PLM software or product lifecycle management software: What for?

Which companies use PLM software?

Originally, PLM was developed for the aviation and auto manufacturing industries to help manage the complexity of resources with millions of parts, sourced from thousands of suppliers.

PLM is no longer limited to a specific product and can help any company that develops products and that faces market pressures such as lowering costs, improving quality, or shortening its time to market.

PLM, through its ability to handle complex environments, has been proven useful for Consumer-Packaged Goods industries (CPG), such as Food and Beverages and Cosmetics and Personal Care, since the 2000s as the complexity of these sectors has grown (the result of regulations, internationalization, market trends, etc.).  The real differences between CPG industries and DMS (Discrete Manufacturing Systems) are the life span of their products and the underlying objectives, namely increasing speed to market for CPG, and long-term change management for DMS (unit changes on an aircraft or in a nuclear infrastructure, for example). Moreover, CPG manufacturers are facing shortened product lifecycles and a greater need for innovation to stay competitive. By strengthening collaboration and information sharing, and enabling a single frame of reference to be created, PLM solutions allow companies to capitalize on their knowledge and lay the foundations for innovation.