Welcome
Welcome in the official web site of the IFIP Working Group (WG) 5.1, a group of scientific and industrial experts active in the field of product development and engineering, under the big umbrella of IFIP (International Federation for Information Processing, www.ifip.org society.
IFIP WG 5.1 bring together researchers, developers, and users in product development for the whole life-cycle. The title chosen by the WG members in 2009 is the following: "Global Product development for the whole life-cycle", and it is defined in the following manifesto.
IFIP WG 5.1 Manifesto
Understanding the whole life-cycle impact of products is a critical issue in product development today. The interaction of products with the environment is recognized as of enormous importance for the sustainability of future economic development while understanding of the life-cycle costs of products (the total costs of ownership) and their interaction with users is vital as company portfolios move toward product-service systems and services assume greater importance in economic life.
These pressures imply the need for new approaches to product development that take account of the increased importance of life-cycle issues, and for support systems that allow the information and data associated with products to be developed and sustained through the product life-cycle.
Product development for the whole life-cycle implies a number of different but complementary tools, environments and methodologies. The importance of the topic is so great that is has been addressed from a large number of scientific and managerial perspectives. We concentrate here on the engineering and systems support aspects of the issues for which the term product life-cycle engineering (PLE) applies. PLE is an integrated approach to manage the creation and dissemination of product engineering data throughout the project structure. It is an emerging and evolving field of research in academia with potentially strong impact on industry practice.
Today, challenges faced by product development teams include globalization, outsourcing, mass customization, fast product development and product traceability. These challenges enhance the need for collaborating environments and knowledge management along the product lifecycle stages.
PLE approaches are gaining acceptance for managing all information about the corporation’s products throughout their full lifecycle, from conceptualization to operations and disposal. The PLE philosophy and systems aim at providing support to an even broader range of engineering and business activities.
Via the WG activities, the International Journal of Product Lifecycle Management (IJPLM) the International Conference on Product Lifecycle Management (PLM IC) and the involvement of all stakeholders, we hope to shape the future of this new field and advance the science and practice of enterprise systems development.
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