A guide to product lifecycle management (PLM)

Life is never static. All living organisms emerge then evolve through various phases of development, maturity, and decline before reaching their inevitable end of life.

While the products we depend on aren’t exactly living and breathing, they follow a similar pattern as they transform from that first spark of an idea to their eventual retirement as they’re naturally replaced by new ideas. This guide explores the process of product lifecycle management in more detail. We’ll look at the different stages and benefits of PLM, how to use PLM software, and common pitfalls to watch out for. Whatever your product vision, we’ll show you how to manage every stage of the product lifecycle with monday dev.

What is product lifecycle management?

Product lifecycle management, or PLM, is the process of managing all aspects of a product’s life from birth to retirement. This includes everything that happens from idea generation through product design, development, production, supply chain management, support, and eventually, product retirement to make way for new editions.

PLM is complex, involving multiple people and processes to optimize the product and maximize revenue for your business. A central platform acts as a single source of truth, which is essential for keeping everyone connected as they produce and maintain the best possible version of your product.

The history of product lifecycle management

Believe it or not, PLM has been around for the best part of a century. In 1931, Otto Kleppner, founder and chairman of Kleppner Company Inc., outlined the product lifecycle as including three distinct phases: pioneering, competitive, and retentive.

But it wasn’t until 1957 that an employee of the consulting services company Booz Allen Hamilton developed his own theory that products of most shapes and sizes go through the stages of introduction, growth, maturity, saturation, and decline.

As technology advanced throughout the 1980s and 1990s, companies started to lean on product development software to manage their product lines. For example, in 1985, the American Motors Corporation used computer-aided design (CAD) software to speed up and refine its production of the Jeep Grand Cherokee. The company noticed that storing design drawings in a central space enhanced real-time collaboration and allowed the engineering team to resolve any errors effectively.

Since then, product lifecycle management has become a staple best practice in many companies and industries.

The 6 stages of product lifecycle management

A typical product lifecycle includes the following six stages:

• Conception: You’ll begin by brainstorming potential ideas based on market trends, customer feedback, or internal product innovation. By assessing the feasibility of each, you’ll achieve a shortlist of ideas you want to pursue.
• Design and development: During this phase, you’ll define the product’s specifications to create a prototype to gather feedback on.
• Testing and validation: Before bringing your product to market, you’ll test it for quality, safety, and regulatory compliance. Feedback from focus groups and existing customers shape each iteration of the product.
• Production and launch: This stage involves sourcing the materials that’ll go into your product and then manufacturing it at scale. Next, you’ll introduce it to the market, collaborating heavily with sales and marketing teams to prepare your target audience for your new item.
• Support and maintenance: After your product launch, the focus is on offering support and updates, including feature enhancements, bug fixes, or any adjustments based on the user experience.
• Retirement: At this point, your product is no longer viable—either because you’ve replaced it with something swankier or the market has moved on. At this end-of-life stage, you’ll discontinue support, clear your inventory, and move on to your next great idea.

6 benefits of using product lifecycle management software

PLM software offers clear benefits for any business based on developing simple or complex products:

• Improved collaboration: When product information is transparent and central, teams can share updates, concerns and brainstorm in real time.
• Enhanced production efficiency: Automating workflows, such as approvals and version updates, gets product teams to the finish line quicker and with a higher quality of output that will dominate market share.
• Cost reduction: By identifying potential problems early, businesses can eliminate waste and avoid expensive delays.
• Faster time to market: PLM software speeds up development sprints by providing real-time updates and tools to manage each phase of the lifecycle.
• Strategic resource allocation: Dividing the entire lifecycle into distinct phases makes it easier to allocate resources thoughtfully at each essential stage.
• Increased customer satisfaction: You’ll keep your target audience top of mind throughout every stage of the lifecycle, understanding what your customers need right now, even in the final stages of your product’s life.

A purpose-built product management software like monday dev offers all these benefits and more.

What is the difference between PLM and PPM?

Product lifecycle management (PLM) and product portfolio management (PLM) are two related but distinct concepts. But which is right for your organization?

The answer boils down to how many products you need to manage. PLM focuses on managing a single product’s development, production, and support throughout its life. It zooms in on the details of an individual product as it progresses through each lifecycle stage.

