GlossaryKind of term: Manufacturing termPLM (product lifecycle management)
What is PLM?
PLM is the approach and software a design organisation uses to manage product data, revisions and changes over the product's whole life.
PLM stands for product lifecycle management. The product data covers models, drawings, bills of materials, specifications and changes, each with a revision and a status such as in work, in review or released. PDM, the management of CAD files and their versions, is usually one part of PLM, which adds the change process and release. A supplier generally has no access to the customer's PLM system. What reaches the shop is what was released: a drawing with its revision, a STEP export and sometimes a change notice, by email or through a supplier portal.
How does a change run through a PLM system?
A change in a PLM system usually runs through a set procedure: a change request (ECR), a decision or change order (ECO) and a notice that releases the new revision (ECN). The steps and abbreviations vary by organisation. Revisions carry letters or numbers according to the customer's own rules, sometimes based on a drawing-revision standard; those rules also decide whether a small correction earns a new revision.
How does PLM work in practice?
With a customer that runs PLM, the revision on your request is a snapshot from that system. If a change is under way there, a new revision can arrive while your price still rests on the previous one. A moved datum, a tighter tolerance or a different material can change the route, for example with an extra setup or an inspection step. Record which revision each price applies to, and when a change notice arrives, compare the old and new drawings before you adjust the price.
What is PLM often confused with?
PLM and ERP are often mentioned in one breath, but they manage different things: PLM what the product is and which revision applies, ERP orders, stock, purchasing and hours. Set against PDM, PLM is the broader term: PDM manages CAD files and their versions, while PLM adds the bills of materials, the change process and release.
How does Blake keep revisions beside your PLM?
In Blake revisions are kept per part. When a customer asks for a repeat part, the part sits beside its last priced calculation, so you can compare the new estimate with the previous one. More on requests.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between PLM and PDM?
PDM manages CAD files and their versions. PLM also manages bills of materials, change requests and release, across the product's whole life. In many systems PDM is one part of PLM.
What is an ECN or change notice?
The notice that a change has been approved and a new revision released, with what changed. Read it beside the old and the new drawing: one short line can mean a different tolerance, a different material or an extra operation.
Should my estimate state a revision?
It is common and sound practice. A price belongs to one revision of one drawing. With the revision on the estimate and the quote, a new revision makes it plain that the old price does not automatically apply.