PLM Tools to Design for Sustainability

This month we are pleased to feature a guest blog submitted by PLM Green Global Alliance follower Roger L. Franz. who shares a few things he has learned as a Principal in Engineering Information Technology when beginning to explore the state of PLM tools to Design for Sustainability.


Design for Sustainability is now a mainstream requirement from governments, regulators, and customers. In this brief we summarize some current trends in the area of PLM tools to support rapid engineering assessment of environmental footprint among the many engineering choices. Engineering and science-based tools to quickly guide hardware engineers toward material selection and product configuration choices with reduced environmental footprint are critical to our future.

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Climate Change Chronicles July 2023

This month’s Climate Change Chronicles bears witness to July 2023 going down in history as a tipping point in human awareness of the effects of global warming that can no longer be denied as the planet crosses over into an era of accelerating climate change. Yet, despite all the unsettling news, global carbon emissions are showing signs of slowing due to the work of countless scientists, engineers, activists, policy experts, government agencies and other professionals around the world, including those working to green PLM and NPD.

So many climate records were broken this month that climate scientists began stating the obvious: global warming and climate change is accelerating and has entered into new unprecedented, unchartered territory which the world is ill prepared to handle. Floods, fires, droughts, water shortages, and deadly heat are fueling concurrent crises and disasters across the world as the planet is on track to exceed an increase of over 5 degrees F.

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Climate Change Chronicles May 2023

The latest Climate Change Chronicles from the PLM Green Global Alliance provides a quick-to-scan digest of news, both good and bad, from around the world during May 2023 about the changing climate and its impact on people and the planet.

While there is increasing good news about the race to decarbonize the global economy, I am often asked if all the bad climate news does not distress me into despair.

No, it serves to motivate me further to do more NOW as I sincerely hope it does others.

Like many PLM Green participants, I was educated (long ago) as an aerospace engineer who was motivated by identifying and analyzing problems. And now ending my career as a business consultant concerned about the future of humanity and our planet, I am more motivated to help promote engineering solutions to the most challenging sustainability obstacle our generation has created and leaves behind to others, climate change.

This includes the most important uses of PLM-enabling technologies that PLM professionals will likely ever see in our careers.

Our good news question of the month: what European country announced that 80% of all new car sales last year were electric vehicles? Read on to find out and learn what else might have been missed in your own news feeds.

For additional news about the role of PLM-enabling technologies in creating a more sustainable low-carbon circular economy, subscribe to the PLM & Sustainability Newsletter (soon to be restarted) then join our PLM Green LinkedIn Group for community discussion.

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PLM Green Reports on PTC LiveWorx 2023

This post was written and first published in May 2023 by PLM Green co-founder Jos Voskuil in his European Virtual Dutchman blog about PLM.

Last week I enjoyed visiting LiveWorx 2023 on behalf of the PLM Global Green Alliance. PTC had invited us to understand their sustainability ambitions and meet with the relevant people from PTC, partners, customers and several of my analyst friends. It felt like a reunion.

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Discussing PLM and Sustainability with CIMdata

Last year the PLM Green Global Alliance was excited to speak with PLM solution providers SAP, Autodesk, Dassault Systems, Sustaira, Aras, and PTC to learn about them and their customers’ contributions to sustainability. This year we were equally enthused to meet with CIMdata’s Mark Reisig in a wide-ranging conversation about sustainability, climate change and green energy.

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Discussing Sustainability with PTC

The following post was first written by PLM Green co-founder Jos Voskuil where it  appeared in his European PLM Weblog in December 2022.


We are excited to close the year with the first round of the PLM Global Green Alliance (PGGA) series of interviews and panel discussions about PLM and Sustainability.

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Climate Change Chronicles December 2022

This month’s Climate Change Chronicles from the PLM Green Global Alliance provides a quick-to-scan summary of news from around the world during December 2022 about the changing climate and its impact on people and the planet.

Our good news question of the month: what laboratory announced a breakthrough in nuclear fusion energy? Read on to find out and learn what else might have been missed in your own news feeds.

For news about the use of PLM-enabling technologies in creating a more sustainable, low carbon, circular economy, subscribe to the PLM & Sustainability Newsletter then join our PLM Green LinkedIn Group.

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PLM and Sustainability December 2022

Welcome to the latest edition of PLM & Sustainability, a news digest from the PLM Green Global Alliance exploring the role of Product Lifecycle Management business strategies and enabling technologies in transitioning to a sustainable, low-carbon, circular economy. In this issue you will find:

  • Looking Back at the Year 2022
  • PLM Green News Roundup
  • References on PLM and Sustainability
  • Industry and Solution Provider News Roundup
  • More About the PLM Green Initiative
  • A Holiday Wish for a Green New Year

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PLM & Sustainability Oct. 2022

Welcome to the latest edition of PLM & Sustainability, a news digest from the PLM Green Global Alliance chronicling the role of Product Lifecycle Management enabling technologies in helping companies and industries transition to a more sustainable, low-carbon circular economy. In this newsletter you will find a compilation of recent news about PLM Green, solution providers, industry references, people and jobs that is fast to scan for what might have been missed in your own feeds.

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Discussing Sustainability with Aras

The PLM Green Global Alliance recently hosted its fifth panel discussion with solution providers to explore how PLM-enabling technologies can support the drive to sustainability. These interviews expand upon a series of earlier articles, available on the PLM Green website and in the PLM Green LinkedIn Group, that examine the contributions to sustainability from PLM solution providers, their consulting partners, and most importantly, industry customers.

