2. Rationale for the approach and origin of the term PLM

Companies have always been subject to competitive pressures, and their development and even survival have depended on their ability to control production costs.

With globalization, competition from "low-cost" countries has meant that new product development cycles have had to be accelerated in order to offer alternative competition. The growing complexity of these products calls on multiple disciplines, including on-board electronics and computing, and manufacturing optimizations have proved insufficient.