Product Lifecycle Management Strategy Research Articles

Process considerations for Product Lifecycle Management implementation for high-value Engineering-to-Order programmes

Abstract This paper presents the process considerations contained within the first ever framework for implementing Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) within high-value Engineering-to-Order (ETO) programmes. The scientific contribution of the research is the identification of the process-oriented factors that are instrumental in the successful implementation of PLM within an ETO context. The framework has been developed using a qualitative methodology based on the thematic analysis of 27 semi-structured interviews. The participants were senior personnel from 11 ETO organisations in the United Kingdom, France, Australia, the United States and Canada. The thematic analysis resulted in framework themes described in relation to the process objectives, challenges or enablers, and the contributing elements of the themes were then synthesised to illustrate their interconnectedness in supporting PLM implementation. Validation of the framework using 19 participants selected from seven ETO organisations resulted in 95% agreement with statements that assessed the quality, structure and versatility of the framework. This research contributed to the updated BAE Systems Maritime Naval Ships PLM strategy for the design, build and in-service support for the First of Class new generation Royal Navy vessel for a recent shipbuilding programme.

Product Life Cycle Analysis of Automotive Products on Multi-Purpose Vehicle’s (MPV) Segment

Since 1990, the ever-increasing sales trend of automobiles in Indonesia has made the competition atmosphere much fiercer, particularly for Multi-Purpose Vehicle, the car segment with the highest sales in Indonesia’s automobile market. Therefore, a product life cycle management of automobiles is demanded to secure current position in market or further, to lead the market. This research uses MPV Model A and MPV Model B as a study case for Multi-Purpose Vehicle. Methods deployed are the computation of product line extension, the computation of product line innovation, t-test, Person Index Test, and Importance-Performance Analysis. Results are used to formulate product life cycle management strategies for automobiles of Multi-Purpose Vehicle aimed secure current position in market or further, to lead the market.

Defining Product Lifecycle Management: Comparing the Perspectives of Users and Consultants

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is a strategy that is being leveraged by many companies to improve both the execution of new product development as well as the general operations of the company. Because the breadth of PLM is so wide, many companies struggle with defining PLM. This lack of a definition causes confusion within the company that is confounded by the many definitions supplied by consultants and solution providers. This paper seeks to develop a user centric definition of PLM, and offers guidance for individuals implementing a PLM strategy.

Multi-Criteria Decision Making for PLM Maturity Analysis based on an Integrated Fuzzy AHP and VIKOR Methodology

A wide range of product lifecycle management (PLM) maturity models are proposed to assess the relative position of companies on their road to complete PLM implementation. However, it is a tough job for the company to dynamically evaluate the gradual process of PLM maturity by using existing values and accurately make decisions of improving PLM maturity by selecting the optimum alternative. A fuzzy PLM components maturity model (PCMA) is presented to build the internal logical relationship between maturity levels and existing values that can automatically predict the unknown PLM maturity levels. A fuzzy AHP–VIKOR methodology is used to make a decision among option PLM strategies. The weights of the criteria are determined by fuzzy pairwise comparison matrices (PCM). The weights of alternatives with respect to criteria are calculated by fuzzy VIKOR. The fuzzy AHP–VIKOR is a compromise solution and has the ability of transfer subjective and implicit linguistics into objective and transparent data. A numerical example illustrates and clarifies the running steps of the proposed methodology.

A PRAGMATIC WAY TO SUSTAIN IN GENERIC PHARMA ENVIRONMENT: PLCM THROUGH REGULATORY STRATEGIES

Most thoughtful way to sustain in this competitive highly regulated Pharma generic industry environment is depended on understanding the concept of the product life cycle management (PLCM). Fact is a very less number of Pharma professionals have been familiarized them with this fascinating strategic concept. So, it’s the time now to convey that what does this PLCM means and how to put it into work. The objective of this article is to convey the use of PLCM as a strategic concept for enhancing drug’s sustainability in market for a long time, making better business decisions, enhancing profitability and finally delivering affordable, quality embedded generic drugs to customers. Also, in this manuscript an attempt has been made to compare corresponding regulatory agencies (US, EU, Canada and India) insights and view on preference of PLCM application. By careful analysis, it’s revealed that US provides most favourable environment to employ various PLCM strategies, wherein EU is equally good, nonetheless national polices could be a barrier, Canada is difficult to comprehend due to stringent laws and limited exclusivity and as of now India has least scope for PLCM application.

