Product Lifecycle Management (plm) as a Strategy for Project Structuring and Coordination

Successful Project Management (PM) comes from the combination of skills, knowledge, tools and techniques to strategically plan, execute and control projects with a variety of requirements and constrains. In recent years, there has been an increased interest in implementation methodologies that not only allows successful PM, but integrates Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Business Process Modelling (BPM) and Business Process Re-Engineering (BPR) in order to achieve efficient planning and execution under low margin profits and strict time constrains demanded by clients. In this paper, an integrated approach for product design and development in Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) that requires PM and information integration is presented. As a result, an implementation methodology in the Architecture Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry is proposed. This methodology is applied to support the design and construction of waste treatment plants and includes a novel PLM implementation strategy that considers mechanisms that offer high potential for developing countries.The design of the proposed approach is presented including how engineering processes were identified, analyzed and improved through BPM and PLM; the approach emphasizes in the standardization of process management guided by PLM tools through workflows. This aims to impact coordination and efficiency in the company’s NPD process.