Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming how products are designed, manufactured, and serviced. From predictive maintenance to generative design and digital twins, AI has the power to accelerate decision-making and unlock entirely new business models.

But here’s the reality: without a strong data foundation, AI initiatives stall or fail. Studies show that most AI projects fail to deliver value because they rely on incomplete, inconsistent, or siloed data. For manufacturers, the source of truth for this data is Product Lifecycle Management (PLM).

PLM provides the foundation that ensures product data is accurate, contextualized, and accessible across the enterprise. In this blog, we’ll outline a practical readiness checklist for executives, explore the ROI of aligning PLM with AI initiatives, and share how leaders can turn readiness into competitive advantage.

The Strategic Imperative: Linking PLM to AI

Think of PLM as the digital backbone of your organization. It manages product information across the lifecycle—from concept and engineering to manufacturing, quality, and service.

AI, meanwhile, acts as the accelerator—turning that data into predictive insights, optimization opportunities, and smarter innovations. But AI is only as effective as the data it consumes. Without PLM ensuring integrity, context, and governance, even the most sophisticated algorithms produce unreliable results.

For executives, the takeaway is simple: success with AI isn’t about choosing the right algorithm. It’s about ensuring your product data is trustworthy, structured, and accessible. PLM makes that possible.

The Executive AI Readiness Checklist

To help leaders prepare, here’s a practical playbook for assessing readiness. Use these six checkpoints to evaluate whether your PLM can truly support AI-driven transformation.

1. Data Centralization

Ask yourself: Do we have a single source of truth for product data across engineering, manufacturing, and service?
If data lives in spreadsheets, departmental silos, or disconnected systems, AI will struggle to deliver value. PLM centralizes this information, ensuring every team operates from the same baseline.

2. Data Quality & Governance

AI depends on accuracy. Without strong governance—standards, version control, and access policies—data integrity is compromised. PLM enforces these rules, giving executives confidence that AI models are trained on reliable, compliant data.

3. Cross-Functional Alignment

AI is not an IT initiative or an engineering experiment—it’s an enterprise-wide transformation. Success requires alignment between engineering, IT, operations, and business leadership. Position PLM not as an engineering tool, but as a strategic enabler of business outcomes.

4. Integration & Ecosystem Readiness

AI thrives on connected ecosystems. Can your PLM integrate with IoT platforms, ERP, MES, and CRM systems? Are your data pipelines designed for scalability? Executives must ensure their PLM is not an isolated system but a central hub connected across the digital thread.

5. Talent & Culture

Technology is only half the equation. Do your teams have the skills to work with AI? Are employees data-literate and open to AI-driven workflows? Building a culture of adoption—where engineering collaborates with IT and data science—is critical to long-term success.

6. Compliance & Risk Management

Finally, consider regulatory, cybersecurity, and ethical implications. AI introduces risks around transparency, bias, and data security. PLM provides the governance framework to ensure compliance and traceability—protecting both your business and your customers.

By assessing these six dimensions, executives can identify gaps and create a roadmap that ensures PLM is ready to power AI initiatives effectively.

The ROI of Preparing PLM for AI

For executives, the question is always: What’s the business impact? Aligning PLM with AI initiatives creates measurable returns that go far beyond cost savings.

Simply put, PLM-readiness is not just an IT investment—it’s a growth strategy.

Executive Next Steps: Building the Roadmap

Preparing your PLM for AI doesn’t require an all-or-nothing approach. Executives can start small and scale over time.

By approaching readiness as a strategic initiative rather than a technical project, executives can future-proof their AI investments while demonstrating clear ROI.

Turning Readiness Into Advantage

AI is redefining competitiveness in product industries—but only for organizations that have the right foundation. PLM provides that foundation by centralizing, contextualizing, and governing product data across the lifecycle.

Executives who align their PLM strategy with AI readiness unlock faster innovation, reduced costs, and stronger market positions. The time to act is now. See where your own product data stands with our Business Assessment. We’ll help you identify gaps, inefficiencies, and readiness for digital transformation.

Gain a clear view of how structured PLM can set the stage for scalable AI success.

In today’s world of fast-paced product innovation and growing regulatory demands, product development teams need a robust and integrated way to manage the entire lifecycle of complex systems. That’s where Codebeamer, a powerful Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) solution by PTC, comes into play. If you’re looking for a way to unify teams, streamline compliance, and deliver high-quality products faster, Codebeamer might be your answer.

