Why Digital is Essential for the Future of Successful Product Lifecycle Management

Product lifecycle management - or PLM - was originally developed in order to track parts for manufacturing, but it is now used by practically every industry across multiple departments.

This is thanks in no small part to the advancements in the technologies surrounding the process, and keeping up today means ensuring you have a digital strategy in place for your PLM, or your company will almost certainly be left behind.

What is Product Lifecycle Management?

PLM is the process of managing a product through each stage of its journey from development to retail. It allows you to connect each of the departments, employees and third parties involved in the product's lifecycle to be monitored and managed from one place.

When implemented successfully, it means improved collaboration, less mistakes, increased efficiency and a better overall ROI. It allows you to keep track of your logistics much more easily, so whether you're selling to companies in Italy, or to those in your local town, you have all the information together.

Why Make it Digital?

While PLM of the past was more document-focused, today's need to incorporate large amounts of data at almost every step of a product's journey means that modern PLM needs to make use of things such as detailed analytics and machine learning. Therefore the move to digital is an inevitable one in order to keep things running as efficiently as possible and ensure you're not losing out to competitors.

It's also important in order to be able to adhere to the demands of mass customisation. Nowadays there are more choices for consumers than ever before in regards to having a product tailored to them, whether it's choosing the design for a necklace or a cushion cover. Without an efficient digitalised PLM strategy this becomes impossible, especially when you consider the integrations that are needed with other technologies and programs.

Data is Essential

In order for your PLM to be effective, it needs to run on data that is both plentiful and of a high quality. Having this level of information available throughout the lifecycle will allow you to make better decisions when it comes to things like manufacturing, logistics and future product development.

Having a digital strategy for PLM means more integration across all departments in your organisation, allowing you to break down the data silos that would otherwise keep potentially important insights hidden.

The Importance of Data Quality

Given the weight that data holds in any digital PLM strategy, it's vital that the data you're feeding into it is always as accurate and up to date as possible. Adding bad data to the process will cause problems further along the line, and can even cause a snowball effect if not caught early enough.

Consider all of your data sources very carefully, and only use third-party data from legitimate sources such as reputable B2B database companies. It's also a good idea to carry out a regular 'spring clean' of the information you hold, and also ensure that all of your systems external to your PLM are also error-free.

The Internet of Things

With more and more devices being connected to the internet every single day, it is becoming easier to gain access to useful analytics that can inform your digital PLM strategy in big ways. The ability to have real-time feedback from customers and products allows you to make more informed decisions and takes the guesswork out of trying to determine what your prospects want or how well you're products are performing.

There are three main areas where the IoT can be a huge asset to your digital PLM strategy:

• Product Maintenance - Sensors on products such as manufacturing machines or vehicles will allow the manufacturer to find out whenever an issue arises, and can then either automatically inform the owner or take steps to fix the issue themselves. This means that maintenance becomes largely more preventative than reactionary, which ultimately saves money and makes for much better safety protocol.

• Meeting Customer Needs - Being able to see exactly how your products are being used will allow you to improve them or even launch new ones. For example, you might find that certain features are not being used, or there's a specific feature that is being used far more than the others, so you can then adapt your future offerings accordingly.

• Product Performance - Whether your product is a car, a computer, or a blender, being able to access data about its performance will allow you to make sure your company is living up to expectations, and also meeting things like environmental regulations.

With the sensors needed for all of these monitoring purposes becoming more advanced, easy to use and affordable all the time, there are an increasing number of opportunities for companies to use detailed analytics from the products themselves in order to better inform their PLM solution. The result is more efficiency and a better ROI on products.

Digital Twins

Another big impact of digital on PLM is the process of digital twinning. This involves companies producing an exact copy of their real-life products digitally, allowing them to then run tests and dummy product life cycles on a computer program before committing to putting the physical product out on the market.

This creates an environment better suited to intelligent innovation and also helps to make the manufacturing process more efficient, less costly and ultimately enables them to decrease the time to get to market. It also provides a much more collaborative environment for the professionals involved in each stage of the lifecycle, be it designers, head of operations or sales reps.

It's even possible to duplicate a customer's experience through technologies in 3D design, simulation and analysis in order to identify exactly what the target audience wants and needs, and how it can be successfully achieved.

Product lifecycle management is an essential part of everyday business operations for many companies nowadays. In order to keep up with the competition and ensure you're getting the best ROI possible, the next step is guaranteed to be embracing digital into your PLM strategy.