What Is PLM? Product Life Cycle Management Career Guide

PLM refers to product life cycle management, which is the process of managing a product through all four stages of the product life cycle. PLM is a strategic approach that ensures the success of a product by accounting for—and overseeing—the cross-functional work that needs to be done at each stage.

Learn about PLM, including the major responsibilities involved in this career path, and how to become a product manager. Afterward, strengthen key skills you'll need as a product manager by enrolling in the Google Project Management Professional Certificate, where you'll practice strategic communication, problem-solving, and stakeholder management through real-world scenarios.

What is PLM?

Product life cycle management (PLM) is a strategic plan to manage the product life cycle through all four of its stages: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. Each stage requires specific work to be completed by various teams and therefore requires a great deal of organization, attention to detail, and technological and business knowledge.

Fundamentals of PLM

Whether a product team is tasked with developing and launching a new product or creating the next version of a product that's already available, PLM plays a pivotal role in overseeing that trajectory in ways that are more efficient and cost-effective.

Successful product management often involves project management, workflow management, the use of software tools, and change management systems. Some key fundamentals of PLM include:

• Secure management of documents and product information

• Maintaining a central repository of product information throughout its life cycle

• Managing business processes used to oversee, share, and use the information

Benefits of PLM

PLM is a useful strategy to developing, launching, and managing a product. Some of the benefits include:

• Determining whether a product is worth pursuing

• Determining whether a product will be marketable and profitable

• Increasing productivity and revenue

• Improving product quality

• Reducing costs and time to market

• Eliminate waste and minimize company risks

• Identify when to focus on a new iteration or innovation

Careers in PLM

Do you like solving problems while leading a team? Are you interested in working through and understanding product development and business strategy? If so, a career in product life cycle management is a great option to consider. 

PLM professionals are often referred to as product managers or product life cycle managers. However, outside of leadership, there are a number of opportunities to consider, including:

• Product coordinator

• Product designer

• Product analyst

• PLM engineer

• Product marketing manager

• Product tester

Product life cycle manager salary

According to Glassdoor, the average annual base salary for a product life cycle manager in the US is $115,780 [1]. Your salary may be influenced by factors like experience level, industry type, company, and location.

Product life cycle manager skills

Product management involves taking on varied responsibilities. As a product manager, you may also need to assume the role of a PLM analyst or product owner, and have the following concepts and skills under your belt:

• Product strategy. This is the foundation of all product management activities, including planning, product data management, development, and marketing.

• User experience design. As a product manager, you must understand user experience design principles and methods.

• Agile PLM software. You’ll need to understand Agile software product development concepts, methodologies, and tools. Product visualization software is an example that can help solidify initial concepts, while collaborative product development tools streamline business processes across departments or functions.

• Business analysis. You ensure that under-development products are commercially viable. Business analysis skills may help you create a compelling business case, share data along the product value chain, and identify critical requirements.  

• Marketing skills. You’ll need to be able to market your products effectively. This requires strategic thinking and familiarity with key marketing techniques, such as marketing analytics, social media marketing, product design, and search engine optimization (SEO).

• Leadership. The ability to inspire a team to execute product strategy is critical to your success as a product manager. Product leaders must be able to rally all necessary employees around a single vision and motivate them to take it from concept to reality.  

• Communication skills. You'll need to communicate with everyone involved in your product development process and be able to talk and explain your product. This means presenting information clearly and succinctly.

• Collaboration: As a product manager, you’re not solely responsible for the success or failure of the product, but you will be making critical decisions for it. It takes many people to bring a product to life, from manufacturing to quality assurance, to packaging. Collaboration is key to a successful outcome.

• Engineering expertise: As a product manager, it's essential to understand how the technology that powers your product works because it can help you make better decisions. Having a fundamental understanding of mechanical design and simulation can be highly beneficial. 

How to become a product life cycle manager

While there’s no one specific career path to becoming a product lifestyle manager, you must have experience, knowledge, qualifications, or certifications in the product management and development field. Use the steps below to visualize a potential PLM career path. 

1. Consider earning a relevant degree.

According to Zippia, 72 percent of product managers have a bachelor's degree [2]. Relevant academic programs for aspiring product managers to pursue include business management, marketing, electrical engineering, and computer science.

2. Develop key skills.

Business and UX design skills are crucial for product life cycle management careers. Transferable skills from any former employment unrelated to PLM may also be relevant and useful, such as communication, problem-solving, and leadership. 

If you don’t have experience in product life cycle development, taking online courses or earning career credentials can help enhance your resume. Even those with experience can benefit from continued professional development, given the technical nature of PLM. 

3. Consider getting certified.

Two certification programs are available from the Project Management Institute (PMI):

• Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM): Offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI), the requirements for certification include a high school diploma and an associate degree. To sit for the exam, you need to complete 23 hours of project management education.

• Project Management Professional (PMP): To qualify for the exam, you need a four-year degree, 36 months of experience leading projects, and 35 hours of project management education or training. As an alternative, a candidate can possess a high school diploma and an associate degree along with six months of experience leading projects and 35 hours of project management education or hold CAPM certification.

Read more: CAPM vs. PMP: Which Is Best for You?

Develop your PLM skills on Coursera

Build important skills relevant to PLM with the Google Project Management Professional Certificate. Over six courses, you'll learn the fundamentals of Agile project management, as well as how to create effective project documentation and artifacts throughout the various phases of a project.