Proctor & Gamble and UGS to launch process industries PLM suite

UGS says it now plans to deliver what will effectively be the industry’s first packaged PLM (product lifecycle management) software specifically to capture and share laboratory research knowledge for companies in the process industries. The system, which received the ‘Best PLM System for Process R&D and Manufacturing’ award at the ELNS & Laboratory Informatics 2006 conference in London, will be released later this year as a module within UGS’ Teamcenter system. “Knowledge management solutions, such as the one UGS is announcing today, represent a significant opportunity to help R&D organisations in the consumer products and life sciences industries improve their product innovation processes,” says Jim Brown, vice president Global Product Innovation and Engineering at analyst Aberdeen Group. “Our benchmark research indicates that protecting intellectual property and retaining company knowledge are significant challenges in today’s global product development environment. It also indicates that companies that are best in class at product development are four times more likely to use PLM solutions. The incorporation of laboratory notebook technology into PLM is a logical extension to PLM software, and promises to extend its benefits to R&D organisations.”