Learn PLM from the ground up
Seven days. One short lesson a day. The whole picture of Product Lifecycle Management — and how to make it work in your company.
We'll walk through business processes, dive deep into product data and information systems, and share the secret ingredients that make a PLM initiative actually work. No jargon for its own sake — just the concepts you need to hold a confident conversation about PLM.
Start the crash course
One email a day for 7 days. Unsubscribe any time.
PLM is complex. It doesn't have to be confusing.
Over the next five to ten years, the most significant business gains will come from getting the right information to the right people at the right time. That's what PLM is all about. This course gives you the vocabulary, the concepts, and the practical frameworks to be part of that conversation — whether you're new to PLM or filling gaps in what you already know.
Sign up in 20 seconds
Name and email. No calls, no sales pitch, no credit card.
Get the e-course now
Instant access to the self-paced PLM Basics e-course — start whenever you like.
Lesson 1 tomorrow
One lesson lands each morning for seven days. Check your spam folder just in case.
Keep the material
Everything stays yours — revisit any lesson whenever you need it.
of all change programs fail — and PLM is no exception.
Understanding it is where you start.
PLM transformations span processes, systems, and culture, which makes them hard to get right. The people who succeed are the ones who understand what they're actually working with.
Source: McKinsey & Company, The Inconvenient Truth About Change Management
Seven days, from products to program management
Each lesson lands in your inbox in the morning and takes about ten minutes to read.
What Is PLM?
Products are defined by data — and data has become a core corporate asset. Start with what PLM actually is: a framework for getting the right information to the right people at the right time, across the product's full lifecycle.
Business Processes
A process is a recipe: clear inputs, a defined sequence, a reliable output. Learn how to map, model, deploy, and monitor processes at a level of detail that actually works in real life — and why vague ones create waste.
Making Sense of Your Product Data
Structured, transactional, master, unstructured, semi-structured — get the vocabulary straight, then work through a practical checklist for tearing down data silos and putting your information to work.
PLM Architecture
The glue that holds it all together. Clients, servers, databases, and SQL — then the three layers of the PLM stack: authoring applications, core systems, and analytics platforms.
PLM Program Management
Traditional project management falls short on programs this big. Twelve concrete steps — from appointing a program manager and building the business case to mapping allies and adversaries and running honest program reviews.
Making Change Stick
Roughly 70% of change programs fail, and PLM is no exception. The ingredients that beat the odds: a clear vision, a lead team with real executive backing, and the building blocks of process, communication, training, and support.
Keep Going
Your learning shouldn't stop on Day 7. Five skills every successful PLM expert should build, five books worth your time, and five blogs that keep you in the know.
The PLM Basics e-course
The perfect resource to kick off your PLM learning journey. 20 self-paced lessons across seven modules, finishing with a quiz so you can check what stuck. Yours to work through at your own pace, alongside the daily emails.
Built for anyone who needs to get PLM
Who it's for
- You're new to PLM and need the whole picture, fast.
- You work around product data — engineering, IT, quality, supply chain, manufacturing — and want to understand how the pieces connect.
- You've been handed a PLM project and need to hold your own in the conversation.
- You're a consultant, vendor, or newcomer to the industry building your foundation.
What you'll get
- 7 daily lessons covering PLM end to end.
- Instant access to the 20-lesson PLM Basics e-course.
- A working vocabulary for processes, data types, and core systems.
- Practical frameworks: process mapping, the data checklist, the 12-step program plan.
- A curated reading list of books and blogs to keep learning.
What people say about the crash course
I finally understood how processes, data, and systems fit together — Day 4 made the whole architecture click.
I used the process mapping framework with my team the same week. Short lessons, real substance.
I came in knowing nothing about PLM and left able to hold my own in every project meeting.
We help people and organizations thrive through change
Founded by engineers who believe transformation starts and ends with people, we bring structure, empathy, and creativity to digital-transformation journeys. For over a decade, our team has supported companies like Valmet, FLSmidth, and Tetra Pak in bringing their people along on their digital journeys.
We wrote this course because PLM is genuinely complex — and nobody should have to piece it together from scattered blog posts.
Are you ready?
Sign up today and Lesson 1 is in your inbox tomorrow morning. Your PLM Basics e-course access arrives right away.
By the end of the week, you'll understand what PLM is all about — and how to make it work for your company.
Start the 7-day crash course
Lesson 1 arrives tomorrow morning.