Let’s explore what is PTC Codebeamer, how it helps organizations in regulated industries, and why it stands out as a next-generation ALM tool.

What is Codebeamer?

PTC Codebeamer is a modern, cloud-ready ALM platform designed to support complex product and software development processes. It provides end-to-end traceability, collaborative workflows, and built-in support for compliance management.

From requirements capture and risk management to testing and quality assurance, Codebeamer consolidates every step of the development lifecycle into a single platform. It enables teams to collaborate in real-time while maintaining full traceability and regulatory alignment.

Why Codebeamer Was Built: Solving Modern ALM Challenges

The development of Codebeamer was driven by a growing need in the industry for a more cohesive, scalable, and compliance-oriented approach to ALM. As products become increasingly complex and interdisciplinary, and as regulatory scrutiny intensifies across industries, traditional methods and legacy tools can’t keep up. Development teams need solutions that not only track progress but actively facilitate collaboration, traceability, and quality.

Legacy ALM tools and document-based processes often fall short in today’s environment of continuous innovation and regulatory pressure. Teams struggle with:

Codebeamer was purpose-built to eliminate these issues. By connecting stakeholders across the development lifecycle, it fosters collaboration and ensures that quality, safety, and compliance are built into every step. Its integrated and modern architecture helps reduce risk, streamline documentation, and improve overall product development agility.

Key Features of Codebeamer

In a complex product development environment, teams need more than just a basic task tracker or document repository. They need a solution that brings structure, consistency, and traceability to every phase of development. Codebeamer delivers this with a rich suite of integrated features tailored to meet the needs of highly regulated industries and cross-functional engineering teams. From capturing requirements to automating compliance tasks, Codebeamer equips teams with the tools they need to work efficiently and deliver with confidence.

Requirements Management

Capture, analyze, and manage requirements in real-time. Codebeamer offers traceable requirement hierarchies and collaborative tools to ensure every stakeholder is aligned.

Risk Management

Integrated risk management tools help teams conduct FMEA, hazard analysis, and implement mitigation plans. Built-in support for ISO 14971 and other standards makes it ideal for regulated industries.

Test Management

Manage both manual and automated testing from a unified dashboard. Track test coverage, link tests to requirements, and generate audit-ready reports.

Compliance Automation

With templates and frameworks for ISO 13485, IEC 62304, ASPICE, and FDA requirements, Codebeamer automates much of the documentation and validation process.

Workflow Automation & Collaboration

Build custom workflows to streamline development, reviews, and approvals. With role-based access, teams can collaborate securely across global locations.

Codebeamer in Regulated Industries

Codebeamer plays a crucial role in helping highly regulated industries stay compliant, efficient, and innovative. These sectors face strict guidelines, frequent audits, and intense pressure to ensure product quality and safety. Codebeamer is designed to simplify compliance while improving traceability and development agility. With its built-in support for global standards and frameworks, it enables companies to operate confidently within even the most complex regulatory landscapes.

Codebeamer shines in industries where compliance, quality, and traceability are non-negotiable:

Built-in templates and best practices help organizations pass audits faster and with fewer headaches. In an environment where missteps can be costly, Codebeamer offers peace of mind and a path toward continuous improvement.

PTC Codebeamer vs Legacy ALM Tools

Unlike legacy ALM systems or spreadsheets, Codebeamer provides real-time traceability and centralized data access. It replaces fragmented, error-prone processes with a single digital thread across the development cycle. This results in:

As product development becomes more complex and global, the need for modern, integrated ALM platforms becomes critical. Codebeamer gives teams the visibility, traceability, and automation they need to stay ahead of the curve.

Codebeamer Integration with PLM and DevOps

PTC Codebeamer integrates seamlessly with Windchill PLM, GitHub, Jenkins, Jira, and other DevOps tools. This helps teams link software development with hardware design and manage the entire product lifecycle under one roof.

The synergy between Codebeamer and PLM tools ensures better change control, faster releases, and fewer miscommunications.

Benefits of Using Codebeamer

When it comes to modern product development, having the right ALM tool can make all the difference. Codebeamer offers a comprehensive platform that improves productivity, enhances compliance, and promotes innovation across cross-functional teams. Its intuitive interface, real-time dashboards, and robust integrations help reduce overhead and eliminate bottlenecks.

