Summary & Goals
The goal of the PLM Green Global Alliance discussion forum and working group on the intersection of PLM and Sustainability, led by Jos Voskuil and Mark Reisig, is to promote activities that positively contribute to the seventeen United Nations Sustainability Development Goals. In particular, we will focus on those topics where PLM-enabling technologies have a role to make a difference; relevant for the SDGs 7-8-9-11 and 12.
The general subject of Sustainability is a very wide and diverse topic that is globally covered by many organizations. Our alliance will focus on the application and value of PLM-related strategies, technologies, software solutions and consulting services to contribute to a more Sustainable future. This is a subject matter that no other professional PLM organization have taken up as a priority, though more industrial users and solution providers are increasingly interested.
Theme Moderators
Jos Voskuil, PLM Coach, Consultant, and Blogger at www.virtualdutchman.com
tacit@planet.nl
Mark Reisig, Sustainability and Green Energy Practice Director and Executive Consultant for CIMdata at www.cimdata.com
m.reisig@cimdata.com
Focus & Objectives
The goals and challenges of Product Lifecycle Management and Sustainability share much in common and should be considered synergistic. Where in theory, PLM is the strategy to manage a product along its whole lifecycle, Sustainability is concerned not only with the product’s lifecycle but should also address sustainability of the users, industries, economies, environment and entire planet in which the products operate.
The most significant difference between PLM and Sustainability is in the traditional lifecycle of products. Manufacturers often do not take their products’ full lifecycle footprint and costs into account. Reducing products and processes that create waste and are a negative impact on the planet’s lifecycle have only recently become more important and are still not a priority in many industries.
Like modern PLM practices, Sustainability also requires systems thinking. Solving one of the 17 Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) can positively or negatively influence the other Sustainability Development Goals. In the same manner, developing a product should also be performed through the lens of system thinking. The product lifecycle starts from choosing its solution concept (i.e., which materials and what environmental impact) through its manufacturing process, then usage and finally its recycling or repurposing. The goal is to avoid a landfill.
We passionately believe that implementing data-driven, end-to-end PLM practices can help organizations to understand, measure, and analyze the consequences of their product design, methods of production, and supply chain choices on the planet’s lifecycle. Investigating, documenting, and minimizing this impact with examples is a key objective of the PLM and Sustainability discussion group.
Specific topics we wish to discuss further in this forum include how PLM can be used to:
- Make products and processes more efficient and green
- Understand and measure the impact on the carbon footprint of design decisions and production processes, along with changes to them
- Develop, distribute, and use new sources of renewable green energy
- Design products and their lifecycles to be sustainable
- Recycle, reuse, or repurpose assets, materials, and natural resources
- Enhance the resiliency and Sustainability of infrastructures, communities and economies
We invite others to nominate additional topics important to their businesses and then help us to prioritize our efforts going forward.
Agenda & Activities
We will be pursuing our objectives by a plan selected from several elements which may include: topical focus groups, virtual roundtables, articles and blog posts, book reviews, recorded interviews, industry surveys, conference presentations, webinars, and cooperation with other organizations and alliances. This plan will be developed in collaboration with members using small discussion groups. Follow our progress or better yet join us by sending an email to info@plmgreenalliance.com.
Announcements & Updates
Check back soon as we announce our activities for 2024, or register HERE to receive our news updates.
Invitation to Participate & Collaborate
To participate in our PLM and Sustainability group, we invite you to first join the PLM Green Global Alliance LinkedIn Group at https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12304531/ then contact our moderator Jos Voskuil.
References & Resources
Here we have started creating a curated list of featured white papers, blog posts, presentations, case studies, webinars, and recorded interviews on the role of PLM-enabling technologies in addressing sustainability. We invite you to send us examples you have come across in your own work, company, industry, or country.to info@plmgreenalliance.com.