This time we met with Aras which is now considered one of the eight top PLM Mindshare Leaders by the market analyst firm CIMdata. We were especially excited to speak to Aras since they were one of the first solution providers to talk openly about sustainability and resiliency. More recently, they have written about the role of PLM in powering “The Circular Economy as a Model for the Future”.

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Climate Change Chronicles August 2022

The latest Climate Change Chronicles news digest, prepared for followers of the PLM Green Global Alliance, summarizes substantial news from around the world during the month of August, 2022 about the worsening climate and progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

This month’s good news question: what is the name of the recently passed legislation in the US that supporters say will help the country meet its 40% reduction in emissions target by 2030? Read on to find out while joining others in bearing witness to the growing impact of global warming on people and the planet.

For more positive news about the use of PLM-enabling technologies in creating a more sustainable, lower carbon, circular economy, subscribe to the PLM & Sustainability Newsletter then join our PLM Green LinkedIn Group.

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Discussing Sustainability with Sustaira

The PLM Green Global Alliance recently hosted its fourth interview and panel discussion exploring how PLM-enabling technologies support the sustainability imperative. These interviews expand upon our earlier articles on the Intersection of PLM and Sustainability by examining the progress towards sustainability being made by solution providers, their consulting partners and industry customers.

This time, PLM Green co-founder Jos Voskuil and Climate Change Moderator Klaus Brettschneider met with the founder and CEO of Sustaira, Vincent de la Mar. Sustaira provides the infrastructure and expertise for building sustainability apps based on the low-code development platform Mendix. Through its use of and relationship with Mendix, a 2018 acquisition by Siemens, Sustaira is a Siemens Digital Industries ecosystem partner as announced earlier this year.

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PLM & Sustainability August 2022

Experienced Product Lifecycle Management professionals, consultants, and solution providers all know that the biggest obstacle to implementing a PLM strategy is not in technology or software, but in business organizational cultures that resist critical self-examination and change, despite being confronted by inconvenient facts which threaten their performance or even survival.

Sound familiar to the hesitation and denial surrounding climate change that slows our global transition to a net-zero economy?

PLM consultants also tell their clients that every product manufacturer or process producer executes some form of PLM, whether they are consciously aware of it or not. The lack of a PLM business strategy, implementation plan, or supporting software solution is in fact one, albeit negligent, form of PLM.

Even when the “M” in this case is also for mismanagement.

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Climate Change Chronicles July 2022

Climate change is not a short news story that can be told in one post, but is a long narrative that will span decades in which history will judge humanity for what we did and did not do as we individually and collectively bear witness. The latest Climate Change Chronicles news digest, prepared for followers of the PLM Green Global Alliance, summarizes news during just one month from around the world about the changing climate and efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The past month of July 2022 was another month of climate-related suffering – including my own Midwest city of St. Louis which flooded from 10 inches of rain over one night – with abundant scientific evidence that demonstrates the worsening effects of climate change and a warming planet. Despite all the bad news, there was continued progress in the movement to decarbonize industry as we share with the PLM Green LinkedIn Group.

July 2022 Eurasia Heat Wave from NASA

Our good news question of the month: what country has started sending its citizens a quarterly climate carbon dividend rebate from a tax on carbon polluters? Read on to find out and learn what you might have missed in your own climate news feeds during the past month. For news about the role of PLM in creating a more sustainable low-carbon economy, subscribe to our other PLM Green news digest on the Intersection of PLM & Sustainability.

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Climate Change News Digest June 2022

The latest Climate Change News Digest, prepared for followers of the PLM Green Global Alliance, summarizes news from around the world about the changing climate and progress in decarbonizing the global economy. Our good news question of the month: what percentage of US power came from renewable sources in the first quarter of the year?  Read on to find out and learn what you might have missed in your own climate news feeds during the past month. For news about the role of PLM in creating a more sustainable low-carbon economy, subscribe to our other news digest on the Intersection of PLM & Sustainability.

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News on the Intersection of PLM and Sustainability June 2022

Welcome to the first edition of a monthly news digest from the PLM Green Global Alliance exploring the role of Product Lifecycle Management technologies in transitioning to a low-carbon sustainable circular economy. Our goal is to foster a global network that shares information between professionals who use, develop, research, market, consult, teach, or support PLM-enabling business strategies, technologies, and software solutions that can contribute to a more sustainable economy.

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Product and Planet Lifecycle Management

When the term “Planet Lifecycle Management” first occurred to me during the anxiety-filled months of the COVID pandemic, the environmentalist in me was offended by the Product Lifecycle Management business professional I have been for much of my career.

How arrogant of me to think that we humans can ever manage nature – either a microscopic virus or an entire planet – like it was some engineered and manufactured product!

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Climate Change News Digest May 2022

The latest Climate Change News Digest, prepared for followers of the PLM Green Global Alliance, summarizes the most important monthly news from around the world about the changing climate and progress in decarbonizing the global economy. Our good news question of the month: what is the “First Movers Initiative” announced at the Davos World Economic Forum this year? Read on to find out and learn what you might have missed in your own news feeds during the past month.

CO2 in the atmosphere as measured at Mauna Loa hit another record at 421 ppm. April is the month when C02 is the highest in the Northern Hemisphere. The Keeling Curve shows no sign of slowing down and is expected to blow past 430 then reach 440. The last time levels were this high was over 4 million years ago on a planet that would not have been habitable for humans or the flora and fauna that we now enjoy.

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