This Manufacturing Insights report describes the results of a study to assess the perception of manufacturers regarding the value of PLM/DM tools and the industry's maturity to exploit this value. The landscape of product life-cycle management (PLM) and digital manufacturing (DM) software is undergoing changes resulting from consolidation and expansion that is fueled by growth in the manufacturing industry and global expansion.

According to Joe Barkai, program director, Product Life-Cycle Strategies, "Many manufacturers have not reached the process maturity necessary to fully exploit the full value of PLM/DM and are focused on isolated functionalities that have not formed a continuous seamless product life-cycle process. The results of this study identify gaps between the value that manufacturers and software vendors attribute to PLM/DM tools."