Establishment of critical success factors for implementation of product lifecycle management systems

The present study has been undertaken with the purpose of investigating the critical success factors for the implementation of product lifecycle management (PLM) systems in manufacturing companies. Two exploratory case-based studies were conducted followed by a generalised study to establish the critical success factors for PLM systems' implementation in manufacturing firms. Hybrid multi-criteria decision-making methods were employed to identify the causal factors and prioritise them for the implementation of PLM systems in an automotive and aerospace firm. The priority of the factors has also been confirmed by executives from broader PLM domain through a confirmatory t-test. The identified critical success factors can be utilised as directive guidelines by manufacturing organisations for the successful implementation of PLM systems. Most researchers have studied only the technological aspects of PLM, while very few have discussed the success factors to PLM implementation. The present study is highlighting PLM as a management concept, supporting PLM systems implementation in organisations, and discussing the critical success factors for effective PLM systems implementation.