List of Top Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Software 2023

What is Product Lifecycle Management?

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software provides businesses with the opportunity to manage all of their data and information processes for worldwide supply chains at every step of a product design or service lifecycle. PLM provides businesses and supply chains with all the necessary data about items, parts, products, documents, requirements, engineering change orders, and workflows.

As PLM Software becomes increasingly more important in a globalized economy, it continues to be adapted and tailored to meet the needs of a variety of different industries. PLM Software’s original intent was to support engineers’ collaboration on their latest product designs and control the information lifecycle. Yet today, PLM Software provides services to support a much larger percentage of an organization, including customer service, marketing, sales, suppliers, and partners.

The support PLM Software provides businesses is crucial in promoting increased productivity, creativity, and collaboration. Other benefits include improved quality, and regulatory compliance, as well as shortened product production times.

Product Lifecycle Management Features

Most products in the Product Lifecycle Management have the following features:

• Change management
• Design feature management, including tracking of feature requests
• Design drawing revision management
• Quality management
• Collaboration solutions
• Training management
• BOM management
• Compliance management
• Document control or design software management
• Requirements management
• Item management
• Supplier relationship management
• Implementation with Agile methodologies

Product Lifecycle Management Comparison

When comparing PLM Software, businesses should consider the following factors:

Industry of Focus: When it comes to PLMs, one size doesn’t fit all. Many PLM’s focus on providing support for specific industries (i.e., fashion, retail, processing), so businesses should consider what PLM provides the best support and features for their industry.

Open-Source vs. Paid Software: A few free and open-source PLM tools are available, though the selection is minimal. Free PLM tools also tend to be more limited feature-wise to proprietary options, and none of them can provide ongoing support. Businesses should consider their feature needs and support when considering an open-source tool.

Integration Support: Product lifecycle management is a complex process and cannot be handled by just one software alone. Before purchasing from a vendor, businesses should consider how well their PLM can incorporate and communicate with computer-aided design (CAD) software systems, as well as enterprise resource planning (ERP). These software platforms are crucial to the design flow process and focus on the more detailed building stage of a product or service.

Start a Product Lifecycle Management comparison here

Pricing Information

The cost to implement a PLM solution varies greatly. Some software companies offer a straightforward pricing scheme for PLM solutions, ranging from $13 to $150 per month. However, the cost of most PLM solutions must be obtained by contacting the vendor directly. For a custom quote, vendors consider the company size, implementation complexity, and the number of average users. There are also some open-source options for businesses looking for basic support features.

More Resources

More resources are available on the TrustRadius Buyer and Vendor Blogs:

The following Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Software offer award-winning customer relationships, feature sets, and value for price. Learn more about our Summer Best Of Awards

The following Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Software offer award-winning customer relationships, feature sets, and value for price. Learn more about our Summer Best Of Awards methodology here