Heavy engineering sectors to drive PLM sales

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.motors.frost.com), Strategic Analysis of the Indian Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), finds that the market  was over USD 130 million in 2010 and is expected to become over USD 400 million opportunity by 2017; the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) is expected to be in excess of 15 percent during 2010-2017.

The majority of tier I original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) utilize PLM in their product management initiatives and on occasion, it has also been implemented by a few tier II OEMs and component suppliers to aid their module and assembly development operations. However, complete PLM implementations with all the three components of computer-aided design/computer-aided-engineering (CAD/CAE), lifecycle management, and digital manufacturing have been few, and mostly concentrated among large enterprises.

Frost & Sullivan analyst notes, "Medium-sized enterprises are gradually shifting from traditional CAD components to include lifecycle data management capabilities. Small-sized businesses, being largely CAD-centric and OEM-driven, are yet to completely appreciate the benefits of PLM."

Infrastructure growth and high-volume production of capital goods for the power sector, growth of the public sector, aerospace and defense research organizations, and increasing private sector participation have all contributed significantly to the PLM market in 2010. Process PLM adoption in the pharmaceutical, food and beverages and chemical industries has been slow in the country. As these are not CAD/design centric industries, PLM is predominantly used for formulation management, packaging designs, and regulatory compliance. Increasing competition and exports are expected to drive the adoption of Process PLM in India.

Participants in the PLM industry in India can be classified into four categories: PLM vendors such as Siemens PLM, Dassault Systemes, PTC, Think 3, Wrench Solutions, Arena Solutions, Aras PLM, among others; ERP companies such as SAP and Oracle with digital lifecycle management products; CAD/CAM/CAE vendors such as Autodesk, Altair, LMS, MSC, Ansys, among others and System Integrators who provide consultation, implementation, maintenance, and training services. Key system integrators include TCS, ITC Infotech, Geometric Ltd, EDS Technologies, and L&T Infotech, among others

In addition, PLM deployment and utilization requires highly-skilled workforce who have expertise in a PLM platform, experience in the respective industry and database management skills to customize PLM products. The costs involved in hiring and training engineers can be significant and become a restraint on the widespread PLM adoption among the SME segment in the country. The focus on quality control in traditional industry sectors in India is also at a nascent stage. Large industrial and heavy engineering public sector organizations, which dominate several industries, are yet to increase the focus on improving quality. However, as the competition increases, this trend is expected to change and drive the PLM adoption in the country.

According to Frost & Sullivan Analyst, "As organizations grow, they realize the need to vault design data, manage product configurations and portfolios effectively, and be able to track design changes through PLM."

The PLM industry does face challenges in terms of reluctance from the employees to move to newer versions, loss of data during migration to new systems, lack of skilled labour and need for CAD interopeMen Shoes - Originals