Understanding Product Life-Cycle Management (PLM) – Bühler Case

30 vocabulary flashcards covering the fundamental terms, stages, tools, and strategic benefits of Product Life-Cycle Management as presented in the Bühler lecture.

Product Life Cycle Management (PLM)

The end-to-end process of governing a product’s journey from ideation through design, manufacture, service, and final disposal.

Product Life Cycle

The sequence of stages a product passes through: Ideation → Design → Released → Obsolete (with possible updates and feature additions).

Ideation Stage

Early phase where product concepts and requirements are generated and evaluated.

Design Stage

Phase in which detailed engineering, CAD models, and prototypes are created and reviewed.

Released Stage

Point at which a product is approved for manufacturing and market delivery.

Obsolete Stage

Final life-cycle phase where a product is withdrawn from active production and support.

gPDM (global Product Data Management)

Bühler’s company-wide platform for storing, controlling, and sharing product data across worldwide R&D and manufacturing sites.

Windchill

The PTC software solution used as Bühler’s backbone for gPDM, handling CAD files, BOMs, workflows, and change control.

Bill of Material (BOM)

Hierarchical list of all parts, assemblies, and raw materials needed to build a product.

Design Review

Structured evaluation of a product’s design to verify requirements and identify issues before release.

Product Change Review

Formal assessment of proposed modifications to a released product to ensure quality, cost, and compliance.

Computer-Aided Design (CAD)

Use of software (e.g., Autodesk Inventor) to create virtual 3D models and technical drawings of products.

Digital Twin

A virtual representation of a physical product, created during CAD modeling, enabling simulation and analysis before manufacture.

Vault Storage

Secure digital repository (≈66 TB at Bühler) that archives every document and CAD file for traceability.

Metadata Database

Structured storage (≈5 TB) containing product attributes, change records, and workflow information.

Research & Development (R&D)

Organizational function focused on innovation, new product development, and continual improvement.

Intellectual Property (IP)

Proprietary knowledge, designs, and inventions safeguarded throughout the product life cycle.

Global Collaboration

Capability enabled by gPDM allowing teams in Asia, Europe, the UK, and the USA to design anywhere and manufacture anywhere.

Manufacture Anywhere

Strategy where manufacturing can occur at any global site because all product data is centrally managed and accessible.

Design Anywhere

Approach permitting engineers worldwide to work on the same product using shared PLM data.

Integration

Linking PLM to other enterprise systems (e.g., SAP) to ensure seamless product information flow.

Bühler

Swiss technology company highlighted in the lecture for its extensive PLM deployment and SORTEX product line.

SORTEX

Family of optical sorters developed by Bühler, illustrating product evolution from G1 (1947) to SORTEX F (2017).

Case Study

Real-world example used in the lecture to show how PLM benefits Bühler’s innovation and production.

Innovation

Process of creating new or improved products, often driven by market demand, customer requirements, and R&D findings.

Engineering Change Management

Controlled procedure within PLM for initiating, reviewing, approving, and implementing product modifications.

PDF Drawings

Static documents (≈65 k per month) automatically generated from CAD models for manufacturing reference.

CAD Files

Native design files (≈47 k per month) stored in the vault and managed via gPDM.

Platform Integration

Connection of design tools (e.g., Autodesk Inventor) with Windchill to streamline check-in, check-out, and revision control.

Product Information Flow

Movement of design, BOM, and change data across PLM, ERP (SAP), and manufacturing systems.