Product Lifecycle Management: Closing the Knowledge Loops
- Author
- Farhad Ameri, Deba Dutta
- Publisher
- Computer-Aided Design & Applications, Vol. 2, No. 5, pp. 577–590
- Year
- 2005
- Pages
- 14
Summary
Starting from the failure of the Swedish warship Vasa as an example of poor learning, feedback and organisational memory in product development, the paper argues that these problems still undermine product realisation today.
It clarifies what PLM is, its core features and functions, and how it relates to the many existing software tools — a lack of clarity the authors see as a main reason companies fail to get the full benefit of PLM.
It then elaborates PLM's role as a knowledge management system that connects and reuses product knowledge across lifecycle stages and the extended enterprise. The full paper is freely available as a PDF from the journal.
Our verdict
Worth reading — short and free. A concise academic explanation of why PLM is ultimately about capturing and reusing knowledge, not just managing files; a good primer before larger books.
Who should read it
- —Anyone wanting a short, free introduction to the knowledge side of PLM
- —Engineering managers concerned with lessons learned and design reuse
- —Students and researchers starting on PLM literature
How it relates to your work
- —Supports making the case for feedback loops from manufacturing and service back into design.
- —Helps distinguish PLM from point tools such as CAD, PDM and ERP.
- —Relevant to current AI and knowledge-reuse initiatives built on PLM data.
Keep in mind
- —Published in 2005; the software landscape it describes has changed.
- —Conceptual paper without implementation guidance.