Editing Product lifecycle (section)

==Forms==
PLM systems help organizations cope with the increasing complexity and engineering challenges of developing new products for the global competitive markets.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Arie |last1=Karniel |first2=Yoram |last2=Reich |title=Managing the Dynamic of New Product Development Processes. A new Product Lifecycle Management Paradigm |publisher=Springer |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Ux14684RdLYC&q=Karniel%2BReich%2BPLM&pg=PA234 |page=13 |year=2011 |isbn=9780857295699 |access-date=25 February 2012}}</ref>

Product lifecycle management (PLM) should be distinguished from '[[product life-cycle management (marketing)]]' (PLCM). PLM describes a product's engineering aspect, from managing its descriptions and properties through its development and useful life. In contrast, PLCM refers to the commercial management of a product's life in the business market concerning costs and sales measures.


Product lifecycle management can be considered one of the four cornerstones of a manufacturing corporation's [[information technology]] structure.<ref>{{cite web|last=Evans |first=Mike |title=The PLM Debate |publisher=Cambashi |url= http://www.cambashi.com/stuff/contentmgr/files/0/1029bc0a080573062b73837c80ba157e/download/outsourcing_upsets_the_it_integration_pillars_in_the_temple_of_discrete_manufacturing.pdf |date=April 2001 |access-date=4 July 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120423075902/http://www.cambashi.com/stuff/contentmgr/files/0/1029bc0a080573062b73837c80ba157e/download/outsourcing_upsets_the_it_integration_pillars_in_the_temple_of_discrete_manufacturing.pdf |archive-date=23 April 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> All companies need to manage communications and information with their customers (CRM-[[customer relationship management]]), their suppliers and fulfillment (SCM-[[supply chain management]]), their resources within the enterprise (ERP-[[enterprise resource planning]]) and their product planning and development (PLM).

One form of PLM is called people-centric PLM. While traditional PLM tools have been deployed only on or during the release phase, people-centric PLM targets the design phase.

As of 2009, ICT development (EU-funded PROMISE project 2004–2008) has allowed PLM to extend beyond traditional PLM and integrate sensor data and real-time 'lifecycle event data' into PLM, as well as allowing this information to be made available to different players in the total lifecycle of an individual product (closing the information loop). This broader reach has resulted in the extension of PLM into [[closed-loop lifecycle management]] (CL<sub>2</sub>M).