Lifecycle Thinking in the Digital Area

Aim of this research is to study the fundamental elements of Lifecycle Management and Thinking. In its comprehensive meaning, Lifecycle Management and Thinking (shortly PLM) is at first a business approach, based on collaboration and integration, which aims to support the development of more innovative, reliable and sustainable solutions (products and services) in a shorter time. Originally created in the 90ies by transnational companies, today is also relevant for SMEs and for most of the industries (e.g. automotive, creative, fashion, maritime, mechanic, etc.).

PLM could be defined as an integrated approach to the management of the business processes distributed along the lifecycle (from the cradle to the grave), which considers:

• a management point of view where the product/system is the enterprise value creator,
• the application of a collaborative model for the empowerment of the competences distributed along the different actors (e.g. designers, engineers, manufacturers, suppliers, providers, etc.),
• the adoption of a number of solutions (methodological and digital) for establishing a product-oriented environment.

We aim to study PLM from four perspectives:

• As a set of management approaches to be implemented for supporting an effective and efficient deployment of the innovation, engineering and manufacturing processes. We are interested in the most advanced collaborative approaches, based on concurrent, integrated, customer-centred, green-focused and lean-oriented models.
• As a set of methods for supporting concurrent design, engineering and (re-)manufacturing. We believe that the methodologies developed in the last decades of industrial evolution (e.g. QFD, DFX, TCM, LCA, Eco-design, Visual Communication, etc.) have still to be exploited in their potentialities, in particular within SMEs. We are interested in understanding the peculiarities of their applications, as well as in the elaboration of new and revised versions of them.
• As a set of tools for computer-based innovation, engineering, manufacturing and recycling. We are interested in deepening how the adoption of digital tools (e.g. from CAx to Virtual Reality, from IoT to Cloud, so-called “Industry 4.0 enablers”) could transform organizations and which is the potential impact on the performances. We are interested in assessing the maturity level of such technologies in real contexts, their relevance for new business models, as well as their cost/benefit solved trade-offs.
• As a way to lead digital transformation. We believe that PLM is also a digital strategy, which is currently well fitting with the increasing complexity of global markets. We are interested in understanding if and how companies are pushing forward their lifecycle-oriented transformation, being inspired by the Industry 4.0 vision.