The subtitle of the analysis , for which the consulting firm i nterviewed 50 experts from German-speaking countries, already states that product lifecycle management (PLM) is a pioneer for the Internet of Things, Industry 4.0 and the digital twin. The separation of application areas such as enterprise resource planning or manufacturing execution systems has thus far stood in the way of digitizing the entire value chain. Future requirements will however need a “digital core” that interconnects all applications. All the same, 67% of companies surveyed are currently planning to optimize their holistic integration. 78% considered digital twins as a competitive advantage since they could help improve quality assurance.

“No practical digitization without PLM” read the headline of industry-of-things .de as early as 2016. More emphasis must be placed on data management and interconnecting this data with all relevant systems and sources: Progress within the company will otherwise soon come up against its limits.