Teaching Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) with Enterprise Systems

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is a solution for managing the entire lifecycle of a product from its conception, through design, production, and delivery, to service, and disposal or recycle. While most of the Enterprise Systems-ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), SCM (Supply Chain Management), CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and CAD (Computer Aided Design) systems-are separate software packages, current PLM solutions draw and integrate various functionalities and tools from these various Enterprise Systems. This nature of PLM poses unique challenges for teaching PLM. This paper shares an experience of developing and teaching a course in PLM with Enterprise Systems, Students carry out a semester-long project of developing new products, At each stage of the new product development process, students learn to apply the state-of-the-art information tools, particularly the Enterprise Systems. In addition to course schedule and content, two instructional materials used in the course will be described: (i) Enterprise Systems Configuration and Business, and (ii) Engineering Change Management. Lessons learned and future plans for enhancement are also discussed.