Product Life-Cycle Strategies

Effective product life-cycle management (PLM) improves the ability of the manufacturing enterprise to make better and faster product-related decisions. Manufacturers must adopt PLM as a strategy to make effective product portfolio, design, manufacturing, and sustainment decisions. IDC Manufacturing Insights' Product Life-Cycle Strategies research advisory service examines key challenges facing manufacturing companies such as innovation, time to market, operational efficiency, and product quality. In addition, it provides fact-based research on tools, strategies, and best practices in product life-cycle management to meet business challenges, covering all product life-cycle activities: ideation and innovation, design and engineering, manufacturing service, and end of life and disposal.

Approach

This advisory service develops unique analysis and comprehensive data through IDC Manufacturing Insights' proprietary research projects, along with ongoing communications with industry experts, manufacturing executives, PLM professionals, PLM software companies, and product and service vendors. To ensure relevance, our analysts work with our clients to identify and prioritize specific topics to be covered in research reports. Our analysts are also available to provide individualized advice for manufacturing executives and vendors to help them make better-informed decisions.

Topics Addressed

Throughout the year, this service will address the following topics:

• Business pressures and trends in global product development
• In-depth coverage of current and emerging PLM topics
• Developments in PLM tools, technologies, and best practices
• Governance models for product life-cycle innovation and collaboration
• PLM software budgets and spending trends in manufacturing companies

Key Questions Answered

Our research addresses the following issues that are critical to your success:

• What are the product life cycle challenges posed by the global economy?
• What are the challenges facing manufacturers around innovation, collaboration, and global product development, and how best-in-class product companies use PLM tools to address them?
• What are the innovative PLM strategies employed by best-in-class manufacturers and how they improve decision-making within these organizations?
• How do mature companies align PLM strategies to the strategic goals?

Who Should Subscribe

The Product Life-Cycle Strategies advisory service is designed for:

• Executives and managers responsible for product life-cycle methodologies, processes, and systems, and for IT executives who support these activities.
• Design engineering, manufacturing, service, and quality management executives will also benefit from this service.
• PLM software providers and systems integrators will find this service valuable in gaining additional insight into market needs and PLM investment trends by manufacturing companies.

Return on Research Investment

• PLM strategies focused on end-to-end decision making, global process optimization, and individual task performance
• Recommendations for aligning processes and key performance indicators with strategic goals
• Guidance for maximizing tool utilization and providing business benefits across multiple functions
• Proactive discussions about emerging trends and innovation in PLM

• Understanding how business pressures and product development strategies influence PLM buying decisions
• Understanding where and how PLM tools integrate with the enterprise and identifying market opportunities and partnerships
• Competitive landscape

Standard Subscription Deliverables

IDC Manufacturing Insights values building client relationships and strives to foster a partnership with each client through continuous analyst interaction; timely delivery of current, concise, and relevant research; as well as custom research when needed. Each advisory service delivers strategic research covering business and technology issues. A summary of the basic service deliverables available to subscribers includes the following:

• Analyst inquiry time specific to the advisory service area
• 24 x 7 research access via www.idc-mi.com
• Discounted admission to specific IDC Manufacturing Insights or IDC conferences
• Complimentary forum invitations (Web conferences, industry briefings)

Join Our Community

Our IDC Insights Community is designed to enable technology buyers to engage with our industry analysts, share knowledge and best practices, and connect with colleagues. To participate in our community, members create a profile to:

• Participate in our discussions in our blogs, forums, and polls
• Learn about and share best practices, tips, tricks, and tools related to business/technology alignment
• Network with colleagues and join groups within each industry
• Provide feedback to IDC's industry analysts and hear what we're up to

Visit us at: http://idc-insights-community.com and join our conversations.

Related Offerings

Related offerings to our industry-specific research practices include IT Spending Guides — segmented regional and country-level analysis by solution area; Go-to-Market Services (GMS) — a modular set of deliverables to assist clients in extending their market reach, validating their market strategy, and producing more responsive customer-centric marketing campaigns; and IDC Advisory Tools — a growing set of solutions designed to ensure clients that technology purchasing and deployment decisions are optimized. In addition, IDC Manufacturing Insights experts are available for individualized consulting engagements to address specific challenges or to customize the results of our syndicated research offerings.