Building a Better Food Business by Digitizing Product Lifecycle Management

Product Lifecycle Management is constantly evolving, and CMX is at the cutting edge of PLM technology. Hear from Jim Hardeman, our Chief Product Officer & Chief Marketing Officer, on how the last 18 months have forced businesses to innovate and why cloud PLM is a gamechanger in this article originally published by Hospitality Tech.

Digital PLM can help restaurants raise their quality and safety standards, reduce risk, increase efficiency and build a consistently thriving operation

It’s difficult to think of an industry that hasn’t experienced disruption due to the pandemic. The events of the past 18 months have driven businesses of all types and sizes to look for innovative ways—and emerging digital technologies—to circumvent the challenges. 

According to a September 2020 survey by McKinsey Global Institute, 85% of companies “accelerated the implementation of technologies that digitally-enabled employee interaction and collaboration.” It also stated that “35% “have further digitized their supply chains … by connecting their suppliers with digital platforms in supply chain management.” As a result, one of the tools that’s risen to importance is digital Product Lifecycle Management (PLM.) 

PLM plays an end-to-end role in today’s businesses-- across product ideation and development, all the way through manufacturing and commercialization – even through product end of life. It turns paper-based information into usable, centralized data, putting all your product lifecycle information on a single platform. The goal of going digital in this way is to save time and money, mitigate risk, and improve product quality and customer satisfaction.  

Taking Off in Hospitality, Restaurants and Food Services

PLM was originally developed for the manufacturing industry but its basic principles and benefits can be applied to nearly any sector. A few areas in which it’s really starting to take off include hospitality, restaurants, and general food service, where it can be used to increase supplier collaboration and profit margins while ensuring product quality and food safety. 

Food and hospitality-related sectors are all highly competitive and highly regulated, and have become even more so in today’s not-quite-post-COVID era. Customers are increasingly concerned with food safety in particular, and regulatory bodies are continually adapting to new challenges in food systems, while routinely introducing changes to standards and regulations. Food businesses also want to improve productivity and increase profits, earning both happy customers and increased revenue. All of these factors point to a greater need for PLM.

Read the fulll article on Hospitality Tech, or sign up below to stay In The Loop on CMX news and insights.