PLM wheels into Wales

The UK’s first Centre of Excellence in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is to be established at

Auto, an automotive R&D facility based in Carmarthenshire, Wales. The centre will provide Welsh automotive sector SMEs with access to some of the world’s most sophisticated software products.

The announcement was made by Andrew Davies, Minister for Economic Development and Transport and follows an agreement between the Welsh Assembly, IBM, Swansea University and the Welsh Development Agency.

PLM is a term applied to the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from the concept and design phase, product analysis (Finite Element Analysis) through production planning, visualisation and marketing. PLM also incorporates waste management or recycling when the product is no longer required by the end-user.

The new centre will provide small and medium-sized Welsh businesses with an opportunity to gain a competitive edge by drawing on IBM’s expertise in PLM to accelerate and improve product development and lifecycle management.