What is Product Lifecycle Management, and Why Do You Need It?

The holy grail of every food and beverage manufacturer in today’s market is complete product optimization, a process that ensures all of the investments in developing, testing, marketing, and retailing a new product is delivering maximum value.

To achieve this, manufacturers need a comprehensive product lifecycle management (PLM) plan to structure development, and manage all information and assets. In short, PLM systems ensure that everything from product inception, to sale, to eventual retirement are all handled as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.

Carrying out PLM manually has always been incredibly difficult, but with the growing complexities of consumer demands and food regulations, this can be impossible without dedicated PLM software. This technology replaces overwhelming spreadsheets with intuitive databases, control panels, workflow automations, and even AI, so users only have to worry about the products themselves.

PLM offers F&B organizations advantages including:

  • Driving higher creativity and innovation
  • Improving operational productivity
  • Reducing end-to-end costs
  • Lowering compliance risks
  • Reducing time from idea-to-cash
  • Improving product quality
  • Increasing revenue

Achieving End-To-End Control With Product Lifecycle Management

The PLM journey starts when raw materials are procured from suppliers. Organizations can benefit tremendously by obtaining important information from suppliers concerning material origins and attributes. Being privy to these details will help them make informed decisions about vendors to preserve quality and save on costs, as well as pass along to consumers that value transparency.

Knowledge of raw material specifications also helps organizations eliminate wasteful and harmful processes. An F&B company must ensure standard safety protocols are met before they can even think about delivering a product to consumers. Early operational stages of PLM guarantee these necessary safety checks, which shorten time to market and eliminate the worry that products may not be up to par.

For successful product lifecycle management, organizations also need to take into account the market characteristics of the various phases of the product lifecycle. PLM processes help organizations track product performance throughout its different phases and create an appropriate strategy for each of them.

Using Product Lifecycle Management Software

It’s becoming mandatory for organizations to keep stakeholders in the loop and operate with
greater transparency for consumers. PLM software is especially useful for opening communication between different suppliers and material sources, ensuring supply chain
visibility.

This gives each business partner involved in the product lifecycle unrestricted data access to help maintain products and raw materials. It can even integrate with the manufacturing machinery software for even more seamless process management.

Some other major benefits of using PLM software are:

  • Easier identification of raw materials
  • Simplified online forms that make it easy to upload and revise product-related data
  • Shared product and material information across teams and departments
  • Remote access to product design materials
  • Complete material and product history
  • More efficient inventory management
  • Bottleneck detection in processes and workflows
  • Availability of real-time information
  • Easier document and file management
  • Up-to-date and accurate bills of material
  • Drastic reduction of administrative work and costs

From research and development to customer service, PLM software offers complete end-to-nd benefits for any organization that utilizes it. PLM can easily integrate with a global online database, facilitating seamless information exchange between suppliers, sellers, and even customers. Improving the efficiency of information exchange doesn’t just benefit the organizations involved, it can actually improve the entire marketplace, allowing everyone to respond quicker to customer needs.

Revalize software offers some of the most comprehensive PLM capabilities on the market. schedule a demo with one of our experts to see how it can help your organization create better products.
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