Acronymn soup - The Antenna - Brief Article

Electronic News, Oct 7, 2002

AFTER A YEAR OF RELATIVE QUIET, B2B VENDORS AND research companies now are spreading a new buzz-phrase: product life-cycle management, or PLM. The term describes the blend of a number of other buzz phrases, including supply chain management (SCM), supplier relationship management (SRM), customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP). Or, simply, PLM ties your SRM and CRM together, winds through your SCM and integrates into your ERP. Asked about PLM, Greg Frazier, executive VP at Supply Chain Services, a unit of distributor Avuet Inc., said PLM was "cute and catchy." It's also very real and a much-needed service inside corporations, Frazier said.

Others eeem to agree. The term PLM also is catching on at large companies such as Sun Microsystems, IBM and SAP.