The PLM Interest Group was formed in 2003 because there was at that time no global interest group for PLM.

Since then it has developed a programme of collaborative initiatives that are generating a new body of knowledge about PLM.  Through its work, the PLMIG provides PLM tools that you can use in your own implementation to solve the problems that everybody faces.

These start with the Self-Assessment Toolkit, which is provided free to all members. The Benchmarking Handbook and PLM-SCM Guidebook are stand-alone tools, and the PLM Benefits and PLM Maturity initiatives are generating the first common structure that can be applied in these areas.  They are supported by extensive material published in the PLM Journal.  Together they form a standard syllabus that shows the simplest and most effective way to progress in PLM.

Valuable though these tools are, the PLMIG was formed with wider aims in mind. Delegates who took part in the launch meetings in 2003 did so because they wanted a neutral organisation to increase the visibility and dissemination about PLM, and to raise the profile of the subject at board level and in the industrial arena.

Users wanted to be able to plan for future trends, to deal more effectively with multi-vendor PLM, and to encourage the development and maturity of PLM technology. Vendors wanted to increase market understanding of PLM, and of the benefits that PLM can provide.  Everyone wanted a group that is proactive, open and would establish long-term frameworks and standards for PLM.

These aims still apply.  Participants at the User Forum in November 2008 wanted an industry body that could take PLM beyond the IT backbone and set out the culture for PLM; bridge geographies and assist detailed collaboration; and establish a long-term vision for how PLM should evolve.

Above all, there is a demand for a clear and consistent voice for PLM, that offers a non-controversial overview of the PLM space that everyone can understand and relate to.

The PLMIG is following these aims with its current initiatives towards structure, standards and PLM reference models.

The scope of the PLMIG remains the consideration and advancement of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and its related disciplines. The Group addresses all industries in which product and lifecycle issues are important.

The PLMIG has no geographical restrictions on membership or activities.   The membership base encompasses Europe, the USA, and Asia.

The PLMIG is a neutral organisation, independent of all providers of PLM products and services, of all individual users, and of all other organisations.