Continued growth predicted for product lifecycle management

According to figures released from consulting and research firm CIMdata Inc. , the worldwide product lifecycle management (PLM) market achieved overall growth of 4% during an economically tough 2003. CIMdata forecasts overall PLM investments will continue growing over the next five years to exceed $20 billion by 2008 (see Figure 1), for a compound growth rate of 7.5%.

CIMdata defines the PLM market as comprised of two major segments–authoring and analysis tools and collaborative product definition management (cPDm). According to CIMdata, PLM growth was higher in the cPDm segment, which reached $4.5 billion in 2003– an increase of 8% over 2002. PLM technology suppliers saw new license sales increase 6% year-over-year, although the major suppliers saw little of this gain. PLM-related services and software maintenance showed significant increases during 2003. CIMdata predicts the cPDm portion of the PLM market will exceed $5 billion in 2004 and $9 billion by 2008 for a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15% (see Figure 2). The tools portion of the PLM market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 3.5% over the next 5 years to reach $11.3 billion by 2008.

According to CIMdata President Ed Miller: in the 1990s, companies focused primarily on operational efficiency, leading to significant expenditures for ERP deployments. In the last few years, companies are shifting more funding to PLM initiatives that enable product innovation and boost business performance with both revenue growth and bottom line profitability.

“Senior-level executives now recognize that PLM is critical to business success,” explains Miller. “By managing and leveraging product and facility information across the extended enterprise, and by enabling collaborative work processes, PLM enhances business performance by supporting innovation-oriented initiatives such as integrated product development, design collaboration, intellectual supply chain management, product requirements/portfolio management, operations/service and warranty management, and global resource utilization: initiatives that can make or break a company.”

—David Greenfield, editorial director, Control Engineering, dgreenfield@reedbusiness.com

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