Industrial manufacturers face new challenges as machinery has become more complex. Today’s machinery includes sensors, software, and smart features in addition to their mechanical, electronic, and electrical components.

To affordably meet project deadlines efficiently and without errors, industrial manufacturing needs to move away from spreadsheets and shared documents and begin a full digital transformation that includes digital product lifecycle management (PLM).

A PLM solution connects a company’s people, processes, and technology with a single authoritative source of information. Engineers from different domains can better coordinate, and stakeholders have the up-to-date product data they need. This results in fewer errors, lower costs, and higher-quality products.

Get this free ebook to find out how industrial machinery companies can begin to implement a PLM solution to fit their needs and address their unique challenges.

What is product lifecycle management software?

Data and procedures are managed by PLM over the course of a product’s lifecycle. For example, the management of multi-disciplinary bill of materials (BOM), cross-domain design, and project needs are streamlined.

Additional benefits of a PLM also include:

• Maintaining current data
• Accelerating design release
• Enabling cross-disciplinary engineering collaboration
• Supporting effective interaction with external stakeholders 

Using software as a service (SaaS) PLM has additional advantages.

The benefits of product lifecycle management (PLM) software in the cloud

PLM can be maintained on-premises where all aspects except the data center can be maintained by the manufacturing company. However, the best option for managing the complexities of today is managed on the cloud with a software as a service (SaaS) PLM solution.

With SaaS PLM, the service provider installs, administers, and updates the product lifecycle management solution. The provider serves as a single point of contact for all new issues related to the software, allowing the customer the freedom to focus on their business – manufacturing.

A SaaS PLM will shift the burdens typically placed upon IT. The SaaS provider implements, maintains, updates, and secures the PLM service. Because it is maintained online, on-premises and remote workers both have easy accessibility to all needed data and resources and as those employees come and go, the solution affordably scales.

How can cloud PLM impact the industrial digital transformation?

Maintain a competitive edge over other manufacturing companies with an efficient, cost-effective, and accessible solution.

The burden on the employees in your IT department is eased. They will no longer need to be hired, educated, or trained to maintain a PLM solution or safeguard the data it contains.

Adjust to the ever-changing world with the ability to follow every detail swiftly and easily throughout the product’s lifecycle, from design to manufacturing all the way to its retirement.

Find out how a PLM solution fits within the industrial digital transformation in this free ebook.