What is product lifecycle management (PLM)?
Product lifecycle management (PLM) is a process businesses use to manage a product or service from its inception to its disposal.
PLM helps businesses develop strategies for improved speed to market, decreased costs and higher profits. Businesses may use product lifecycle management software to collect data, improve team communication and document the lifecycle process.
What are the phases of PLM?
Beginning of life (BoL)
This stage includes the conception, design, development, production, marketing and development of a product or service.
Concept and design
The first step of a product management lifecycle is developing an idea for a product. Businesses should analyse what competitors offer, what gaps there are in the market, and what their customers or target market needs.
Development
Product development and engineering begin once a company completes the concept and design strategy. Collecting and acting on customer-derived insights is critical to a successful product journey, so this step includes:
developing a prototype
piloting the product
collecting feedback on the product’s performance
refining the product as needed.
Production
Once a company has fine-tuned the product, the next step is manufacturing it at a large scale and introducing it to the market.
Marketing and sales
The last step is marketing and selling the product. This includes:
determining pricing
developing a marketing campaign
incentivising customers to purchase the product
using the most effective sales channels.
Middle of life (MoL)
This stage of the product management lifecycle focuses on:
Delivery
Delivery involves determining the best shipping method while minimising costs. This includes establishing a product distribution supply chain and determining which online platforms to use for managing shipping and deliveries.
Service and support
Now that the product is in the user’s hands, a company must offer customer interaction channels to provide service and support. This is the ideal time to collect customer feedback to uncover product issues and make immediate fixes or record ideas for future improvements.
End of life (EoL)
This stage considers how to end production and take the product off the market. Having an exit strategy helps prevent wasted stock.
Why is PLM important?
Cut costs
Product lifecycle management improves productivity, speeds time-to-market, improves product effectiveness and reduces waste, all of which reduce product costs.
Eliminate errors
The PLM process helps companies identify and rectify product issues early. Eliminating errors improves product success and reduces post-launch support costs.
Enhance engineering efficiency and effectiveness
Companies use product lifecycle management to streamline the engineering process to make it more effective in the future. The process also clarifies where technology can automate repetitive manual tasks for more efficient product production.
Identify hazards and improve safety
Analysing a product’s lifecycle helps identify hazards and manage risks related to the product’s design, delivery and use. Employing safe design minimises risk to health and safety throughout the product’s lifecycle.
Get your product to market faster
Using a structured approach like PLM helps businesses manage the product workflow, reduce redundant tasks and fix issues early to get products to market faster.
Improve delivery
The PLM process ensures businesses are balancing the costs and efficiency of delivery.
Maximise collaboration
PLM makes it easier for teams to collaborate and share data and information, which improves engineering performance and product delivery.
Optimise product design
Product lifecycle management creates a feedback loop that gives designers and engineers insights they can use to improve the product.
Reduce waste
PLM reduces product waste by optimising a product’s design before mass production.
How enterprise resource planning (ERP) can help
ERP software centralises information that businesses gather at each step of the PLM process, makes it accessible across work teams. An ERP system:
connects data sources
promotes collaboration
makes it simpler to identify opportunities for improvement.
Using an ERP to support your product lifecycle management reduces or eliminates manual processes, redundant tasks and other labour-intensive work.
How to maximise profitability with PLM
Assess product lifecycle
ERP software collects data and records information about each step in the PLM process. Businesses can analyse this information to assess the entire product lifecycle, while finding ways to use resources more efficiently and manage business waste.
Establish clear goals
Defining goals keeps people and resources focused on the right tasks. ERP software helps businesses identify, record and report on data-based PLM goals.
Develop a plan
Once a business has established goals, it should develop a plan. An ERP system helps manage the workflows needed to achieve goals.
Analyse data
Analysing data makes for better business decisions as teams work through each stage of the PLM process. It also helps identify any changes that can lead to more profits.
Implement changes
Once a business knows which changes to make, implementing them can increase the product's value or help reach a new market.
Monitor progress
Following a product launch, an ERP houses sales and other data that help businesses monitor demand, make adjustments to production and maximise profitability.
Simplify PLM with MYOB
With MYOB Acumatica Manufacturing, you have a connected suite of business applications across production, estimating, engineering, material planning, scheduling and product configuration so your manufacturing processes are as streamlined as possible.
You can also connect your business workflows across customers, suppliers, employees, projects, finance, accounting and tax, MYOB provides strategic insights throughout the product journey, helping to inform decision-making and drive profitability.
Speak to an expert today to learn how MYOB can help your business achieve its next level of growth.
Disclaimer: Information provided in this article is of a general nature and does not consider your personal situation. It does not constitute legal, financial, or other professional advice and should not be relied upon as a statement of law, policy or advice. You should consider whether this information is appropriate to your needs and, if necessary, seek independent advice. This information is only accurate at the time of publication. Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of the information contained on this webpage, MYOB disclaims, to the extent permitted by law, all liability for the information contained on this webpage or any loss or damage suffered by any person directly or indirectly through relying on this information.