PLM breaks down silos. That’s why you need it.

You’ve heard of ERP (enterprise resource management), SCM (supply chain management) and SRM (supplier relationship management). Here is another set of letters that you need to know and use: PLM (product lifecycle management).

The term is new even if the concept behind it isn’t.

The concept, of course, is deceptively simple: Develop procedures that allow everyone in the company who touches a product—any product—to know its development status, have the most-up-to-date specs and know its performance in the field so the company can improve the next generation of the product.

Naturally, there is much more involved in product lifecycle management, which research firm CIMdata says grew as a class of software nearly 9% to $18 billion in 2005. The key for purchasing staff is this: As the link between engineering and suppliers, purchasing is one of the biggest stakeholders in product development and therefore must have a say in the design and implementation of any PLM system.

If you don’t have a say in PLM in your company, insist on it. Why? Because PLM systems give you a guaranteed seat at the design table, where you and your suppliers can drive down costs in the concept stage, before they are designed into the product.

There are other reasons too: Many RFQs (requests for quotes) contain errors or outdated information, forcing suppliers to quote on the wrong specs, and leading to higher costs. With PLM systems, everyone has the latest specs. And in manufacturing, PLM can also lead to standardization of parts and part numbers, a purchasing goal that saves money.

But these are all potential benefits of PLM. You won’t necessarily realize them unless you get involved in discussions on the design of the PLM system itself. Those discussions often begin in IT or engineering, but you can start the discussions too, and break down artificial silos within the company.

If you want a resource for PLM, one is the Product Lifecycle Management Center at Purdue University. To see purchasing in action on the PLM front, check purchasing.com for details on efforts at automotive suppliers Lear, Visteon and Freudenberg. At Visteon, purchasing is involved at this moment in configuring the system.

PLM is one acronym that has at its core the closer integration of purchasing with product development. Get involved in it, and use it.

pteague@reedbusiness.com