Product Lifecycle Management: How to Sell Faster and Smarter

I know the title looks like clickbait but hear me out.

What if I told you there was something you could do to get your product to your target audience more efficiently and effectively?

Product lifecycle management gives you and your entire supply chain the tools for strong decision-making while reducing costs, decreasing time-to-market (TTM), and adapting to market changes. 

With the help of the right PLM software and a strong plan, companies can take full control of a product’s lifetime from concept to delivery using technologies, processes, and methods unique to them. 

Exploring the product life cycle

The circle of life makes no exception, even when it comes to a product. There is a beginning, middle, and an end to everything, and the production process of making a profitable product follows the same rule. 

The product life cycle is all of the phases that a product will go through, from idea conception to selling. These phases chronicle the typical rise and fall of a new product entering the market, making itself known, reaching peak success, and overcoming the pitfalls of a competitive market. 

Introduction

After an extensive new product development process, the introduction phase begins when a product is ready to be released into the market. In this phase, a company will start building procedures and strategies to introduce new goods or services to its target audience. This introduction period will focus on a company’s efforts to raise awareness of its product quality using marketing and advertising campaigns, educational promotions, and other publicity measures.

The introduction phase is considered the most expensive phase. It involves a hefty investment that isn’t followed by profits. At this phase in the life cycle, the product is only being recognized and is not expected to yield any major sales. Companies should be aware that the introduction phase is the most important one to grow out of because a company that gets stuck in the introduction phase is just operating at a deficit. 

This phase provides companies with some major insight into supply and demand expectations and customer relationship management (CRM). The initial product introduction can give some clarity on the amount of consumer interest in the market. Getting more information on their consumers allows companies to create accurate forecasts and demand plans in the future. 

Growth

The growth phase is when the target market begins to acknowledge the product. This is the phase where the most earnings come from because consumers are getting increasingly interested in the new product. Those advertising and publicity investments begin to drive revenue and organic product marketing, like word of mouth starts. While the product gains traction, profits and demand grow exponentially. 

The growth phase also presents the rise of competition. Other companies recognize the market growth of a product and start developing competing products to get a piece of those new profits. 

Maturity

The maturity phase marks the peak of a product’s success in the product life cycle. While the last stages introduced competitors, this stage makes the existence of competition publicly known. At this point, the supplying company’s primary goal is to maintain its market leadership and continue diversifying from competing products. 

Marketing and advertising costs decrease because the company has hopefully created a strong market presence and consumer following and doesn’t need to promote the product as heavily as in the previous phases. 

The costs associated with this phase come from potential price decreases to keep up with the competitors and continue cultivating demand. Even with those price decreases, the maturity peak brings the highest profits in the product cycle. But market saturation is near. And what goes up must come down.

Decline

The decline phase marks the beginning of the end of the product life cycle. Once enough competitors continue to make their presence known, market saturation occurs, and the supplying company begins to lose its market shares. 

Consumers now have a large pool of options and the original product is less remarkable. Demand decreases, and attempting to entice the audience with lower prices is not as justifiable. At this point, it’s hard for a company to balance costs and sales, so profitability is at an all-time low. 

The decline phase is usually inevitable and puts the most pressure on companies to make serious decisions about the next steps. A company can either jump ship on its product or start its life cycle over. It can also reuse older products or create something new and innovative.

Stages of product lifecycle management 

With the product life cycle phases in mind, it’s important to remember that the stages of the PLM process happen simultaneously. Together, they tell a comprehensive story of a product from inception to conclusion. 

The product lifecycle management process consists of three stages: the beginning of life (BoL), middle of life (MoL), and end of life (EoL).

1. Beginning of life (BoL)

The beginning-of-life chronicles the essentials of creating a product. The introduction phase of the product life cycle takes place at this stage. It also includes idea conceptualization, the product design lifecycle, testing, and other developmental processes.

BoL helps a business outline expectations about time-to-market, cost, demand, and essential marketing needs. It allows the development of a product lifecycle project management team with designated roles to streamline future tasks. The BoL stage is considered the most crucial and the most detrimental stage because it lays down the groundwork for the rest of the process management. 

2. Middle of life (MoL)

The middle-of-life chronicles the public use of the product. The growth and maturity phases of the product life cycle take place at this stage. MoL sees the most profits and collects the most data. 

At this point, the product is in the target market, and the company begins receiving authentic feedback from customers. This data can improve the product in response to competitors or in the future when it reaches the end of the product lifecycle management process. 

