CIMdata Reports Ongoing Growth for PLM Market
3 Apr, 2008Worldwide demand for product lifecycle management technologies expected to climb throughout the next five years.
According to recent statistics compiled by consulting and research firm CIMdata, the worldwide comprehensive product lifecycle management (PLM) market experienced a stronger-than-expected 13.5% growth rate to reach an estimated $24.3 billion in 2007.
The increase exceeds earlier forecasts, with the boost attributed to recognition of the enterprisewide value of PLM for companies of all sizes in a growing number of industries. According to CIMdata director of research Ken Amann, PLM investments are forecasted to continue their steady climb over the next five years, increasing at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 9.8% and expanding the market size to nearly $40 billion by 2012.
"Executive-level recognition of the significant business value of PLM is driving increased implementation of the approach. Increasingly, many of these far-reaching systems extend beyond engineering design to a broad range of activities -- from early-stage product strategy development and planning, to product engineering and manufacturing engineering, and through to product maintenance and support," said CIMdata president Ed Miller.
Miller said he expects that the impact of the PLM footprint is that many diverse, previously isolated disciplines and pockets of automation are now being tightly integrated, with processes optimized for the entire enterprise and across the full product lifecycle.
"Considering the far-reaching business impact of PLM, the approach has become a critical enterprise investment," said Miller. "PLM is now widely regarded as a 'do-or-die' competitive necessity in a turbulent global economy where companies leveraging these solutions will likely be among the top performers in the coming years."
