Undoubtedly, PLM was cradled in the manufacturing sector. From the manufacturing point of view, a product is something that has either an assembly structure, a recipe, or both. The major purposes of PLM are to help determine what raw materials are needed and how to convert these raw materials into finished goods. The added value that a manufacturer creates is associated with the physical or chemical changes from raw material to finished goods; the task of PLM is to facilitate these changes.
“In retailing, products are called merchandise.”
More recently, people started to realize the benefits of utilizing PLM outside of the manufacturing domain. The retail industry is one such example. The reason retailers have adopted PLM is because product information is a critical component when it comes to making decisions on what to buy, who to buy from, and how to sell. Some PLM vendors now provide well-tuned solutions for retailers to manage their merchandise from a life cycle standpoint.
“In marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want or need.”
Will PLM keep expanding to other areas? It seems likely. From a marketing perspective, service is also included in a broader definition of product. A service also has a life cycle, and managing the life cycle of a service has similarities with managing the life cycle of a product—although they too have their differences. The intangible nature of services makes the development, production and delivery of services (not all kinds of services but at least a few of them) easier to take place in the digital world than those of tangible products (e.g., even surgeries can be done through the Internet now). This might provide a hint that managing services from their birth to death using PLM principles is not only advisable, but also has the potential to reach a new height that PLM has not achieved in the manufacturing sector.
Hence, the meaning of “product” within “product lifecycle management” is changing over time with the process of more industries adopting the PLM methodology. In fact, as long as you offer something that “might satisfy a want or need”, you should think about the life cycle of your offering.
So, I hope you have a better idea about what the “P” in PLM really means.
Now, I am going to throw you another question. As I write this blog, I’m facing an Acer monitor. It has a model number and a serial number. The model number represents all Acer monitors that have exactly the same product structure and specifications; the serial number specifically refers to the one monitor in front of me. Which number (the product as a model or the product as a concrete piece) should be managed within a PLM system?
“In retailing, products are called merchandise.”
More recently, people started to realize the benefits of utilizing PLM outside of the manufacturing domain. The retail industry is one such example. The reason retailers have adopted PLM is because product information is a critical component when it comes to making decisions on what to buy, who to buy from, and how to sell. Some PLM vendors now provide well-tuned solutions for retailers to manage their merchandise from a life cycle standpoint.
“In marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want or need.”
Will PLM keep expanding to other areas? It seems likely. From a marketing perspective, service is also included in a broader definition of product. A service also has a life cycle, and managing the life cycle of a service has similarities with managing the life cycle of a product—although they too have their differences. The intangible nature of services makes the development, production and delivery of services (not all kinds of services but at least a few of them) easier to take place in the digital world than those of tangible products (e.g., even surgeries can be done through the Internet now). This might provide a hint that managing services from their birth to death using PLM principles is not only advisable, but also has the potential to reach a new height that PLM has not achieved in the manufacturing sector.
Hence, the meaning of “product” within “product lifecycle management” is changing over time with the process of more industries adopting the PLM methodology. In fact, as long as you offer something that “might satisfy a want or need”, you should think about the life cycle of your offering.
So, I hope you have a better idea about what the “P” in PLM really means.
Now, I am going to throw you another question. As I write this blog, I’m facing an Acer monitor. It has a model number and a serial number. The model number represents all Acer monitors that have exactly the same product structure and specifications; the serial number specifically refers to the one monitor in front of me. Which number (the product as a model or the product as a concrete piece) should be managed within a PLM system?
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