Need for Innovation in a Collaborative Environment Drives Growth in the Global PLM Solutions Market

PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- In the wake of increasing competition, manufacturers around the world have to constantly innovate in order to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Furthermore, it is becoming imperative for manufacturers to reduce the time-to-market for product introductions and this drive towards reducing the time-to-innovate and market has led to an increase in the adoption of product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions. However, while PLM solutions are mostly open platform based and can be seamlessly integrated with other enterprise software, the lack of standardized definitions and the expanding horizons of the collaborative product definition management solutions represent significant challenges for PLM vendors.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.industrialautomation.frost.com/ ), World Product Lifecycle Management Solutions Markets, reveals that revenues in this industry totaled $16.90 billion in 2005 and estimates to reach $29.86 billion in 2012.

If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides manufacturers, end users, and other industry participants an overview of the latest analysis of the World Product Lifecycle Management Solutions Markets, then send an e- mail to Tori Foster, Corporate Communications, at tori.foster@frost.com with your full name, company name, title, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address. Upon receipt of the above information, an overview will be sent to you by e-mail.

In order to reduce the time-to-market, and yet maintain product excellence, it is necessary that all those involved in the product lifecycle including the customers have visibility into the product development. PLM solutions provide this much needed visibility into enterprise-wide information across the globe, driving adoption among leading end-user industries such as automotive, aerospace and defense, hi-tech and electronics manufacturing, fabrication and assembly, and consumer packaged goods.

"Increasing demand for open architecture platform based solutions that can reduce lifecycle costs and time-to-innovate and market, and thereby satisfy the drive for innovation along with globalization has led the Global PLM solutions market to witness high growth rates," notes Frost & Sullivan Industry Manager Kishan M. Bhat. "In today's competitive environment, innovation is the keyword for manufacturing industries and those unable to drive the process of innovation face the danger of loosing valuable market share."

However, despite these positive trends, there remain several end-user manufacturers that still use their own homegrown product lifecycle PLM solutions. Considering their inability to be integrated with other enterprise software such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer resource management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM), these in-house solutions are not entirely capable of solving real-time and real-world challenges such as collaboration, information sharing and enterprise wide content management. Since most suppliers and original equipment manufacturers (OEM) within the automotive, consumer packaged goods (CPG), and fabrication and assembly industries have their in-house solutions, PLM vendors find it difficult to penetrate these markets.

"As a consequence of employing such in-house PLM solutions, end users find it increasingly difficult to innovate beyond local organization levels," says Bhat. "The need of the present generation is to innovate at a global level and most manufacturers are yet to fully recognize the effectiveness of a full fledged PLM solution."

Nevertheless, with improving awareness levels, end users are gradually realizing the benefits of employing full-fledged PLM solutions. Moreover, PLM vendors are also raising awareness through trade shows, expos, and end-user forums and the resultant improvements in awareness levels assure strong growth opportunities for vendors in the Global PLM solutions market.

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Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company, has been partnering with clients to support the development of innovative strategies for more than 40 years. The company's industry expertise integrates growth consulting, growth partnership services, and corporate management training to identify and develop opportunities. Frost & Sullivan serves an extensive clientele that includes Global 1000 companies, emerging companies, and the investment community by providing comprehensive industry coverage that reflects a unique global perspective and combines ongoing analysis of markets, technologies, econometrics, and demographics. For more information, visit http://www.frost.com/ .

World Product Lifecycle Management Solutions Markets F009 Contact: Tori Foster Corporate Communications - North America P: 210.477.8448 F: 210.348.1003 E: tori.foster@frost.com Magdalena Oberland Corporate Communications - Europe P: +44 (0) 20 7915 7876 F: +44 (0) 20 7730 3343 E: magdalena.oberland@frost.com Donna Jeremiah Corporate Communications - Asia Pacific P: +603 6304 5832 F: +603 6201 7402 E: djeremiah@frost.com Sharmin Jassal Corporate Communications - Australia P: +61 2 8247 8900 F: +61 2 9252 8066 E: sharmin.jassal@frost.com http://www.frost.com/

Keywords in this release: product lifecycle management, PLM, open platforms, open architecture, enterprise software, time-to market, enterprise resource planning, ERP, customer resource management, CRM, supply chain management, SCM, research, information, market, trends, technology, service, forecast, market share