What is product lifecycle management (PLM)?

Product lifecycle management (PLM) aligns people, data, and processes so your best ideas move smoothly from imagination to reality.
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Whether it’s a pair of sneakers or a component for a satellite, every manufactured product is actually the culmination of thousands of small decisions made by hundreds of different people. Each item is its own little story, written collaboratively across engineering desks, production floors, and conference rooms. But without the right approach, the narrative can quickly become jumbled, inconsistent, and full of costly mistakes. That’s the power of product lifecycle management (PLM): It provides a unified space where all these product decisions come together. PLM aligns teams, streamlines collaboration, and gives clarity at every step of the journey – from the first spark of inspiration through to final product delivery and beyond. Ultimately, PLM helps companies not just create products, but craft coherent, compelling stories that resonate with customers, reduce complexity, and inspire lasting success.

PLM meaning and definition

Product lifecycle management (PLM) is the process of managing a product through every stage of its lifecycle – from initial concept and design, through manufacturing and usage, to final disposal. It integrates data, processes, and people involved, ensuring seamless collaboration and efficient product development.

Key phases of product lifecycle management

Manufactured items go through several distinct stages and PLM provides essential oversight at each step, keeping everything running smoothly. The key phases include:
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Ideation and concept

Teams investigate consumer preferences, market demands, and rival products. They establish precise product requirements and evaluate viability. This is the starting point for transforming early ideas into future plans.
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Design and development

This is where concepts take on a physical form. Engineers develop prototypes and designs – conducting tests and making modifications in response to input. PLM systems ensure that each revision is meticulously tracked.
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Production and launch

This phase includes maintenance, customer service, updates, and user feedback. By capturing information here, the PLM helps your teams to address any issues with speed and care, and to inform improvements for the next product generation.
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Retirement and end of life

During this phase, companies manage remaining inventory, offer replacements or upgrades, and handle recycling or disposal. By providing insights into the product history, PLM makes this simpler and more environmentally responsible.
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What is PLM software?

PLM software is the technological foundation for the many processes within product lifecycle management. It’s the place where people and information intersect, to bring your products to life. PLM software:

  • Centralises product data: PLM software serves as a unified hub for all product-related information. Engineers can access precise measurements quickly, designers can retrieve the specs they need, and suppliers can view exact part requirements. This eliminates outdated files or conflicting information and prevents costly mistakes.
  • Connects cross-functional workflows: PLM software lets your teams manage workflows from end to end. When an engineering change is finalised, procurement gets automatic alerts to order necessary components, and manufacturing teams receive updated assembly plans, ensuring everyone knows precisely what the next step will be.
  • Facilitates collaboration: If you want effective product development, you need smooth collaboration. PLM software invites all stakeholders – including internal departments and external suppliers – to work together early and often. Teams share ideas, review designs, and incorporate feedback within the system, preventing late-stage surprises and costly delays.
  • Ensures traceability and compliance: Every decision, change, or approval made within a PLM system is carefully documented. This audit trail is invaluable, especially for companies in highly regulated industries like aerospace. If compliance issues arise, teams can quickly identify exactly what changed, when, and why – simplifying audits and improving overall accountability.

Core components and capabilities of PLM software

While each organisation will tailor its PLM software system differently, the following core components are typically included:

Product data management (PDM)

Think of PDM as an accessible library in which is organised all product data – from CAD models to drawings, parts lists, BOMs (Bills of Materials), and more. This centralisation ensures that the right people can find the exact files they need. And that they’re always accessing the most recent version. No more accidental mix-ups or outdated documents.

Change management

Products naturally evolve as they move through their lifecycle, and PLM includes structured processes for managing these changes. Whether it's a simple material substitution or a significant redesign, the system tracks each proposed change. When all the teams involved can review the changes before they’re finalised, this ensures clear approval processes and avoids costly mistakes or missed steps.

Process workflows

PLM solutions incorporate workflow engines that guide teams through best-practise processes such as new product introductions or regulatory approvals. This gives you confidence that every critical step, required safety cheques, and quality inspection has been consistently followed – keeping projects on schedule and compliant with industry standards.

