CIMdata Inc., a global product lifecycle management (PLM) strategic management consulting and research firm, announced the release of the CIMdata PLM Industry Review and Trends Report, the second of five modules of the CIMdata 2016 Market Analysis Report (MAR) Series. The MAR Series provides detailed information and in-depth analysis on the worldwide PLM market during 2015. It contains analyses of major trends and issues; revenues of leading PLM providers; and revenue analyses for geographical regions, industry sectors, and historical and projected data on market growth.
The 2016 trends report focuses on how innovations in materials are driving changes in product development and PLM. Historical epochs were often named for the materials dominant during that time period. For example, the Stone Age lasted about 3.4 million years, until the advent of metalworking. With each change, ways of working and building had to change, with some things unlearned and new things taking their place. More importantly, each new epoch and material allowed mankind to do and build things that could not be contemplated using the previous generation of materials.
The emergence of new materials like plastics, ceramics and composites required the development of new methods, analytics, testing, and other skills to ensure that these materials could function as required in current or new applications. Additive manufacturing, more commonly referred to as 3D printing (3DP), has been around for decades, but it is spawning a renaissance of materials and manufacturing capabilities that can potentially change everything. New materials are being engineered to have specific properties to serve new applications for manufacturing using 3DP. But will they indeed have the desired properties? Just as before, new methods, analytics and testing are needed to ensure manufacturers get the desired result. This also takes systems engineering to a new level in which the materials themselves can be engineered and must be validated.
This materials revolution is requiring a fundamental rethinking of processes and tools across the product lifecycle, from ideation through life, and this report describes product development trends and how the PLM economy must respond. This PLM Industry Review and Trends Report is the second of five modules of the CIMdata 2016 Market Analysis Report Series to be released.
The CIMdata PLM Market Analysis Report Series is available as a five-module set or each module can be purchased separately. It is also available as part of the CIMdata PLM Community Gold Membership. Further details about the report and community memberships are available at www.cimdata.com.
