FDBusiness.com

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is still emerging in food and beverage with growth expected as more firms take a holistic approach, according to the president of CIMdata.

Peter Bilello, CIMdata’s president, told FoodProductionDaily.com that food and beverage was a newer adopter after starting more than 10 years ago with key functions including formulation and ingredient specifications.

There is now more of a focus on artwork and packaging management as well as ensuring regulatory compliance for global companies.

PLM enables supply chain collaboration allowing communication and a closed-loop approach from everyone from the portfolio management system to the food and beverage manufacturer and spans from concept to end of life of a product.

Statistics compiled by C IMdata show that the comprehensive PLM market experienced 11.3% growth in 2012 to $33.3bn.

PLM benefits

Benefits of the system for food and beverage include a quicker to market roll out and lower product risk because you know your product and the ability to manage the portfolio in terms of future products, said Bilello.

CIMdata’s analysis and forecasts regarding market growth across PLM domains, industries, and regions, and the performance (revenue and market share analysis) of leading PLM solution providers.

Global firms are paying more attention while local firms are also picking it up to deal with the local legislation and expansion through states and countries, he added.

Bilello added that configuring the system to ensure terminology is used in the right way, setting up the system data and the individual user set-up are key issues for industry.

“North America and Europe are leading the market with Asia being slower but the uptake is picking up in China.

“The tipping point is re-use of information and knowledge and managing what information is displayed with rapid compliance as regulations becoming more important.”

Before PLM systems were taken up, firms used programs such as Excel for formulation and other document management tools.

Investment reasons

A range of companies continue to invest in PLM to achieve short-term benefits as well as long-term strategic value throughout the product lifecycle and across their extended enterprises, said the company.

“We expect and see continue adoption through the food and beverage industry, as they manage more complex products and regulation but it is more about managing the product through a holistic view,” said Bilello.

“They are similarities with other industries such as other formulated goods, and other companies have also pushed for adoption of the system.”

CIMdata’s PLM Market and Industry Forums are a gathering of technology and service providers focused on the PLM market and the issues concerning its development and growth with the next session on 19 April in Beijing, China, and 24 April in Tokyo, Japan.

Stan Przybylinski, CIMdata’s vice president of research, said: “The year started out looking to be just as strong in 2012 as it was in 2011, but slowed in the second half, resulting in total revenues below our forecast,” when talking about the PLM market last year.