• What is PLM?
• Function of PLM
• Benefits of PLM
• PLM ROI
• Operational Benefits
• Who Uses PLM?
• Why PLM?
• Do You Need PLM?
• PLM vs. PDM
• Elements of PLM
• PLM Models
• PLM Solutions
• PLM Selection
• PLM Implementation
• PLM Cost
• Implementation Process
• PLM Best Practices
• PLM Resources
• PLM Terminology
• Standards & Compliance
• PLM White Papers
• PLM Blogs & Websites

Product Life Cycle Management

| Why PLM?

PLM or PDM?

What's the difference between PLM and PDM? Is there a difference? Which is right for your company? Industry experts weigh in on the subject and offer food for thought.

You may choose to go with any path as you see the best fit to your business requirements and available resources. If going directly from PDM to PLM is not an option at the moment, a big question you need to answer is which goes first—people integration or system integration?

— Kurt Chen of Technology Evaluation Center

In this 3 part series, Oleg Shilovitsky of Beyond PLM offers various perspectives on PDM vs. PLM: Data, Process and Integration.

In my view, the most notable confusion around PLM is related to a very different view on this from two opposite sides - vendors and customers... Most of the vendors pushing "a complete PLM solution" actually missing the point that this solution probably cannot be delivered by a single vendor and customer considering it more as a strategy rather than a product. At the same time, you can see PDM movement into the "commodity space" where PDM is considered as a software to manage CAD data that, in most of the cases, need to be purchased from CAD vendor to prevent version compatibility hassles.

— Oleg Shilovitsky of Beyond PLM

Mark Sylvestry of LifeCycle Solutions provides straightforward definitions of PLM and PDM in this 3 minute video presentation.

Get a historical prespective in CIMdata's report, PDM to PLM: Growth of an Industry (log in required).

This report describes the evolution of the Product Data Management (PDM) market of the 1980's and early 1990's to the comprehensive Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) market of today.

— CIMdata