM).
- Product design and development (CAD, CAE, CAD, CAM, PDM, etc.).
- Planning and preparation of production (MES, PDM, etc.).
- The purchase of materials and components (SCM, PDM, etc.).
- The production or provision of services (automated control system, automated process control system, ERP, MRP, MRP II, SCM MES, PDM, etc.).
- Packaging and storage (WMS, PDM, etc.).
- Implementation (CRM, PDM, etc.).
- Installation and commissioning (CRM, PDM, etc.).
- Technical support and service (PDM).
- After-sales service (maintenance and repair), activity, or operation (PDM).
- Utilization and recycling (PDM).
Managing the life cycle processes of a product is a difficult task. A whole set of automated control systems is used to solve it. The abbreviations of some of them are given in parentheses after the name of a particular stage of the life cycle. Important functions of the PLM technology are the formation of an information space that is uniform for various automated systems used at the enterprise, the combination of methods and means of information support for products throughout all stages of the life cycle. The concept of PLM implies the provision of interaction not only of automation equipment of different manufacturers at one enterprise but also ensuring the interaction of various automated systems of many enterprises.
The use of the PLM concept in complex multi-operational production, characteristic of machine-building enterprises, becomes a prerequisite for improving the competitiveness of the enterprise. This concept allows tracking each batch (and if necessary, each copy) of products at all stages of the product life cycle, thereby improving the quality of products and customer satisfaction.
The IT-Enterprise PLM solution allows you to track each product at all stages of its life cycle, including at the stages of development of design documentation and preparation of production. Due to the fact that the PLM strategy is implemented within the ERP system, it becomes possible to calculate the possible cost of a new product even before the production preparatory stage.