1

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT [PLM] SUB CODE: 10ME769

UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION TO PLM

Introduction: Product life cycle considers the profitability of the product of during its life cycle, where traditionally products are evaluated on yearly basis which will help in decision making. Product life cycle recognizes the behavior of the products at various stages of its life cycle. Each product has it own life cycles. Ex, binoculars have very long product life cycle while Toys have very short product life cycle. Definition of PLM: In industry, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is defined as the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from its conception, through design and manufacture, to service and disposal. PLM integrates people, data, processes and business systems and provides a product information backbone for companies and their extended enterprise. PLM is a activity of managing a companys product all the way across their life cycle in most effective way and it enables the company to take control of their product. PLM offers transparency about what is happening over the product life cycle and offers many ways to solve the problem in the company. Thus PLM is one of the pillars among 1. Customer Relationship Management [CRM] 2. Supply Chain Management[SCM] 3. Enterprise Resource Management[ERP] 4. System Development Life Cycle [SDLC] Product Life Cycle Model/ PLM Life Cycle Model Product life cycle can be defined as "the change in sales volume of a specific product offered by an organization, over the expected life of the product."

AKASH.D.A Asst.Professor Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering Mysore

The product life cycle describes the sales pattern of a product over time. Generally, the time span begins with product introduction and ends with its obsolescence and replacement. While the form of the life cycle is fairly Product Life Cycle graph for aunderlying Product the premise of product life cycle is that all products standard, it is Fig: subject to variations. The concept pass through the stages outlined below Basic Stages in the Product Life Cycle The four major stages of the product life cycle are as follows:1) Development/ Introduction Stage
2) 3) 4)

Growth stage Maturity stage Decline stage

Introduction-Stage At this stage the product is new to the market and few potential customers are aware with the existence of product. The price is generally high. The sales of the product are low or may be restricted to early adopters. Profits are often low or losses are being made, this is because of the high advertising cost and repayment of developmental cost. At the introductory stage:

The product is unknown, The price is generally high, The placement is selective, and The promotion is informative and personalized.

Growth-Stage At this stage the product is becoming more widely known and acceptable in the market. Marketing is done to strengthen brand and develop an image for the product. Prices may start to fall as competitors enter the market. With the increase in sales, profit may start to be earned, but advertising cost remains high. At the growth stage:

The product is more widely known and consumed,

AKASH.D.A Asst.Professor Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering Mysore

The sales volume increases, The price begin to decline with the entry of new players, The placement becomes more widely spread, and The promotion is focused on brand development and product image formation.

Maturity-Stage At this stage the product is competing with alternatives. Sales and profits are at their peak. With the increases in competition the price reaches to its lowest point. Advertising is done to reinforce the product image in the consumer's minds to increase repeat purchases. At maturity stage: The product is competing with alternatives, The sales are at their peak,

The prices reaches to its lowest point, The placement is intense, and The promotion is focused on repeat purchasing.

Decline-Stage At this stage product popularity is decreasing, People starts moving towards new introduced products as a result sales start to fall fast and product range is reduced. The product faces reduced competition as many players have left the market and it is expected that new competitor will enter the market. At decline stage:

The product faces reduced competition, The sales volume reduces, The price is likely to fall, The placement is selective, and The promotion is focused on reminding.

To calculate or measure at what stage of its life cycle a product is at in the given market, the following parameters needs to be measured and monitored:
a) b) c)

Investment in R&D by year Number of competitors in the market by year Number of competitors that entered the market by year
AKASH.D.A Asst.Professor Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering Mysore

4
d) e) f)

Number of competitors that left the market by year Market growth rate by year Investment in marketing (such as advertising, trade shows, and direct sales forces) by year

Opportunities and benefits of PLM:

1. Reduced time to market.

2. Improved Process stability. 3. Improved product quality and reliability.

4. Reduced prototyping costs.

5. More accurate and timely request for quote generation. 6. Ability to quickly identify potential sales opportunities and revenue contributions. 7. Savings through the re-use of original data.
8. A framework for product optimization.

9. Reduced waste. 10. Maximize supply chain collaboration. 11. Ability to provide contract manufacturers with access to a centralized product record. 12. Seasonal fluctuation management. Areas of PLM Within PLM there are five primary areas; 1. Systems Engineering (SE) 2. Product and Portfolio Management (PPM) 3. Product Design (CAx) 4. Manufacturing Process Management (MPM)
AKASH.D.A Asst.Professor Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering Mysore