Collaboration and communication tools

Effective collaboration is central to product success, so PLM solutions often feature built-in communication tools. These can range from project discussion boards to real-time activity streams. This encourages stakeholders across departments – and even external partners or suppliers – to engage earlier and more openly, reducing delays and increasing alignment.

Integration with other systems

To truly streamline operations, PLM solutions integrate seamlessly with other enterprise systems like ERP (enterprise resource planning), MES (manufacturing execution systems), and CRM (customer relationship management). This integration allows, for example, a finalised product design in PLM to automatically update procurement details in the ERP system. It keeps everyone working from a single, accurate set of data.

Analytics and reporting

PLM collects vast amounts of data throughout a product’s lifecycle. Advanced analytics and reporting capabilities make sense of this information, turning it into actionable insights. Dashboards track progress, highlight potential bottlenecks, and provide historical data to improve future decision-making. Emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, even enable PLM systems to proactively suggest improvements based on past performance.

PLM vs. ERP vs. MES: How they fit together

While exploring PLM, you might also hear about enterprise resource planning (ERP) and manufacturing execution systems (MES). These three systems each serve distinct roles but work closely together.

  • PLM focuses specifically on managing the entire end-to-end lifecycle of a product. It organises product-related data, tracks changes, ensures compliance, and supports cross-departmental collaboration.
  • Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have a broader scope. ERP software manages overall business operations like finances, procurement, inventory, and human resources. It takes product data from PLM and uses it to schedule production, purchase materials, and manage resources effectively.
  • Manufacturing execution systems (MES) operate specifically on the manufacturing floor. MES controls real-time production activities, tracks quality, and manages detailed manufacturing data. It ensures products are built correctly, efficiently, and traceably.

How they work together:

  • PLM → ERP: PLM provides detailed product data and designs to ERP
  • ERP → MES: ERP schedules and dispatches production orders to MES
  • MES → ERP and PLM: MES feeds real-time manufacturing data back to ERP (for inventory updates) and to PLM (for ongoing design improvements)

In short, PLM defines what needs to be made, ERP plans when and how to make it, and MES ensures it's built correctly on the shop floor. Together, these systems create an efficient, integrated product lifecycle from start to finish.

Some of the key benefits associated with PLM adoption include:

Faster time-to-market

PLM software accelerates the flow of information and decision-making, helping you avoid delays. With centralised data and clear procedures, teams spend less time waiting for information and more time moving projects forward.

Improved collaboration

PLM brings together cross-functional teams from many departments into a single system. With everyone accessing the same up-to-date information, miscommunication decreases, collaboration becomes easier, and projects run smoothly.

Enhanced product quality

PLM systems reduce mistakes through rigorous version control, detailed change tracking, and early visibility into product designs. Issues can be caught and corrected early on, before any costly mistakes have been made in production.

Cost reduction

Product lifecycle management software lowers costs by minimising rework, eliminating redundant tasks, and letting teams reuse existing designs and components. When production issues are transparent, they get solved faster, reducing the cost and impact of corrections.

Compliance and risk mitigation

Acting as a safeguard for industries with stringent regulations, PLM provides a traceable record of all changes. This simplifies reporting, ensures adherence to industry standards, and lowers the risk of compliance failures.

Improved innovation and decision-making

AI-enhanced PLM systems transform large volumes of product data into actionable insights, enabling teams to identify emerging trends, accelerate innovation, and drive smarter strategic planning across the product lifecycle.
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Challenges addressed by PLM systems

Back in the 1900s, Henry Ford said that if you ask people what they want, they won’t say cars, they’ll say faster horses. When it comes to innovation and new technologies, there’s always a bit of resistance to change – even if those changes will make everyone’s lives a whole lot easier in the long run. So it is with digital tools like PLM.

What can be learnt from the most successful companies over the past 50 years is that it’s important to manage technological change with openness and clarity. Don’t spring new systems on your people overnight. Don’t forget to take wise counsel from the shop floor – not just the C-suite. Don’t leave communication and change management as an afterthought. Get out in front of digital transformations. Show your teams hands-on, concrete examples of how PLM solutions can help them with everyday tasks. Demonstrate the real-time features with actual test runs. Set an example with a top-down commitment to training, listening, and establishing a concise and transparent rollout plan.

