The Many Faces of PLM
Part One: Event Summary
Jim Brown - December 29, 2003

Event Summary

The Product Development Managers Association (PDMA) is a professional organization dedicated to furthering the practice of product development. In October of 2003, PDMA held their annual conference with the theme "The Business of Product Development - People, Process & Technology Across the Life Cycle". The conference was an excellent event for professionals with a common interest in better managing commercial products to share ideas and learn from each other. The meeting highlighted a series of industry companies that spoke on the value they had received from implementing best practices in developing products. What was rare about this conference is that under one roof an attendee could listen to the value of implementing effective Stage-Gate Processes to better execute product development programs, learn about how better Portfolio Management can improve the value of the choice of products a company chooses to take to market, and also explore how Design for Cost / Design for Manufacturability concepts can help to decrease product costs...