Trends; PLM Market recovering faster than expected
2008 was a record year for the PLM Market. However due to the global economic slump the following year, financial uncertainty, and generally difficult business climate, PLM investments had a decline in growth. The PLM Market has still not fully recovered but it is really uprising again, and that’s earlier than expected. Coming out of the decline, a wide range of companies are investing in PLM to achieve short-term benefits as well as long-term strategic value. Some of the growth is due to companies releasing funding for projects that had been approved but had been delayed.
According to Stan Przybylinski, Director of Research at CIMdata, the leading global strategic consulting company in PLM, the return to 2008 levels is expected by the end of 2011, one year sooner than predicted last year.
Growth is uneven in different parts of the world. Some regions or countries never stopped growing, like in China. Western Europe lags slightly behind but the signs of recovery there are now clear. CIMdata estimates the global market for PL will grow 8 – 11 % in 2011.
- Most solution suppliers we have spoken to have seen good growth in 2010, and believe they are poised to return to historical levels in 2011. This is consistent with our forecast made last year. Economic growth forecasts suggest that Europe will lag behind Asia and North America, but we will have to see what 2011 brings, says Stan about the PLM market situation in 2011.
During 2010 we saw some notable acquisitions, like Dassault Systèmes buying IBM PLM, SAP bought Sybase and Mentor’s acquisition of Valor.
Trends
According to Stan, Cloud/SaaS is getting more important in PLM. This is something that Dassault Systèmes is about to launch, focused primarily on smaller customers. We’re also seeing mobile computing platforms entering the scene.
During the recession many companies laid off skilled staff. Now these companies need to perform without these resources and that makes PLM very interesting to them.
A widening range of industries use PLM, including both traditional industries such as automotive, high-tech electronics, and aerospace and defense, as well as companies that have not historically been major PLM investors, such as retail and apparel, consumer package goods and life science, according to Stan. Additionally, a renewed focus on PLM is taking place in areas such as utilities, petrochemical, construction, and infrastructure. This expanding industry use of PLM will help drive growth and also buffer the market in downturns as investments in infrastructure, energy, and health and life sciences are generally sustained during economic downturns.
Companies in the Life Sciences industry face a unique challenge that sets them apart from other manufacturers – the high degree of regulation imposed by governments used to ensure product quality. A crucial part of these companies’ activities is monitoring and adhering to regulations established regulators, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and similar organizations around the world. These regulatory bodies expect the companies to master vast amounts of data. During an audit, for example, the companies must be able to quickly provide any document related to its products and development processes. Many companies in the Life Sciences industry have now realized that the former paper-based data management system is unworkable and have turned to PLM for product development and compliancy.
When it comes to apparel, the complexity is about rapid development cycles and distant supply chains. With extraordinary short lead times, fast changing trends and production located in far away countries there is a huge potential for PLM.
Erik Johansson