3. End of life (EoL)

The end-of-life stage chronicles the end of the product’s major success in the market. The decline phase of the product life cycle takes place at this stage. 

At this point, the product is considered to be on its way out of market existence. Companies use EoL to evaluate the next steps, including recycling from their product portfolio or scrapping it for parts of something new. 

Why is product lifecycle management important?

After learning all about the product life cycle, you may have more questions that came up along the way. Why do I need PLM? What can it do for me?

Some of the perks of successfully implementing a PLM process include:

• Improved communication between departments: PLM allows conversations between teams who may not interact much daily. It requires the input of everyone who plays a role in the product life cycle. When everyone’s on the same page, things run smoother.
• Lowered risks: The more eyes there are on a project, the fewer problems slip through. PLM allows for reduced technical vulnerabilities and, in turn, fewer chances of a potentially costly security flaw. 

• Decreased time-to-market: Where there is better communication and collaboration, there’s efficiency. A thriving PLM plan will speed up the development process to get your product to your target audience a lot faster. 
• Quick adaptation: Keeping a close eye on the life cycle of a product will make you more capable of quick changes. Is your product approaching a decline? Use what you have learned about lowering prices, increasing marketing efforts, or creating new strategies to get a leg up on your competitors. 
• Increased return on investment: Creating a product is never easy, and any company, big or small, has to invest a lot of time and money in its development. PLM allows you to catch costly mistakes before they empty your wallet and address them with ease. 

How to implement a product lifecycle management process

Once you have determined that a PLM process is a good fit for your company, it’s time to start going through the implementation process. Creating your unique process relies on self-reflection, finding your place in the target market, and planning in advance to ensure a smooth product life cycle. 

Follow the steps below to begin your journey through the PLM process. 

1. Identify goals

The first step in the product lifecycle management process is to figure out company needs and wants. This may include identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) to determine the company’s benchmarks. 

Involving stakeholders, upper management, partners, and even some customers at this step may be beneficial when distinguishing the KPIs. Identifying goals helps create the framework for what you may need from a PLM software or vendor. 

2. Make necessary changes

After identifying your company goals, the next step is to determine where your strengths and weaknesses lie. Do an inventory of your current procedures and think about what needs to be moved into your new PLM strategy. If you have entered the product lifecycle before, consider reviewing historical data and identifying in what areas your company succeeded or failed.

Did you experience a product surplus or shortage? Did you get stuck at the growth phase? Are you revamping an old product or heading back to the drawing board? Note what needs to change or stay intact to meet those goals at the end of the life cycle. Acknowledging old data can make a solid base for new objectives. 

3. Recognize market needs

Before going through the product life cycle, it’s essential to determine where your ideas and objectives fit into the existing market. What is your “why”? Figure out why your product exists. What problems are you solving for the present audience? And what makes your product better than your competition?

As much as you can plan within your organization, external factors can sometimes play an even bigger role in determining whether or not your product will succeed. Analyze what those factors are and plan accordingly. Whether your product’s success depends on the weather or political climate, it’s always something to consider. Note anything in the current market that may affect your product life cycle down the line. 

4. Create a PLM team 

How often do you say “we’re all in this together” and mean it? 

Something that cannot be overlooked in the product life cycle management process is that collaboration is the key. Creating an all-star team when implementing a PLM strategy is essential. There should be people on the team who can delegate, ensure compliance, and create an honest space for communication. 

5. Create a plan

After identifying goals, pinpointing strengths and weaknesses, analyzing the product market, and assembling the perfect team, start creating your PLM system plan. Determine what resources or bill of materials will be needed throughout the product life cycle and consider hosting training sessions to get all company personnel on the same page. 

PLM software

Manually implementing a product lifecycle management methodology strategy is not easy. Maintaining close communication between teams, keeping productivity consistent, and tracking ongoing product changes can be especially tedious. 

Some companies utilize a product lifecycle management software system to automate this process. PLM software can help a company operate on a closed-loop, with all information being updated electronically. 

To be included in this category, the software product must:

• Organize data throughout the product life cycle
• Create a hub for product information
• Offer tools to automate business processes

* Below are the top 5 leading PLM software solutions from G2’s Spring 2021 Grid® Report. Some reviews may be edited for clarity. 

1. Arena PLM & QMS

Walk through the entire product life cycle and quickly create innovative products with Arena PLM & QMS. This cloud PLM solution offers the tools necessary to automate product management cycles, increase visibility, and expedite market releases.