Talking With Sustaira About Sustainability - Just before the summer holidays the PLM Green Global Alliance was pleased to resume our interview series on PLM and Sustainability where we talk with PLM-related software vendors to discuss their sustainability missions and offerings. Following recent discussions in the PLM ecosystem, including PSC Transition Technologies (EcoPLM), CIMPA PLM services… Continue Reading
Sustainability in PLM – A Path Forward - In a recent episode of the podcast Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering from Razorleaf, hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott are joined by renowned PLM thought leader and sustainability advocate, Jos Voskuil, co-founder of the PLM Green Global Alliance. Together, they unpack the evolving role of sustainability within the world… Continue Reading
Embedding Product Sustainability within PLM from CIMdata - PLM Green contributor Mark Reisig from CIMdata has authored a new commentary on "Embedding Product Sustainability within PLM." In the paper Mark features the work of CONTACT Software to aggregate and manage product data across the lifecycle to provide a complete Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) solution. Key takeaways include: Embedding… Continue Reading
Design for Sustainability News - (The following post from PLM Green Global Alliance cofounder Jos Voskuil first appeared in his European PLM-focused blog HERE.) Within the PLM Green Global Alliance (PGGA), we had an internal kick-off meeting related to the topic of Design for Sustainability (DfS). As you might have seen on our website, Erik… Continue Reading
Sustainability Trends Within PLM from CIMdata - PLM Green Global Alliance contributor Mark Reisig recently led a CIMdata webinar on "Sustainability Trends Within PLM" on April 10, 2025. Key topics of the agenda that Mark covered include: Status of Sustainability Sustainability Trends Embedding Sustainability into PLM Strategies Circular Economy and the Digital Product Passport (DPP) Reducing Product… Continue Reading
New e-book on Product Sustainability for Dummies - Dave Duncan, Head of Sustainability for PLM solution provider PTC, has announced the publication of his new e-book “Product Sustainability for Dummies.” In a recent LinkedIn post Dave introduced the book by writing: “Sustainability in manufacturing is complex, and there’s no single playbook to follow. After working with hundreds of… Continue Reading
How to Become a Leader in Sustainability from PLM Group - The E.U.-based PLM Group has published a new e-book on "How to Become a Leader in Sustainability." The authors write that their e-report will guide readers through six steps towards a greener future and how they can implement digital technology into sustainable design and manufacturing practices. The publication is available… Continue Reading
Leaders in PLM and Sustainability – February 2025 - This new post from the PLM Green Global Alliance (PGGA) is next in a series on “Leaders in PLM & Sustainability” where we interview professionals from around the world who are working at the intersection of Product Lifecycle Management and Sustainability. Our goal for these profiles is to recognize and… Continue Reading CIMdata on Addressing the Cost of Sustainability During Early Product Development - Mark Reisig, CIMdata's Sustainability & Green Energy Practice Director and PLM Green contributor, has authored a new commentary on "Addressing the Cost of Sustainability During Early Product Development." In his opening Mark summarizes key takeaways of the paper: "Effectively addressing sustainability factors throughout the product lifecycle is becoming a critical… Continue Reading
Talking with CIMPA about PLM & Sustainability - The following post first appeared in PLM Green cofounder Jos Voskuil's European weblog "PLM and Sustainability: talking with CIMPA" on 6 January 2025. Most times in this PLM and Sustainability series, Klaus Brettschneider and Jos Voskuil from the PLM Green Global Alliance core team speak with PLM related vendors or service partners. This past year we… Continue Reading
The Sustainability Thread Whitepaper - PLM Green contributor Klaus Brettschneider, who is Director of Sustainability Products at Linx-AS LLC, has authored a new thought-leadership whitepaper on "The Sustainability Thread: Rethinking the digital thread to drive sustainability performance and green R&D." In the executive summary, Klaus writes: "The digital twin and digital thread concepts are now… Continue Reading
Leaders in PLM and Sustainability – December 2024 - This is the third in a new series of posts from the PLM Green Global Alliance (PGGA) on “Leaders in PLM & Sustainability” where we profile and interview professionals from around the world who are working at the intersection of PLM and Sustainability. Our goal for these profiles is to… Continue Reading Leaders in PLM and Sustainability – October 2024 - It’s motivating to witness so many Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) professionals, educators, consultants, and solution providers become active in creating a more sustainable, low-carbon, circular economy. Only a few years ago when one googled the terms “PLM and Sustainability” or “PLM and Sustainable Product Design” there were very few results.… Continue Reading
