PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT IN A SERIAL PRODUCTION

The development of information technologies enables one to regard a product's life cycle as a unified process from idea through development, manufacture and distribution to servicing. The transition to e-business within companies contains great potential for increasing their productivity and competitiveness. This paper analyses the idea that a company should first be capable of doing e-business internally, before it can start efficiently operating with external clients. The paper analyses product development and engineering change processes in detail. An example from Domel presents a solution for product documentation management using a SAP information system and PLM (Product Life cycle Management) module.