Leaders in PLM and Sustainability – October 2024

It’s motivating to witness so many Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) professionals, educators, consultants, and solution providers become active in creating a more sustainable, low-carbon, circular economy. Only a few years ago when one googled the terms “PLM and Sustainability” or “PLM and Sustainable Product Design” there were very few results. Now there are so many resources that vendors are paying for sponsored rankings; one of the reasons the PLM Green LinkedIn Group has become popular as an alternative non-commercial community platform.

This is the second in a new series of posts on “Leaders in PLM and Sustainability” from the PLM Green Global Alliance where we profile professionals from around the world who are working at the intersection of PLM and Sustainability. As referenced in our first profile featuring Mark Reisig at CIMdata, there are many challenging opportunities in R&D and NPD for our profession as time is running out to lower greenhouse gas emissions by the end of this decade as climate scientists warn us is crucial.

Our next recognized “Leader in PLM and Sustainability” is Jos Voskuil who is one of the original co-founders of the PLM Green Global Alliance, started back in 2020 when we were all locked down due to COVID with more time and freedom to think about big issues.

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A Short History of the PLM Green Initiative

The following history of the PLM Green Global Alliance is from our co-founder Jos Voskuil who shares his passion and mission for the role of PLM in creating a more sustainable, low-carbon, circular economy.

I am happy to see that the number of members of our PLM Green Global Alliance on LinkedIn has been growing fast recently.

Early this year, we reached 1000 members; now, as of this post, we have almost 1200 members in our LinkedIn group—a growth of 20 % in less than half a year!

Each member of the #plmgreen alliance has a unique story and reason for joining.

I’m genuinely interested in learning more about your motivation. To kick off this conversation, I am sharing my journey, and I am eager to hear your thoughts, comments, and suggestions.

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PLM Green Talking About Green PLM

Since our start in earnest in 2020, the PLM Green Global Alliance has participated in discussion panels with solution providers Aras, Autodesk, Dassault Systems, PTC, SAP, and Sustaira.  In these interviews our focus was to learn about their thought leadership, products, and experience implementing Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) to support Sustainability initiatives.

Our last interview earlier this year was with a PLM consultancy representative, Mark Reisig, who is a Sustainability and Green Energy Practice Director & Executive Consultant at CIMdata. You can find that interview here with a recording we encourage you to also watch.

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PLM and Sustainability Book Preview

From PLM Green Global Alliance’s (PGGA) European co-founder Jos Voskuil.

During May and June of this year I wrote a guest chapter for John Stark’s book Product Lifecycle Management (Volume 2): The Devil is in the Details. The book is considered a standard in academic and professional circles when studying all the many aspects of PLM.

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Discussing Sustainability with PTC

The following post was first written by PLM Green co-founder Jos Voskuil where it  appeared in his European PLM Weblog in December 2022.


We are excited to close the year with the first round of the PLM Global Green Alliance (PGGA) series of interviews and panel discussions about PLM and Sustainability.

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Discussing Sustainability with PLM Solution Provider Dassault Systèmes

The PLM Green Global Alliance recently hosted its third panel discussion to explore how PLM-enabling technologies are supporting the sustainability imperative. These interviews expand upon our earlier article on the Intersection of PLM and Sustainability by examining the progress in sustainability being made by PLM solution providers, their partners and customers.

This time PLM Green co-founders Jos Voskuil and Klaus Brettschneider met virtually with executives from Dassault Systèmes (3DS), considered by many to be the market leader in enterprise PLM. Their discussion was with Florence Verzelen, Executive Vice President of Industry Marketing and Sustainability and Xavier Adam, Senior Manager of Worldwide Sustainability.

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Discussing Sustainability with Autodesk

The PLM Green Global Alliance recently hosted its second panel discussion exploring sustainability topics with PLM-enabling technology and solution software providers. These forums expand upon our recent article on the Intersection of PLM and Sustainability by examining the progress in sustainability being made by solution providers, their partners, and customers.