5. Product Data Management (PDM) Systems Engineering is focused on meeting all requirements, primary meeting customer needs, and coordinating the systems design process by involving all relevant disciplines. Product and Portfolio Management is focused on managing resource allocation, tracking progress vs. plan for new product development projects that are in process (or in a holding status). Portfolio management is a tool that assists management in tracking progress on new products and making trade-off decisions when allocating scarce resources. Product Design is the process of creating a new product to be sold by a business to its customers.
Manufacturing Process Management is a collection of technologies and methods used to define

how products are to be manufactured. Product Data Management is focused on capturing and maintaining information on products and/or services through their development and useful life. Need for PLM 1. Competitive pressure: Whenever there is a competitive pressure it leads to lesser time that is been allocated for the product development .Its important for a company to bring their product to the market quickly, otherwise the customer will choose a competitive product. By implementing PLM a company can bring out better product to market at faster rate and enables better support of customers use of product. 2. Complete solution: with the implementation PLM many companies provide a complete solution/product rather than providing single product or individual product that requires further processing. 3. Consumer wants customized products 4. Consumer expects more service as sometimes the service plays an vital role in deciding the sales of particular product rather than its appeal. 5. With the increased environment awareness has lead to call of reduced pollution from manufacturing and logistics which can be controlled using PLM. 6. With the help of PLM a Sustainable development can be ensured so that resources are available for next generation. 7. The rapid emergence of new technologies provides many opportunities but its difficult to industrialize them and ensure their safe use.
AKASH.D.A Asst.Professor Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering Mysore

8. Globalization has led to availability of more human recourses; a proper approach like PLM is needed for best utilization of the resources. 9. With the stock ex-change mentality the managers are more concerned about the quarterly results rather than long term use of their product and service. 10. Geopolitical development: such as appearance of INDIA as the leading producer of software &software developers; china as leading electronic gadget manufacturer due to which there will be huge price variation for product in the market, therefore with the proper implementation of PLM one can analyze how this geopolitical system works. Phases of PLM Phase 1: Conceive Imagine, Specify, Plan, Innovate The first stage in idea is the definition of its requirements based on customer, company, market and regulatory bodies viewpoints. From this a specification of the products major technical parameters can be defined. Parallel to the requirements specification the initial concept design work is carried out defining the visual aesthetics of the product together with its main functional aspects. For the Industrial Design, Styling, work many different media are used from pencil and paper, clay models to 3D CAID Computer-aided industrial design software. Phase 2: Design Describe, Define, Develop, Test, Analyze and Validate This is where the detailed design and development of the products form starts, progressing to prototype testing, through pilot release to full product launch. It can also involve redesign and ramp for improvement to existing products as well as planned obsolescence. The main tool used for design and development is CAD Computer-aided design. This can be simple 2D Drawing / Drafting or 3D Parametric Feature Based Solid/Surface Modeling. Such software includes technology such as Hybrid Modeling, Reverse Engineering, KBE (Knowledge-Based Engineering), NDT (Nondestructive testing), and Assembly construction. This step covers many engineering disciplines including: Mechanical, Electrical, Electronic, Software (embedded), and domain-specific, such as Architectural, Aerospace, Automotive, ... Along with the
AKASH.D.A Asst.Professor Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering Mysore

actual creation of geometry there is the analysis of the components and product assemblies. Simulation, validation and optimization tasks are carried out using CAE (Computer-aided engineering) software either integrated in the CAD package or stand-alone. These are used to perform tasks such as:- Stress analysis, FEA (Finite Element Analysis); Kinematics; Computational fluid dynamics (CFD); and mechanical event simulation (MES). CAQ (Computer-aided quality) is used for tasks such as Dimensional Tolerance (engineering) Analysis. Another task performed at this stage is the sourcing of bought out components, possibly with the aid of Procurement systems. Phase 3: Realize Manufacture, Make, Build, Procure, Produce, Sell and Deliver Once the design of the products components is complete the method of manufacturing is defined. This includes CAD tasks such as tool design; creation of CNC Machining instructions for the products parts as well as tools to manufacture those parts, using integrated or separate CAM Computer-aided manufacturing software. This will also involve analysis tools for process simulation for operations such as casting, molding, and die press forming. Once the manufacturing method has been identified CPM comes into play. This involves CAPE (Computer-aided Production Engineering) or CAP/CAPP (Production Planning) tools for carrying out Factory, Plant and Facility Layout and Production Simulation. For example: Press-Line Simulation; and Industrial Ergonomics; as well as tool selection management. Once components are manufactured their geometrical form and size can be checked against the original CAD data with the use of Computer Aided Inspection equipment and software. Parallel to the engineering tasks, sales product configuration and marketing documentation work will be taking place. This could include transferring engineering data (geometry and part list data) to a web based sales configuration and other Desktop Publishing systems. Phase 4: Service Use, Operate, Maintain, Support, Sustain, Phase-out, Retire, Recycle and Disposal The final phase of the lifecycle involves managing of in service information. Providing customers and service engineers with support information for repair and maintenance, as well as waste management/recycling information. This involves using such tools as Maintenance, Repair and Operations Management (MRO) software Components of PLM Some of the components of PLM are:
AKASH.D.A Asst.Professor Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering Mysore

a) Product data & Product

b) Customers

c) Product life cycle activities

d)Organizational

Structure e) Human resource in product life cycle f) methods, techniques and methodologies g) Processes f) components in life cycle
a) Product data & Product: Product data is one of the components of PLM, but the product is the main focus of

PLM.without product the company doesnt exist and wont have any customers. b) Customers

AKASH.D.A Asst.Professor Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering Mysore