Monday, May 26, 2008

Product Life Cycle Management Software: Evaluate It Carefully

By George Purdy

Managers now have software to relieve the burden of the management of a product life cycle. The basic phases of this cycle begins with a market study which helps in the formulation of the business case, followed by research of the product and the production process itself. Once raw material are secured, the product is manufactured and delivered. Payment by the customer completes the cycle. This simplistic overview of the product life cycle, skims over the often more complex time line, which can require simultaneous execution of steps throughout the process management.

Consider the ways product life cycle management software leads to cost reduction. Once a product concept has been identified, the search for necessary raw materials is initiated. If the raw material upon which the design is based is not available, the production team must identify an alternate material. By evaluating product features and contrasting those with historical data maintained for comparable products, software can suggest substitute materials.

Over time, buyer preferences evolve although products are often introduced to the marketplace years after a market analysis was undertaken. The constant flow of customer information is vital to the production department in order to ensure that there is a market of buyers for the products manufactured. It is a challenging job to manage that data and adjust product design to respond to changes dictated by shifts in buyer preferences. Product life cycle management software can make that job easier.

At the time a product is introduced in the marketplace, marketing efforts are focused on educating consumers about the product's availability. At some point, however, the marketing effort must shift to customer retention. By analyzing actual sales information, product life cycle management software can help determine the appropriate timing for this adjustment.

Many individuals claim that one goes to classes in business management in order to determine the most efficient path to complete any project. Among the secrets you might learn is training on the proper deployment of product life cycle management software. Immediate results include less money and effort wasted during development, and faster release of the product once completed.

Life cycle management software is produced and marketed by many vendors. Before committing to such a purchase, companies should evaluate the features of the software carefully. In order to reduce confusion, companies often hire a product life cycle management expert to lead the implementation process. Once product managers are exposed to and have an opportunity to use the application, each of them acquires the expertise needed to direct the software's use going forward.

Product life cycle management software can help to make the product development process easier for a manager. PLM software helps reduce cost by helping keep tract of the raw materials needed to produce, design and create the products. You frequently hear people say that the main reason for studying business management is to learn how to accomplish things in a way that increases both value for expenditure and company profits. A method for achieving that is enrolling in PLM training. The result will not only be a reduction in costs, but also a reduction in the time necessary to manufacture market-ready products.

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