This time, PLM Green co-founders Jos Voskuil and Klaus Brettschneider spoke with representatives from Autodesk, a well known leader of software solutions for the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Manufacturing industries. Their interview was with Zoé Bezpalko, Autodesk’s Sustainability Strategy Manager for Design & Manufacturing Industries, and Jon den Hartog, Product Manager for Autodesk’s PDM and PLM solutions.

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Discussing Sustainability with PLM Solution Provider SAP

The PLM Green Global Alliance recently hosted its first in a series of panel discussions and interviews that will explore sustainability topics with enterprise PLM solution providers. These forums will extend our recent article on the Intersection of PLM and Sustainability where we next hope to learn about examples of progress in sustainability being made by solution providers, their partners and customers.

Our inaugural interview was with Darren West, Product Manager Lead for SAP’s Circular Economy Solutions, who is based in the United Kingdom. We were excited to speak with SAP after reading their numerous recent announcements about the importance of sustainability and hear how they “walk the talk.”

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The Intersection of PLM and Sustainability


First, A Few Misconceptions about PLM and Sustainability

After writing my recent post The Road to Model-Based and Connected PLM, the topic that emerged to interest me the most is the contribution that “Real Product Lifecycle Management” can have to global sustainability. But first, allow me to address two widely held misconceptions about PLM and Sustainability.

For myself, as well as most PLM consultants and market analysts, real PLM is a business strategy that envelops the whole product lifecycle through requirements, ideation, development, manufacturing, logistics, quality, usage, service, and even decommissioning. So I use the term “real PLM”, to refute the common misconception that PLM is an engineering technology, software product, or enterprise IT system.

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PLM and Sustainability

Summary & Goals

The goal of the PLM Green Global Alliance discussion forum and working group on the intersection of PLM and Sustainability, led by Jos Voskuil and Mark Reisig, is to promote activities that positively contribute to the seventeen United Nations Sustainability Development Goals. In particular, we will focus on those topics where PLM-enabling technologies have a role to make a difference; relevant for the SDGs 7-8-9-11 and 12.

The general subject of Sustainability is a very wide and diverse topic that is globally covered by many organizations. Our alliance will focus on the application and value of PLM-related strategies, technologies, software solutions and consulting services to contribute to a more Sustainable future. This is a subject matter that no other professional PLM organization have taken up as a priority, though more industrial users and solution providers are increasingly interested.

Theme Moderators

Jos Voskuil, PLM Coach, Consultant, and Blogger at www.virtualdutchman.com

tacit@planet.nl

Mark Reisig, Sustainability and Green Energy Practice Director and Executive Consultant for  CIMdata at www.cimdata.com

m.reisig@cimdata.com

Focus & Objectives

The goals and challenges of Product Lifecycle Management and Sustainability share much in common and should be considered synergistic. Where in theory, PLM is the strategy to manage a product along its whole lifecycle, Sustainability is concerned not only with the product’s lifecycle but should also address sustainability of the users, industries, economies, environment and entire planet in which the products operate.

The most significant difference between PLM and Sustainability is in the traditional lifecycle of products. Manufacturers often do not take their products’ full lifecycle footprint and costs into account. Reducing products and processes that create waste and are a negative impact on the planet’s lifecycle have only recently become more important and are still not a priority in many industries.

Like modern PLM practices, Sustainability also requires systems thinking. Solving one of the 17 Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) can positively or negatively influence the other Sustainability Development Goals. In the same manner, developing a product should also be performed through the lens of system thinking. The product lifecycle starts from choosing its solution concept (i.e., which materials and what environmental impact) through its manufacturing process, then usage and finally its recycling or repurposing. The goal is to avoid a landfill.

We passionately believe that implementing data-driven, end-to-end PLM practices can help organizations to understand, measure, and analyze the consequences of their product design, methods of production, and supply chain choices on the planet’s lifecycle. Investigating, documenting, and minimizing this impact with examples is a key objective of the PLM and Sustainability discussion group.

