Managing Lifecycles of Complex Projects

PLM (Project Lifecycle Management) refers to the computer-aided management of the information life-cycles of complex and costly projects. Things requiring management include definitions of products, their structural subassemblies and components, plus associated technical data, drawings, computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) instructions and many different kinds of texts. These are generically called "documents" and collectively known as "content". In today's world, essentially all project content is produced and stored on computers in electronic formats. This paradigm is gradually replacing the classical engineering management paradigm based on the management of paper documents. When fully implemented and used effectively by the client and the project's supply chain, PLM technology arguably has the theoretical capacity to reduce project costs by 50% compared to paper-based documentation and management methods. This is achieved through better tracking and measurement of work, and by a greatly increased ability to reuse already validated content. The result reduces costs and schedule for engineering design and documentation, reduces engineering and production rework as sources for project delay, cost blowout and lost opportunity costs due to late delivery of capabilities, and produces additional savings through optimization of lifecycle support costs. On the other hand, there are few if any cases where these levels of savings have been achieved, probably because most project and engineering managers still think of documents as heavy piles of writing on paper, rather than as electronic content that can in many cases be effortlessly and instantaneously acted on and progressed at the speed of light. This non-technical paper explains the technology and its value