Product lifecycle management (PLM) is a business strategy that helps companies share product data, apply common processesCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, and leverage corporate knowledge for the development of products across the extended enterprise. As such, PLM software has gained the stature of being “the next big thing” in manufacturing enterprise information systems, assuming the mantle that ERP (enterprise resource planning) software carried in the 1990s.
        PLM has attracted the interest of major software vendors eager to participate in its expanding functional footprintsCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, and analysts who spin fetching scenarios for how PLM will transform manufacturing as we know it. The truth is, although few are fully there yet, significant steps are being made by system integrators and pioneering manufacturers. The focus—and progress—today seems to be where engineering and manufacturing meet: in the distinct but related bills-of-materials that each group creates.
        Like ERPCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, PLM is not entirely new: It’s built upon the legacy of its numerous component parts控制工程网版权所有, including computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) and product data management (PDM). PLM as a tool for manufacturers gained sizeable momentum and credibility in 2007 with Siemens’ $3.5 billion acquisition of PLM software vendor UGS. “Design for manufacturability”—the banner for the evolving promise of tying design more integrally with manufacturing—became recast as “digital manufacturing.” The vision is that technology will virtualize every aspect of product design and manufacturing, from concept to customer.
        “Siemens’ vision for connecting all the pieces is clearly where the industry needs to go,” says Joe Barkai控制工程网版权所有, analyst and lifecycle strategies practice director for IDC Manufacturing Insights. Nick Ballard, senior consultant for Cambashi,