Addressing the Global Plastics Problem in Electrotechnical Product Design - Our latest PLM Green Global Alliance post is a guest author contribution from Roger Franz who is a recognized authority on supply chain reporting for compliance with worldwide regulations, leveraging his decades of experience with engineering software tools and enterprise IT systems. Previously, Roger shared his professional passion and special… Continue Reading Leaders in PLM and Sustainability – September 2024 - It has been very encouraging over the past few years to witness so many Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) professionals become active in the sustainability transition as it becomes increasingly important to our global economy. In this our next series of posts from the PLM Green Global Alliance we will feature… Continue Reading
Sustainability & PLM: An Industrial Perspective - Recently, I (Mark Reisig) delivered a CIMdata webinar titled, “Sustainability & PLM: An Industrial Perspective.” For those of you who were unable to attend I am excited to share the following summary of key points that I made. You can also view the recorded webinar here at your leisure. I… Continue Reading
CIMdata Webinar on Sustainability and PLM - The global-leading PLM consultancy CIMdata has announced an educational webinar on “Sustainability and PLM: The Industrial Perspective” to be held on July 11, 2024, at 11 am EDT US. The webinar will be led by Mark Reisig who is CIMdata’s Executive Consultant and Sustainability & Green Energy Practice Director. Mark… Continue Reading
Circular Aviation in the EU: SUSTAINair Final Conference - SUSTAINair, a project funded by the EU Horizon 2020 program, is at the forefront of revolutionizing aviation through its groundbreaking technologies and impactful solutions. SUSTAINair’s aim is to substantially increase the sustainability of the airframe value chain achieving a paradigm shift in aircraft manufacturing. The project’s solutions will bring significant… Continue Reading
Leveraging PLM and Circularity for Product Development - An article in the publication Sustainability on “Leveraging PLM and Circularity for Product Development” describes the transition from a linear to a circular economy. The author, Joseph Prock, writing for PTC Arena, remarks that the linear model is largely unsustainable. The circular economy, on the other hand, aims to minimize… Continue Reading PLM & Sustainability News March 2024 - The PLM Green Global Alliance (PGGA) mission is to educate, advocate, and collaborate across the boundaries of technical disciplines, industries, and international borders to advance the use of Product Lifecycle Management strategies and technologies in the transition to a more sustainable decarbonized circular economy. In our latest quarterly PLM & Sustainability… Continue Reading
PLM Green Interview with Makersite - We are happy to start the year with the next round of the PLM Global Green Alliances (PGGA) interview series on PLM and Sustainability. This year, we will speak with some new companies, and we will also revisit some of our previous guests to learn about their progress in developing… Continue Reading
CIMdata Thought Leadership on PLM and Sustainability - PLM Green Global Alliance participant Mark Reisig from CIMdata has authored a comprehensive thought leadership paper on PLM and Sustainability. In his signature paper, Mark details the defining challenge of our time for technologists, engineers, and innovators to decarbonize the global economy to minimize greenhouse gas emissions that are quickly… Continue Reading
The Sustainability Thread - The topic of sustainability was high on the agenda of the SAP Product Lifecycle Management Info Days event held this past September in Hershey, PA, just west of SAP America’s HQ outside of Philadelphia. Most SAP customer presentations at the annual event referenced the growing need to provide product data… Continue Reading
Circular Economy of Large Complex Systems from CIMPA - In this article from Patrice Quencez, Director Consultant of CIMPA PLM Services and PLM Green Circular Economy (CE) contributor, discusses the deployment, completion, and reinforcement of PLM capabilities to meet sustainability stakes of complex systems with long lifecycles, such as those found in aviation and aerospace. Patrice writes: "Even if… Continue Reading
PLM and Sustainability Book Preview - From PLM Green Global Alliance's (PGGA) European co-founder Jos Voskuil. During May and June of this year I wrote a guest chapter for John Stark's book Product Lifecycle Management (Volume 2): The Devil is in the Details. The book is considered a standard in academic and professional circles when studying all… Continue Reading
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… Continue Reading
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… Continue Reading
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… Continue Reading