In contrast, PPM is broader, involving an entire portfolio of products. PPM software allows for a direct comparison between multiple products, enabling businesses to make strategic decisions on which products to develop or prioritize.

Why do PLM projects fail?

You’ve bought into the concept of product lifecycle management, and invested in the software, but you’re not hitting your goals. Why? PLM projects can suffer from the following hiccups:

• Lack of executive support: Getting your PLM project off the ground without buy-in from your key stakeholders is challenging. Ensure you’ve gained all the necessary approvals, budget and support from leadership before launching your product and trying to mature it through each stage.
• Inadequate training: If users don’t know how to use your PLM platform, they may revert to using a previous mishmash of email chains and spreadsheets to handle product management. Offer onboarding training, complete with best practices and expectations so your employees understand how to slide the tool into their workflow.
• Missing integrations: To extract the most value from your PLM platform, you’ll need to sync it with other tools in your tech stack, such as communication, marketing, and design software. If these integrations are incomplete—perhaps if you only sync data with some of your preferred tools—don’t be surprised if siloes form outside of your chosen PLM software product.

How do you manage the product lifecycle?

So, how do you get from the theory of product lifecycle management to a practical, repeatable workflow you can use with every product you bring to life? Following these steps:

Step 1: Define your PLM stages

Map out the six stages of product lifecycle management and consider what each means to your business. Who will be involved at each stage, and what tasks will they complete?

Step 2: Use cross-functional teams

Successful PLM depends on multiple departments and individuals coming together to share their skills, expertise, and updates about the product. Involve all relevant teams, casting the net to first ensure a truly holistic approach to product development then develop a relevant marketing strategy for a successful launch.

Step 3: Lean on PLM software

Use purpose-built platforms like monday dev to track changes, manage documentation, and automate all aspects of your product management.

Step 4: Emphasize data quality

Any data you use should be accurate, up-to-date, and synced across all connected tools. For example, if you’re importing a product roadmap from an alternative tool, check the milestone dates are valid and the task assignees are still involved in the project before you make it accessible to your product teams.

Step 5: Implement regular reviews

Assess the progress of each stage periodically to make adjustments as needed. If you notice products are moving through the phases too quickly, you may need to slow down and focus to ensure you create quality products. Alternatively, if products are getting stuck at a particular stage, you might need to allocate additional resources or re-evaluate the business strategy for that phase.

What is the future of PLM?

As we’ve seen, product lifecycle management has evolved significantly over the last 90+ years. And some of the following advancements prove it shows no signs of slowing down:

• Artificial intelligence: Already widely used in PLM software, AI offers predictive insights to enhance your product lifecycles.
• Digital twins: This technology is expected to grow 60% by 2027. It involves creating virtual replicas of products to simulate their performance and spot any potential issues before manufacturing them at scale.
• Sustainability: Incorporating sustainable practices throughout the product lifecycle is becoming a priority for many businesses, especially for those aspiring to achieve B Corps status.

Streamline your PLM with monday dev

As product lifecycle management involves many moving parts, you’ll need a central workspace to access all the essential details. monday dev is a versatile, collaborative platform you can use to manage your products as they move from birth to retirement. Here’s what it offers your product team:

• Easy-to-customize templates that slide straight into your PLM workflows. For example, our product launch strategy template allows you to assign tasks, set due dates, enable reminders, and change priority settings to keep your launch on track.

• Strategic alignment of product and organizational goals using custom-built dashboards. Using drag-and-drop widgets, you’ll view all the details that matter, such as budget, OKRs, and performance to keep your products on point.

• Thoughtful allocation of resources throughout each product lifecycle stage. Use the Workload View to ensure an even spread of tasks and responsibilities across your team members to avoid bottlenecks in your product development processes. Our Resource Management template also enables you to allocate resources to each product stage.

• Cross-functional collaboration using monday dev’s shared workspace to maintain visibility and keep everyone informed on what’s coming up. Add board comments, and integrate with email and direct messaging apps to keep key PLM discussions in the same place.

monday dev was built to bring your products to life and optimize them throughout every stage of their growth. Take a free trial of monday dev today.