Industry Summary Articles

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, USA 13 March 2026—CIMdata, Inc., the leading global research, consulting, and education firm specializing in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and the Digital Transformation it enables, announces the publication of a new white paper, Product Lifecycle Management as a Catalyst for Brand Integrity & Agility.

As global supply chains shift toward mass customization and outsourcing, a brand’s value is increasingly tied to its underlying tangible components: formulations, packaging, compliance data, and manufacturing specifications. A brand is more than a marketing campaign; it is a set of technical promises that must be defined and managed rigorously. Traditional, fragmented methods of...

Leading the Digital Frontier

Ann Arbor, MI, USA & Stockholm, SWEDEN 12 March 2026—CIMdata, Inc., and Håkan Kårdén AB announce the keynote lineup for the highly anticipated PLM Road Map & PDT 2026 North America conference. The event will take place at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia, USA, on May 6th and 7th. The theme is “AI in PLM: A Disruptive Opportunity and Challenge.”

The landscape of engineering is shifting. From the integration of certifiable AI to the transformation of defense acquisition, the "Next Era" of Product Lifecycle Management is no longer a distant vision; it is being built today by...

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SAP’s Next Generation Specification & Formulation Solution

Takeaways

• Formulated products are found in all aspects of daily life. They include food and beverage items, grocery store goods, restaurant meals, cosmetics, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, as well as materials used in manufactured items, such as plastics, paints, coatings, and resins.
• Spreadsheets and documents are still widely used to define formulated products. However, sophisticated companies have been leveraging PLM solutions for years to gain a competitive advantage by effectively managing product information.
• SAP recently released new specification and formulation management capabilities as part of the SAP Integrated...

Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 5 March 2026—CIMdata, Inc., the leading global research, consulting, and education firm specializing in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and the Digital Transformation it enables, is pleased to highlight the contributions of Dr. Diego Tamburini, CIMdata’s Executive Consultant and AI in PLM Practice Director, to an elite panel of manufacturing visionaries that took place at the 67th TCS Forum Reimagining PLM for Future-Ready Manufacturing.

The session, which also featured leaders from TCS, JLR, and Siemens Digital Industries Software, explored how Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is being elevated from a support platform to the "strategic nerve center" of the...

Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 5 March 2026—CIMdata, Inc., the leading global research, consulting, and education firm specializing in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and the Digital Transformation it enables, is pleased to announce that Dr. Diego Tamburini, Executive Consultant and Director of its AI in PLM practice, was recently featured on the Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering podcast. Hosted by Razorleaf, the episode titled "Strategic Patterns for Implementing AI in Manufacturing" provides a roadmap for industrial leaders navigating the complexities of artificial intelligence.

Drawing on over 25 years of experience in innovation at organizations including Microsoft, Autodesk, and Siemens Digital Industries, Dr....

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How manufacturing leaders unlock value from AI by aligning strategy, data, and organizational change

Takeaways

• To scale, AI must be lifecycle-aware. Point solutions consistently fail when they lack context across requirements, engineering, manufacturing, service, and other lifecycle functions, limiting their ability to deliver sustained value beyond localized optimization.
• AI delivers business value only when it can be trusted at scale. When AI outputs are grounded in authoritative, governed product data, organizations can make faster and more confident decisions while reducing risks to quality, compliance, and intellectual property.
• PLM-centered data governance is foundational. Trusted product structures,...

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NX Inspector links PMI to characteristics, closing the design to production to quality evaluation loop

Takeaways

• Characteristics are critical data elements for model-based enterprise (MBE) maturity, closed-loop digital threads, and are required to meet Department of Defense Instruction 5000.97.
• A single PMI object often creates multiple design, quality, and manufacturing requirements (i.e., characteristics) that need to be managed and effectively consumed to create high-quality products cost-effectively by assessing part and product performance.
• NX Inspector associatively creates and updates characteristics derived from Designcenter NX PMI objects within Teamcenter where they are managed for and consumed by...

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Unifying Engineering Data, PLM, and AI to Accelerate Manufacturing Performance

Takeaways

• Manufacturers cannot achieve an end-to-end digital thread without integrating data across CAD, PLM, ERP, and simulation systems. Fragmented technical data disrupts manufacturing planning, slows NPI/NPD cycles, and complicates lifecycle traceability.
• AI-driven manufacturing depends on unified and contextualized engineering data. Without consistent structures, attributes, and change information flowing downstream, advanced capabilities like copilots, RAG search, MCP-driven automation, and predictive insights cannot be deployed meaningfully.
• Modern product manufacturing operations require workflows and PLM extensions that reflect real engineering-to-manufacturing processes. Out-of-the-box systems rarely provide the level of...

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Takeaways

• NVIDIA and Dassault Systèmes announced a new partnership that establishes a standard for industrial AI combining Dassault’s virtual twins with NVIDIA’s computing power to create scientifically validated models that respect the laws of physics.
• The introduction of 3D Universes and virtual companions known as Aura, Leo, and Marie, represents a shift from generic chatbots and low-level machine learning optimizations to role-based, domain-specific AI agents for engineers, scientists, and business planners.
• With the rise of AI, protecting intellectual property is paramount. The 3DXEXPERIENCE platform now emphasizes Intellectual Property (IP) Lifecycle Management, ensuring that proprietary...

This webinar will explore how manufacturers are evolving their digital strategy, moving from basic data search to active AI agents that solve complex engineering challenges.

Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 26 February 2026—CIMdata, Inc., the leading global research, consulting, and education firm specializing in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and the Digital Transformation it enables, announces that Dr. Diego Tamburini, Director of CIMdata’s AI in PLM practice, will join Jeff Evernham, Chief Product Officer at Sinequa by ChapsVision, for an upcoming webinar: “Agentic AI: Moving Beyond Experiments to Enterprise Impact.” The event is...