I think that with all the hype about Product Lifecycle Management, we completely forgot about Product Data Management (PDM). Despite the fact that we don’t like to speak about PDM too much, I think that some very interesting might happen with Product Data Management in the future
1. Be integrated and become a natural part of CAD and Design Systems.
As many more technologies are going to be developed around CAD, developers of PDM systems can put their efforts into a specific CAD system. In practical terms, this means that we will develop “satellites” to CAD systems. Is this good or bad?… In my opinion, the significant work needs to be done to bridge between CAD and PDM. As soon as it this is possible, it will be very beneficial.
2. Provide Product Data Services in the Enterprise
Consolidate efforts and capabilities of PDM systems and use them as an extended PDM platform in the enterprise. This is actually very possible, in my view. PDM systems provide an advanced set of features such as BOM, Workflow, Sourcing and more…
3. Expand beyond PDM into PLM areas
Are expanded PDM and PLM the same thing? My answer is no. By joining the “PLMish” world, the company will expand their products horizontally. So, from the functional standpoint, solutions beyond PDM can become very promising if they can manage additional domains of data.
So, whatever option you choose, PDM is the key enabling technology for enterprises to make data about products more available. I’d specifically mention option #1. For most of the CAD systems today, there is a specific satellite PDM system. So, the next actions are to make these PDM services widely available in the enterprises.