One of the conclusions of the PLM Standards Workshop in Oxford was that, even if practical PLM standards are created, it is not enough simply for someone to pick up the paperwork and read them.  You need to know some basic fundamentals about PLM in order to understand the context of how and why the standards are likely to work in your company.

Almost everyone who has worked in PLM for some time knows these concepts implicitly, but they have never actually been defined.

PLM managers, vendors, integrators and consultants all speak the same "PLM language", and share some vague kind of common experience, but what is it that experienced PLM people know that someone new to the role would not?

Standard Definitions and Principles

The Oxford Workshop worked on this question and identified a set of standard definitions and principles that can be defined as the PLM Concept Set.

The PLM Concept Set contains the formal definitions of 7 basic concepts of PLM:-

• PLM Definition
• PLM vs PDM Definition
• 'Enterprise Down' Concept
• PLM Permeation Concept
• PLM Traction Concept
• PLM Maturity Definition
• PLM Best Practice Definition

Each definition and principle is a standard in its own right, but the PLM Concept Set brings them together in a standardised grouping that formalises, for the first time, the knowledge that PLM practitioners take for granted.

It is important to note that the PLM Concept Set is not "rocket science" - it is merely the embodiment of fundamental PLM ideas that have either been in the public domain for a long time or have been generated since 2004 as the result of PLMIG activities.

The novelty lies in the standard definitions for things which have been diffuse for a long time (such as "PLM Definition"); neglected ("PLM vs PDM Definition"); or overlooked ("PLM Permeation" and "PLM Traction"). The value lies in formalising, in a very simple way, a standardised base point for PLM expertise.

The full details of the PLM Concept Set are published in the Q1 2010 PLM Journal, but the PLM Concept Set is so fundamental to the development of PLM standards that it is summarised on this site.

See the PLM Concept Set >>>

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