Specific topics we wish to discuss further in this forum include how PLM can be used to:

  • Make products and processes more efficient and green
  • Understand and measure the impact on the carbon footprint of design decisions and production processes, along with changes to them
  • Develop, distribute, and use new sources of renewable green energy
  • Design products and their lifecycles to be sustainable
  • Recycle, reuse, or repurpose assets, materials, and natural resources
  • Enhance the resiliency and Sustainability of infrastructures, communities and economies

We invite others to nominate additional topics important to their businesses and then help us to prioritize our efforts going forward.

Agenda & Activities

We will be pursuing our objectives by a plan selected from several elements which may include: topical focus groups, virtual roundtables, articles and blog posts, book reviews, recorded interviews, industry surveys, conference presentations, webinars, and cooperation with other organizations and alliances. This plan will be developed in collaboration with members using small discussion groups. Follow our progress or better yet join us by sending an email to info@plmgreenalliance.com.

Announcements & Updates

Check back soon as we announce our activities for 2024, or register HERE to receive our news updates.

Invitation to Participate & Collaborate

To participate in our PLM and Sustainability group, we invite you to first join the PLM Green Global Alliance LinkedIn Group at https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12304531/ then contact our moderator Jos Voskuil.

References & Resources

Here we have started creating a curated list of featured white papers, blog posts, presentations, case studies, webinars, and recorded interviews on the role of PLM-enabling technologies in addressing sustainability. We invite you to send us examples you have come across in your own work, company, industry, or country.to info@plmgreenalliance.com.

