PLM spending set to rise further

Its study (Supporting product development with cutting edge IT) finds manufacturing companies seeking to enhance both internal and external collaboration, manage product data better and streamline workflows, as time to market becomes more critical. The result, it says, is additional investment in technologies such as PLM (product lifecycle management) software and systems, creating one of the fastest growing enterprise application segments. Indeed, Datamonitor predicts that PLM spending will rise worldwide to $4.1bn by 2012. “As competition increases, the time taken to develop a product and bring it to market has become a key metric for progressive manufacturers. Minimising this time, while maintaining quality and fostering innovation is the latest challenge in today’s manufacturing industry,” says Adam Jura, Manufacturing Technology Analyst and author of the study. “In 2007, we can expect a lot of product-driven investment in IT – this is making an interesting balance act for manufacturing businesses,” he adds.