Product Life-cycle Management

Product Life-cycle Management (PLM) platforms are a key enabler for new business models featuring closed-loop supply structures, supply chain transparency and collaboration. Designing products that use fewer, simpler materials and components, require fewer (or less harmful) process inputs, and are more durable and repairable, presents challenges to product designers, operations management, and for obtaining and incorporating feedback from users and those involved in disassembly, recovery and recycling. Product life-cycle management (PLM) systems provide a means of sharing this information and engaging stakeholders all along the supply chain, with the aim of improving the design of products to be used again, and for longer. This vignette provides readers with an introduction to PLM, how businesses are using it today and the benefits this approach yields and how next-generation PLM solutions can support circular approaches as part of rethinking and redesigning supply chains.