What users like:

“The value Arena brings to our company is that most of our information is accessible in one tool. From Items to sourcing to change management to quality to training. The ease of use for our users is of the utmost importance, and we haven't heard any complaints. From an audit perspective, the auditors love it as there is history and improvements in processes are tracked. The ability to share information with suppliers is important and speeds up our manufacturing processes.”

- Arena PLM & QMS Review, Cindy L.

What users dislike:

“There is no integrated training or tips. At least from what I've seen. Once you understand what to do, it's very easy, but the initial learning curve is high.”

-Arena PLM & QMS Review, Alonzo B.

2. Oracle Product Lifecycle Management Cloud

Manage your product lifecycle data from innovation to commercialization with Oracle Product Lifecycle Management Cloud. This software product offers synchronized manufacturing while stabilizing costs and compliance. 

What users like:

“I like the fact that his tool is highly collaborative in that people across my team can work on varying parts of the data and information control process and integration. No one has time to wait in a queue, so you might as well be able to leverage a tool that allows real-time collaboration from multiple people.”

- Oracle Product Lifecycle Management Cloud Review, Lide F.

What users dislike:

“The reports are not structured to be shown in excel files, so that means you lose a lot of time trying to do graphs or an executive report. It is better when you connect that type of platform with DPMs or SharePoint to fill automatically that date from. Be aware that you need to have a good PLM on paper or another ERP which can help you to develop a smooth virtual change. The users are expensive. Therefore, you need to consider and standardize roles to use them better.”

3. ENOVIA SmarTeam

Collaborate on the product development process with ENOVIA SmarTeam. This unified PLM technology provides a hub to connect design, enterprise, and engineering products. 

What users like:

“The best thing about Enovia is surely the ease of use and adaptability. It greatly helps all the engineers and designers with their Product Data Management.”

- ENOVIA SmarTeam Review, Alfred R.

What users dislike:

“In my organization, it was synchronized with another PDM. The sync time was very long, perhaps 15 minutes to sometimes 1 hour, so during the release of products, it was a bit hectic.”

4. OpenBOM

Connect different areas of product data with supply chain management using OpenBOM. This network-based platform offers spreadsheets to organize manufacturing data in an all-encompassing process.

What users like:

“OpenBOM is a lightweight web-based software that does it all for a manufacturing shop. We use the software to track inventory, create BOMs, calculate pricing, and track purchase orders. It is rare for software that can do this many manufacturing-related operations in a single package. The software has a good balance of features, complexity, and customizability. In addition, onboarding is effortless, as there is a decent library of videos demonstrating the features.”

- OpenBOM Review, Jianyi L.

What users dislike:

“It can seem a bit overcomplicated at times, and if you have a small company like mine, some of the extra features you pay for aren't really worth it, especially if you only have a few products. However, the scaled subscriptions make it relatively easy to fit your needs. There are a few bugs with linking SolidWorks, and I don't like that you all have to use one account to sync between seats. Preventing duplicates is also an issue. ”

5. Upchain

Decrease PLM project risk, manage complex processes, and simplify value chain collaboration with Upchain. This cloud product life cycle management system allows you to automate workflows and keep costs low with no implementation fees and built-in workflow management.

What users like:

“The best aspect of Upchain is its cohesive platform. As a full PDM and PLM solution, it provides an all-in-one approach. As a Solidworks user, the plug-in is crucial for its PDM functions, and the ability to control full life cycle management within the same platform is seamless. Additionally, direct-to-consumer communication has proved to be far superior to having to go through an authorized reseller other platforms require. If there is a question or improvement suggestion, direct communication to the Upchain team is easy.”

- Upchain Review, Bradley B.

What users dislike:

“There was more detail in set up than initially anticipated. It would be great to have a hands-on demo before purchase rather than a video introduction. This would have allowed us to dive deeper into what we were purchasing and ensure that this was the correct product for our needs and problems. There have been a couple of bugs, but the team has been fantastic in responding to these. ”

Teamwork makes the dream work

There is power in numbers, and there is power in taking control of your product life cycle. When you get the right people and the right processes on your side, things fall into place.

It’s important to note that not every company’s product cycle looks the same. Some companies may fly through the cycle while others spend more time in the introduction phase. In turn, not every company’s PLM process will look the same. Organizations have different demands that need to be met to succeed in the product life cycle. But what isn’t different is that every company wants to sell faster and smarter.

Learning about the product life cycle and how to manage it is step one; the rest is up to you. 

Ready to implement a product life cycle management process into your company’s infrastructure? Find out how you can step up your development game using product ideation.