The Sustainability Thread Whitepaper - PLM Green contributor Klaus Brettschneider, who is Director of Sustainability Products at Linx-AS LLC, has authored a new thought-leadership whitepaper on "The Sustainability Thread: Rethinking the digital thread to drive sustainability performance and green R&D." In the executive summary, Klaus writes: "The digital twin and digital thread concepts are now… Continue Reading
Leaders in PLM and Sustainability – December 2024 - This is the third in a new series of posts from the PLM Green Global Alliance (PGGA) on “Leaders in PLM & Sustainability” where we profile and interview professionals from around the world who are working at the intersection of PLM and Sustainability. Our goal for these profiles is to… Continue Reading
Leaders in PLM and Sustainability – October 2024 - It’s motivating to witness so many Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) professionals, educators, consultants, and solution providers become active in creating a more sustainable, low-carbon, circular economy. Only a few years ago when one googled the terms “PLM and Sustainability” or “PLM and Sustainable Product Design” there were very few results.… Continue Reading
Addressing the Global Plastics Problem in Electrotechnical Product Design - Our latest PLM Green Global Alliance post is a guest author contribution from Roger Franz who is a recognized authority on supply chain reporting for compliance with worldwide regulations, leveraging his decades of experience with engineering software tools and enterprise IT systems. Previously, Roger shared his professional passion and special… Continue Reading
Leaders in PLM and Sustainability – September 2024 - It has been very encouraging over the past few years to witness so many Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) professionals become active in the sustainability transition as it becomes increasingly important to our global economy. In this our next series of posts from the PLM Green Global Alliance we will feature… Continue Reading
Sustainability & PLM: An Industrial Perspective - Recently, I (Mark Reisig) delivered a CIMdata webinar titled, “Sustainability & PLM: An Industrial Perspective.”  For those of you who were unable to attend I am excited to share the following summary of key points that I made. You can also view the recorded webinar here at your leisure. I… Continue Reading
CIMdata Webinar on Sustainability and PLM - The global-leading PLM consultancy CIMdata has announced an educational webinar on “Sustainability and PLM: The Industrial Perspective” to be held on July 11, 2024, at 11 am EDT US. The webinar will be led by Mark Reisig who is CIMdata’s Executive Consultant and Sustainability & Green Energy Practice Director. Mark… Continue Reading
Circular Aviation in the EU: SUSTAINair Final Conference - SUSTAINair, a project funded by the EU Horizon 2020 program, is at the forefront of revolutionizing aviation through its groundbreaking technologies and impactful solutions. SUSTAINair’s aim is to substantially increase the sustainability of the airframe value chain achieving a paradigm shift in aircraft manufacturing. The project’s solutions will bring significant… Continue Reading
Leveraging PLM and Circularity for Product Development - An article in the publication Sustainability on “Leveraging PLM and Circularity for Product Development” describes the transition from a linear to a circular economy. The author, Joseph Prock, writing for PTC Arena, remarks that the linear model is largely unsustainable. The circular economy, on the other hand, aims to minimize… Continue Reading
PLM & Sustainability News March 2024 - The PLM Green Global Alliance (PGGA) mission is to educate, advocate, and collaborate across the boundaries of technical disciplines, industries, and international borders to advance the use of Product Lifecycle Management strategies and technologies in the transition to a more sustainable decarbonized circular economy. In our latest quarterly PLM & Sustainability… Continue Reading
PLM Green Interview with Makersite - We are happy to start the year with the next round of the PLM Global Green Alliances (PGGA) interview series on PLM and Sustainability. This year, we will speak with some new companies, and we will also revisit some of our previous guests to learn about their progress in developing… Continue Reading
CIMdata Thought Leadership on PLM and Sustainability - PLM Green Global Alliance participant Mark Reisig from CIMdata has authored a comprehensive thought leadership paper on PLM and Sustainability. In his signature paper, Mark details the defining challenge of our time for technologists, engineers, and innovators to decarbonize the global economy to minimize greenhouse gas emissions that are quickly… Continue Reading
The Sustainability Thread - The topic of sustainability was high on the agenda of the SAP Product Lifecycle Management Info Days event held this past September in Hershey, PA, just west of SAP America’s HQ outside of Philadelphia. Most SAP customer presentations at the annual event referenced the growing need to provide product data… Continue Reading
Circular Economy of Large Complex Systems from CIMPA - In this article from Patrice Quencez, Director Consultant of CIMPA PLM Services and PLM Green Circular Economy (CE) contributor, discusses the deployment, completion, and reinforcement of PLM capabilities to meet sustainability stakes of complex systems with long lifecycles, such as those found in aviation and aerospace. Patrice writes: "Even if… Continue Reading
PLM and Sustainability Book Preview - From PLM Green Global Alliance's (PGGA) European co-founder Jos Voskuil. During May and June of this year I wrote a guest chapter for John Stark's book Product Lifecycle Management (Volume 2): The Devil is in the Details. The book is considered a standard in academic and professional circles when studying all… Continue Reading
PLM Tools to Design for Sustainability - This month we are pleased to feature a guest blog submitted by PLM Green Global Alliance follower Roger L. Franz. who shares a few things he has learned as a Principal in Engineering Information Technology when beginning to explore the state of PLM tools to Design for Sustainability. Design for… Continue Reading
