Product Lifecycle Management (Volume 5): What Happens Across the Product Lifecycle?

This book explains ’what goes on in a manufacturing company as a product goes through its lifecycle’. It describes more than 70 product-related activities that take place during the product lifecycle phases of ideation, development, production, service, and recycling. The various documents, data, working methods, and computer programs used in each activity are outlined. The book tells the story of a project carried out by a Master’s degree student in a manufacturing company to find out for the CEO exactly what happens with products across their lifecycle. Due to the storytelling approach of the book, the reader will learn, as if they are present in the company, about the activities that take place along the product lifecycle. They will see how the company is organized, what data and documents are created and used in each activity, and which applications are being used. They will see, from the interviews carried out by the student, what people are doing, the difficulties they face, and the improvement opportunities they see. This will give them a good understanding of the various activities that take place, and provide a basis for improving performance and implementing new processes and applications.

John Stark has worked with products across their lifecycles for more than 40 years. He writes from first-hand practical experience, which will be of value to the reader. He has worked with many different companies in different industry sectors that manufacture products and has a deep understanding of this subject, including the various product-related tasks, data, documents, people, and applications. He has also given academic courses on the subject and has written books about product lifecycle management.