Product LIfe Cycle

PLC - The Life of a Product Ideas, Talent, Time, Quality, and Resources. These are the elements that create a new product. Imagine a workplace where the process of product development is so organized that products not only gratify the customer, but are delivered on time and ahead of the competition. Imagine a company that makes more money because of timely product deliveries and rewards its employees accordingly. This is what the Product Life Cycle can do for a company.

An effective PLC process is about pulling in the same direction; it lets people work together more efficiently. A company that can leverage technologies and resources across product lines, optimizes development cycle time and product consistency. The process emphasizes teamwork and cooperative achievement of goals. For management, it provides a way of managing many products and at the same time controlling investment. For development teams, it provides a method of getting decisions made and defining bound of empowerment.

Business Process (EPC) in ARIS Express 6

Business Process (EPC) in ARIS Express

Business Process (EPC) in ARIS Express 8

For both, it defines the phases, steps, tasks, and activities that move a product quickly through the life cycle.

The PLC process is based on the principle of cross-functional teams working within a structured process moving toward a common goal. This allows decisions to be made at the level where there is the most information and in a way that generates maximum buy-in by all involved. The result is that the company as a whole moves in one direction.

There are seven files within my PLC process. Each of these files reflects a major stage of product development. In each file specific information must be entered before the project can continue into the next phase. The phase structure helps to manage the project. Instead of trying to encompass the entire project and all its issues, the team can concentrate on the immediate...