A Gap Analysis Methodology for Product Lifecycle Management Assessment

Product lifecycle management (PLM) is a strategic and holistic approach for the management of information, processes, and resources supporting the entire product lifecycle from concept to disposal. Several systems are available to manage data and information during the lifecycle. A PLM system does not have to be considered as a unique solution, but as a set of software supporting different perspectives and activities related to the lifecycle management. A full comprehensive implementation of PLM systems is rare. Since PLM reflects the peculiarities of processes and data structures, implementation differences are evidently observable among companies. The design of methods and tools supporting an assessment of PLM implementation inside a company can enable a correct definition of PLM strategies and goals. Based on these premises, the paper aims to specify a methodology for carrying out a gap analysis of PLM with the scope of discovering existing technological and methodological gaps, and planning actions for improvement. The proposed methodology implements a visual and lean reference model, and an assessment questionnaire for data collection. Lesson learned and feedback from three industrial applications are also described and discussed.

PDA Points to Consider: Technical Product Lifecycle Management. Pharmaceutical Quality System Effectiveness for Managing Post-approval Changes.

The International Council for Harmonisation Quality Guideline 10 (ICH Q10) describes the Pharmaceutical Quality System (PQS), indicating it is intended to apply throughout a product9s lifecycle, in conjunction with good manufacturing practice (GMP) requirements, in order to achieve quality in a consistent and reproducible manner. Implementation of an effective PQS is essential for a company to achieve product realization, establish and maintain a state of control, and facilitate continual improvement (1). When changes are made during the commercial life of a product, an effective PQS, product and process understanding, and use of quality risk management should ensure that product quality, patient safety, and adequate supply to patients are maintained; this, according to ICH Q10-Annex 1, should provide companies the opportunity to manage post-approval changes (PAC) with reduced regulatory oversight (1). But what exactly constitutes an effective PQS? And how does it support change management for PACs? This paper intends to answer these questions and guide companies to seize the opportunities outlined in ICH Q10-Annex 1, to manage product and process changes within the PQS, and downgrade the level of regulatory submission required. This is the second of a series of PDA Points to Consider papers on technical product lifecycle management; the first paper focused on the technical product lifecycle management strategy including communication and knowledge exchange between Marketing Authorization Holders and Health Authorities.

Product Life Cycle Management for Pharmaceutical Innovation

Background: Continuous innovation is the unique feature of a pharmaceutical industry and is also prerequisite for sustainment of this industry. However, the dipping number of new molecules, rising costs of drug development, heightened health authority scrutiny and increased competition from generic industry indicate that the innovation is endangered. Methodology: The methodology used is a comparative study on the basis of original empirical research. More specifically, the part of examination facts and regulation has been written by conducting empirical research on current international and national resources concerning the subject from books, various Guidelines, Rules and regulations, Articles, Published Reports and internets. Results: The importance of innovation has been fairly realized by the industry and regulatory authorities as evident from the rise in number of new molecules approved by US FDA in 2014. To safeguard innovation, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) should be incorporated in the business models of a pharmaceutical company. It not only helps to maximize lifecycle of the product but also to improve the product development processes, make better business decisions and to deliver greater value to consumers. Conclusion A pharmaceutical product’s life is always complex & unique in nature and can be described in five distinct phases- development phase, approval phase, introduction phase, commercialization & quality management phase and decline phase. Number of strategies to be applied at each stage and the strategies are generally coupled with regulations, and the choice of strategy may vary on country to country. In present manuscript, the scope of various PLM strategies for innovators in four different countries namely, USA, EU, Canada and India has been discussed. This may guide the innovators to have competency to uphold the basic necessity for their survival, i.e. innovation.

An Approach to Sustainable Product Lifecycle Management (Green PLM)

Sustainable development has been, is and will be one of the worldwide main issues. Many initiatives have been launched to drive global conscientiousness to the problem of the impact of manufactured products. In order to become a “green company”, eco-brands and recycling are well understood but many initiatives are in silos and the unintended wasteful impact to other activities in the company is not always noticed. The key of sustainability also covers all the in-between activities and it depends on a real commitment of society, research and manufacturing firms. The factory of the future must have a Green Product Lifecycle Management strategy sharing responsibilities within the whole supply chain that must be achieved through committed people. The present work describes an approach to green product lifecycle involving mainstay phases: design, manufacturing and service, including usability and renewal. The contribution suggests a framework for sustainable product development that takes the whole product lifecycle into account.

Reviewing Product Lifecycle Management Models for Complex Sectors: A Proposal

Recently, the tendency of companies to adopt a PLM (product lifecycle management) strategy is increasing and asks for guidelines and reference frameworks to which screen the own organizational situation and drive improvements. Several scholars and managers have argued about PLM using a business and a technological view. Based on the need of Finmeccanica corporate to provide its companies with a reference guidelines on PLM addressing organizational and technological elements, the paper systematically analyzes models and frameworks available in literature and web-sites. The aim is to provide a set of structured key components useful to guide an exploitation of a corporate associates PLM. Models and frameworks have been organized in three categories (Academic Models, Commercial Models and Enterprise Architecture Frameworks) and fully analyzed. A four-sections PLM model has been specified supported by the evidences coming from literature. The paper provides insights for companies working in complex environment and for theoreticians.

