We recently held a webinar giving a good overview of Vault PLM entitled “The Difference Between PDM and PLM and Why You Need Both”. It really went into the importance offer centralized strong data management during the product development process (PDM) and how it’s necessary to collaborate with the larger organization outside of engineering (PLM).
I helped with the question/answer panel during the webinar and since I’m a strong believer in one-to-many versus just one-on-one help, I wanted to synthesize some of the main questions and answer them more broadly here on the blog. There was predictably some terminology confusion, so I’ll start with some definitions.
PDM (Product Data Management) is a strategy for managing your product-related information and engineering processes – all in one spot. Autodesk Vault is a software product that does just that!
PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) is a strategy for connecting your people, processes, and data across the entire product lifecycle to a central source of information. Autodesk Fusion Lifecycle is a software solution that meets those needs.
Another definition for PLM I like (that’s non-circular!) comes from Tech-Clarity – “PLM is a software-enabled strategy to improve process to conceptualize, design, develop, and manage products”. Always good to have an elevator-pitch like answer to “so, what do you do for work?”.
Autodesk Vault PLM combines Vault Professional with Fusion Lifecycle for enterprise-wide collaboration and product lifecycle management.