PLM Green Reports on PTC LiveWorx 2023 - This post was written and first published in May 2023 by PLM Green co-founder Jos Voskuil in his European Virtual Dutchman blog about PLM. Last week I enjoyed visiting LiveWorx 2023 on behalf of the PLM Global Green Alliance. PTC had invited us to understand their sustainability ambitions and meet… Continue Reading
Discussing PLM and Sustainability with CIMdata - Last year the PLM Green Global Alliance was excited to speak with PLM solution providers SAP, Autodesk, Dassault Systems, Sustaira, Aras, and PTC to learn about them and their customers' contributions to sustainability. This year we were equally enthused to meet with CIMdata’s Mark Reisig in a wide-ranging conversation about… Continue Reading
Discussing Sustainability with PTC - The following post was first written by PLM Green co-founder Jos Voskuil where it  appeared in his European PLM Weblog in December 2022. We are excited to close the year with the first round of the PLM Global Green Alliance (PGGA) series of interviews and panel discussions about PLM and… Continue Reading
PLM and Sustainability December 2022 - Welcome to the latest edition of PLM & Sustainability, a news digest from the PLM Green Global Alliance exploring the role of Product Lifecycle Management business strategies and enabling technologies in transitioning to a sustainable, low-carbon, circular economy. In this issue you will find: Looking Back at the Year 2022 PLM Green… Continue Reading
PLM & Sustainability Oct. 2022 - Welcome to the latest edition of PLM & Sustainability, a news digest from the PLM Green Global Alliance chronicling the role of Product Lifecycle Management enabling technologies in helping companies and industries transition to a more sustainable, low-carbon circular economy. In this newsletter you will find a compilation of recent… Continue Reading
Discussing Sustainability with Aras - The PLM Green Global Alliance recently hosted its fifth panel discussion with solution providers to explore how PLM-enabling technologies can support the drive to sustainability. These interviews expand upon a series of earlier articles, available on the PLM Green website and in the PLM Green LinkedIn Group, that examine the… Continue Reading
Discussing Sustainability with Sustaira - The PLM Green Global Alliance recently hosted its fourth interview and panel discussion exploring how PLM-enabling technologies support the sustainability imperative. These interviews expand upon our earlier articles on the Intersection of PLM and Sustainability by examining the progress towards sustainability being made by solution providers, their consulting partners and… Continue Reading
PLM & Sustainability August 2022 - Experienced Product Lifecycle Management professionals, consultants, and solution providers all know that the biggest obstacle to implementing a PLM strategy is not in technology or software, but in business organizational cultures that resist critical self-examination and change, despite being confronted by inconvenient facts which threaten their performance or even survival.… Continue Reading
News on the Intersection of PLM and Sustainability June 2022 - Welcome to the first edition of a monthly news digest from the PLM Green Global Alliance exploring the role of Product Lifecycle Management technologies in transitioning to a low-carbon sustainable circular economy. Our goal is to foster a global network that shares information between professionals who use, develop, research, market,… Continue Reading
Siemens Engineer Innovation for a Sustainable World - (May, 2022) PLM solution provider Siemens Digital Industries Software announces a new edition of Engineer Innovation focused exclusively on sustainability with the publication of "Engineer Innovation for a Sustainable World." The authors write: "Our civilization is quite literally built on oil, coal, and gas. Since the Industrial Revolution humans have… Continue Reading
Sustainability Focused PLM From DeSL - In this new white paper on the role of PLM in creating a more sustainable retail and apparel industry, the digital transformation Fashion PLM experts at DeSL write that sustainability is no loner an option because: "The bitter truth about the fashion industry is that it is one of world’s… Continue Reading
Discussing Sustainability with PLM Solution Provider Dassault Systèmes - The PLM Green Global Alliance recently hosted its third panel discussion to explore how PLM-enabling technologies are supporting the sustainability imperative. These interviews expand upon our earlier article on the Intersection of PLM and Sustainability by examining the progress in sustainability being made by PLM solution providers, their partners and… Continue Reading

PLM Green Global Alliance is Growing

This post is an update on the evolution of the PLM Green Global Alliance that was originally published in Jos Voskuil’s weblog on Feb. 28.

On Friday, February 26th, the PLM Green Global Alliance (PGGA) team of international moderators had a meeting to discuss our current status and next steps for 2021 as we grow.

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PLM and Global Warming

In this blog post about PLM and Global Warming, Jos Voskuil writes “Climate change has always been there if we look at the history of our planet. We started to talk about Global Warming when scientist indicated that this time the climate change is caused by human intervention. As a result of vast amounts of carbon dioxide emissions, a greenhouse effect started to become visible…”

PLM Green Global Alliance is Launched

June 2020 (United States, Netherlands, Norway) – The launch of and participation in a new international collaboration, the PLM Green Global Alliance (“PGGA”), has been announced by Richard McFall from PLM Alliances, Jos Voskuil from TacIT, Oleg Shilovitsky from Beyond PLM, and Bjorn Fidjeland from plmPartner.

The coalition was founded with the mission to create a global connection and community between professionals who use, develop, market, or support Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) enabling technologies and software solutions that have value in addressing the causes and consequences of climate change due to human-generated greenhouse gas emissions such that we create a more sustainable circular economy.

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