Validation process model for product lifecycle management

Nowadays people demand outstanding products: easy-to-use, easy-to-understand, and worry-free. This objective can be ensured only through validation processes that are managed in a quality management system. Manufacturing companies often confuse validation with or reduces it to verification procedures. This is usually due to the unfamiliarity of these companies with managing the complex heterogeneous information necessary for integrating customer voice into testing activities. This paper proposes a model for integrating validation processes into a product lifecycle management strategy, which allows customers to actually feedback on the design. The model achieves a human-centred design through usability-engineering methods and has been tested on the case study of a board game for visually impaired people.

Bridging the gap between product lifecycle management and sustainability in manufacturing through ontology building

Green manufacturing has been a major concern in recent years. As product lifecycle management strategies embrace sustainability within its spectrum of multi-disciplinary efforts, it has become crucial that manufacturing companies have the ability to exchange product and process related data with emphasis on sustainability not only amongst its internal information systems like CAD, CAPP and ERP, but also throughout their supply chain and other stakeholders. Industry demands solutions for interoperability between heterogeneous systems that can account for the necessary semantics in order to establish seamless, unambiguous information sharing of data from a product's cradle to its grave. One of the most promising approaches to overcome these issues is the use of ontologies that serve as interlingua, for translating between local data structures. The present research proposes an ontology that relates sustainability terms to product and process data entities through semantic ties.

Product life cycle: the evolution of a paradigm and literature review from 1950–2009

Recently, product lifecycle management (PLM) has become a popular topic in academic literature. However, although it shares the same title, contemporary PLM is quite different from the early twentieth century's PLM culture, which was established upon the basis of the classical life cycle body of theory, which continued to be refined, right up to the end of 1960s. A comprehensive understanding of the creation and deployment of different strands of PLM strategy requires a knowledge of the basis of such paradigms – that is, the variety of product life cycle theories available to the researcher, and how these have come about. This article reviews relevant product life cycle models presented historically in the literature and divides them into two categories – the long-established marketing product life cycle model, and the emergent engineering product life cycle model. An explanation of the former model leads to an understanding of its perceived shortcomings, and the reason for the take-up of later models. A correct knowledge of this is important, as contemporary PLM has been inundated with a variety of PLM methodologies and techniques, largely from the periodical literature and across the internet, often with no clear explication of the underlining product life cycle model used to derive the methodology. There is a need for analysis upon this issue; not just to clarify the mutable term ‘product life cycle’, but for the provision of a correct understanding of the models that are informing the current debate, often outside academic circles.

Enabling through life product-instance management: Solutions and challenges

Developments in the area of radio frequency identification (RFID) and sensor network technologies have created new possibilities for product lifecycle management (PLM). These technologies are enabling building blocks upon which various business applications for product management can be built. A significant aspect in the through-life management of products is the gathering and management of data related to the product during the various phases of its lifecycle. Both RFID and wireless sensor technologies have created novel levels of product status visibility and automatic identification with granularity to the level of individual components. We consider three approaches that leverage automatic identification technologies and miniaturised wireless sensors to support PLM strategies at the product instance level based on a product centric computing paradigm. The paper draws upon a number of case studies focusing on the various phases of a product’s lifecycle: Beginning of Life, Middle of Life and End of Life. We used the case studies to extract technical, capability and information requirements needed to support PLM strategies. We compared the ability and suitability of existing architectural approaches to meet the key requirements we identified. Furthermore we assessed them to evaluate their level of support for managing product instances at different lifecycle phases. Finally, we present an extension to significantly improve the ability of the most promising architecture for supporting PLM strategies.

Incorporating Global Characteristic Data into Virtual Product Development Models

AbstractComputer-Aided Design tools (CAX: CAD/CAE/CAM) have dramatically changed the structure and activities of the product development process used by companies to develop and deliver product. Recent developments in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) strategies and tools are also causing changes in the product development process. As important as the selection of the right product to develop, is the choice of the right process to develop it with. The proper process ensures that CAX tools and PLM strategies and tools are implemented and executed to the utmost advantage through product development deployment. Virtual product development is a process design and simulation strategy that provides techniques for preplanning the product development process and its deployment. Recent changes in the international market and business environments are also impacting product development processes. This paper presents research in methods to design and model the impact of global issues on potential product developmen...