Examples of PLM for specific industries

While the fundamental principles of PLM apply across the board, each industry has unique challenges and will have different priorities for their PLM usage:
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Automotive

Automotive companies deal with thousands of parts, complex configurations, and rigorous safety regulations. PLM helps by centralising product data and streamlining collaboration between engineering and suppliers. This leads to more precise configuration management, speeds up innovation, ensures quality, and reduces recalls.
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Fashion

Fashion brands must design and produce seasonal products quickly while also managing hundreds of styles and global supplier networks. PLM centralises design specifications, streamlines sample approvals, manages sourcing, and makes for clear communication with suppliers. This helps fashion companies bring trendy collections to market with fewer mistakes.
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Food and beverage

Food and beverage firms juggle tight margins, fast-changing consumer tastes, and strict compliance around ingredients and packaging. PLM simplifies formula management, helps teams evaluate new recipes rapidly, and makes sure that every ingredient meets regulatory standards. As tastes evolve, companies can launch new products swiftly and confidently.
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Industrial manufacturing

Manufacturers create custom, highly engineered products often involving complex components and variants. PLM connects engineering, production, and procurement on a unified platform. This drives more efficient reuse of proven designs and more accurate production instructions – reducing errors and speeding up delivery of reliable, high-quality products.
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Aerospace and defense

In aerospace and defence, products must meet some of the world’s strictest safety standards. This can involve thousands of precise components, and last decades. PLM provides comprehensive change tracking, rigorous configuration management, and secure collaboration across global teams. This means strict compliance, safety, and accurate long-term maintenance.
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Healthcare

Healthcare companies face intensive regulations, extensive documentation requirements, and stringent safety measures. PLM supports precise traceability, automates regulatory documentation, and manages rigorous testing processes. This makes meeting compliance standards simpler and significantly accelerates regulatory approval timelines.

Today’s smartest PLM solutions

With the speed of advancement in AI and machine learning, and the growing ubiquity of cloud-based solutions, PLM – like all enterprise software – is advancing at a rapid pace.

  • Cloud-based PLM: Traditionally, PLM software has lived on local servers within companies. But now there's a total shift toward cloud-based solutions. Cloud PLM offers easier scalability, lower upfront costs, and quicker updates, making it accessible to companies of all sizes. With teams increasingly remote and globally dispersed, cloud solutions ensure seamless collaboration, anytime and anywhere.
  • Integration with IoT and digital twins: As products become smarter and connected through the Internet of Things (IoT), PLM is leveraging this trend by integrating real-time data from devices in the field. This gives rise to "digital twins" – virtual replicas of physical products that update continuously with real-world performance data. Teams can proactively monitor performance, test new ideas virtually, and even predict when maintenance will be needed.
  • Artificial intelligence and automation: AI-powered PLM systems introduce intelligent features that help teams work smarter. Machine learning algorithms can predict potential bottlenecks, suggest design improvements based on historical data, or automate routine tasks like data entry or standard approvals. By reducing manual workload, smart systems let product teams focus on innovation rather than repetitive tasks.
  • Sustainability as a core focus: Today, sustainability isn't just a nice-to-have – it's a critical business priority. PLM systems increasingly help companies design greener products by tracking sustainability attributes throughout a product's lifecycle. Teams can quickly assess environmental impacts, choose sustainable materials, and ensure compliance with evolving environmental regulations. PLM thus becomes a vital tool in creating more sustainable, eco-friendly products and processes.

Conclusion

In the end, product lifecycle management is really about connection – connecting people, ideas, and processes in a way that brings clarity to complexity. When done right, it turns good intentions into great products, helping teams move smoothly from imagination to reality. In an increasingly crowded market, PLM isn't just practical; it's essential for making your best ideas thrive.

See how Infor’s cloud-based, industry-specific PLM solutions can help you deliver exceptional products with greater efficiency and profitability.
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