Bridging PLM and Systems Engineering for Sustainability
The PLM Green Global Alliance (PGGA) recently met with Hamza Bassam and Kai Constantini from the INCOSE Sustainability Working Group to explore how the PLM and Systems Engineering communities can collaborate on sustainable product development.
Watch the Full Discussion
Connecting PLM and Systems Engineering for Sustainability
The discussion highlighted the natural connection between the two disciplines. Sustainability requires companies to move beyond the traditional linear lifecycle of designing, producing, using, and retiring products. Circularity, environmental and social impacts, new stakeholders, and alternative business models add considerable complexity. Systems Engineering and Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) provide established methods for managing such complexity. In contrast, PLM provides the product information and lifecycle context needed to put these approaches into practice.
A central theme was the need to move beyond eco-efficiency, making existing processes less harmful toward eco-effectiveness and ultimately regenerative approaches. This requires not only new engineering methods but also new business and mental models. Sustainable solutions must demonstrate that environmental and societal benefits can coexist with economic viability.
Digitalization can accelerate this transition. MBSE, connected data environments and AI could make lifecycle and sustainability assessments significantly more efficient and enable engineers to evaluate alternative circular-economy strategies through models and scenario analysis. Looking ahead, AI agents could increasingly support activities such as lifecycle assessment and sustainability analysis.
The ‘Sustainability Together’ Initiative
A particularly interesting opportunity for collaboration is INCOSE’s ‘Sustainability Together’ initiative. The open-source project serves as a virtual laboratory where participants can model and test the transformation of conventional products, enterprise architectures, and business models toward more sustainable alternatives. Its first use case explores photovoltaic systems and alternative concepts such as “photovoltaics as a service.”
PGGA and the INCOSE Sustainability Working Group see several areas where their communities can complement each other, from semantic integration and lifecycle data to systems modeling and regenerative design. Both also share the ambition to connect researchers and sustainability specialists more closely with industry practitioners.
The interview therefore marks a starting point for closer collaboration between the two communities. Systems Engineering brings a systemic perspective, PLM connects product information across the lifecycle, and sustainability provides a common objective. Bringing these perspectives together can help move sustainable product development from isolated initiatives toward an integrated engineering approach.
Get Involved
Members of the PGGA community interested in contributing are invited to engage in the ‘Sustainability Together’ initiative. Its open approach allows people from different disciplines and experience levels to contribute ideas, models, and practical use cases.
About the Guests
Hamza Bassam is an MBSE trainer and consultant at oose eG, specializing in the intersection of Model-Based Systems Engineering and sustainability. He is co-chair of the INCOSE Sustainability Working Group and leads the SustainableTogether open-source project. His work focuses on using MBSE and structured modeling approaches to make sustainability assessment more accessible and support organizations in addressing complex sustainability challenges.
Kai Constantini is a consultant, trainer, facilitator and Art Thinking expert involved in the INCOSE sustainability community. Her work brings together systems thinking, sustainability, circular design and interdisciplinary approaches. She is also actively involved in organizing the INCOSE Sustainability Working Group’s Sustainability Webinar Series.