Are people any clearer on what PLM actually is?

Sorry guys – I know this is done to death, and yes, I too am (almost) fed up with the debate about what PLM really is. But, like all acronyms, they are limiting and they evolve.

Unquestionably, PLM is no longer just techie vernacular that few others understand – PLM is now about strategic decisions made in the boardroom, about how every stage in the life of a product is managed. We all know that, you say. Yes, but the distinction I am making is that the technical implementation side of it, while paramount, isn’t what people think of when they think PLM. Now it stands for best practise, increased profitability, improving engineering methods, innovation. PLM has always been a catch-all acronym, but it has evolved beyond the 3 words for which it stands.

I voiced this opinion at a PLM Summit a couple of months back, perhaps as incoherently and was told I was being ‘wishy washy’. So, round two…