PLM set to have it’s day

As companies worry more about getting products to market faster and more efficiently than about cost cutting, the time for PLM (product lifecycle management) software has come. So argues Jay Fulcher, president and COO of PLM developer Agile Software. Yet another triumph of hope over experience? “We think the infection point is here and has been for more than a year,” he insists. “Major companies are very focused on the drivers behind PLM, like achieving environmental compliance, and managing quality and whole portfolios of products,” he adds. And to that we can add tough competition. Information management – and not just around CAD, but bringing in data from sales and marketing, production, forecasting, global material sourcing – is thus key. “These may not be new issues, but they’re top of mind now,” says Fulcher. “A lot of companies hoped ERP would provide them with that promise, but what’s different about PLM today is that companies are getting the benefit of the network effect – getting a more intimate relationship with their value chain.” Meanwhile for non-adopters he notes: “For many, their systems are no longer just less than optimal: they don’t even have the breadth and depth – they’re not integrated into the MCAD and ECAD environments. So what they have is not very ‘leverageable’. That’s why they’re rethinking.” And that’s why he may be right. With the increasing availability of hosted PLM options and of PLM tools, as opposed to systems, the barrier to entry has been lowered. We can expect hitherto underinvestment to be redressed, and SMEs to be a major part of the wave of PLM take-up.