For organizations working in high-stakes, highly regulated environments, these benefits can translate into:

Why Engineers and Quality Teams Are Adopting Codebeamer

Codebeamer provides engineering and QA teams with a flexible, scalable platform tailored to their unique challenges. Whether it’s tracing a bug back to a requirement or preparing for an FDA audit, Codebeamer simplifies the process. Its visual dashboards, process templates, and customizable workflows empower teams to focus on innovation instead of paperwork.

Frequently Asked Questions About PTC Codebeamer

When exploring application lifecycle management (ALM) solutions, decision-makers often seek clarity on what sets each platform apart, especially when it comes to managing complex, regulated, and connected product development. The following FAQs address the most common questions engineering leaders, IT managers, and executives ask when evaluating PTC Codebeamer. From its core functionality and compliance capabilities to its role in agile and hybrid development, these answers explain how Codebeamer supports digital transformation across the entire product lifecycle.

What is PTC Codebeamer and how does it work?

PTC Codebeamer is an application lifecycle management (ALM) platform that centralizes the management of requirements, risks, tests, and releases across the entire development lifecycle. It connects teams through digital traceability, ensuring all stakeholders—from engineering to quality—work from a shared, up-to-date source of truth. Codebeamer provides configurable workflows, templates, and integrations to align development with compliance and quality standards. This unified approach helps teams deliver safer, more reliable, and higher-quality products faster.

What is ALM (Application Lifecycle Management) and why do companies need it?

ALM, or Application Lifecycle Management, is the process of managing a product’s software lifecycle, from planning and design to development, testing, deployment, and maintenance. Companies need ALM to coordinate cross-functional teams, maintain traceability, and ensure consistent quality across evolving software systems. As products become more software-driven, ALM bridges engineering and IT disciplines, reducing risk and rework. With tools like Codebeamer, organizations can streamline collaboration and ensure that business, development, and compliance goals stay aligned.

How does Codebeamer differ from traditional PLM or project management tools?

Unlike PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) systems that focus primarily on mechanical and hardware product data, Codebeamer is purpose-built for managing software and systems development. It provides capabilities for requirements management, test management, and risk tracking, which traditional PLM and project tools often lack. While PLM manages “what is built,” ALM (and Codebeamer specifically) manages “how it’s built.” The two systems are complementary. When integrated, they deliver a seamless digital thread between design, engineering, and software delivery.

What are the key features of Codebeamer ALM?

Codebeamer includes end-to-end traceability, configurable workflows, integrated risk and test management, and advanced reporting dashboards. It offers requirements versioning, change control, compliance templates, and collaboration tools to improve transparency and quality throughout development. Built-in integrations connect to tools like Jira, GitHub, and PTC Windchill, creating a unified digital ecosystem. Together, these capabilities help organizations manage complexity while improving speed, visibility, and governance.

How does Codebeamer support requirements management?

Codebeamer provides a structured framework for capturing, organizing, and linking requirements with downstream development and testing activities. It ensures every requirement is traceable to its implementation and validation, helping teams maintain compliance and quality assurance. Version control and baselining features preserve a complete history of changes, reducing confusion and ensuring audit readiness. This makes Codebeamer a powerful solution for managing both simple and highly complex requirements workflows.

Who uses Codebeamer and what industries benefit from it?

Codebeamer is used across industries where product complexity, regulation, and safety are high priorities, such as medical devices, automotive, aerospace, defense, and industrial automation. It supports organizations that need to manage software-driven innovation while meeting strict quality and compliance standards. Engineering, quality assurance, and regulatory teams benefit most from its structured workflows and traceability. Companies building connected, high-tech, or safety-critical products find Codebeamer essential for managing lifecycle visibility.

Can small or mid-sized companies use Codebeamer, or is it just for large enterprises?

While Codebeamer is built to scale for large enterprises, it’s also an excellent fit for small-to-mid-sized organizations that want to mature their development processes. Its modular design and cloud deployment options allow companies to start small and expand as their needs evolve. PTC offers flexible licensing and implementation paths tailored to business size and industry. Even smaller teams gain enterprise-level control and visibility, without the overhead of a complex setup.

What are the core modules or capabilities of Codebeamer?

Codebeamer includes key modules for requirements management, risk and test management, change and configuration control, and reporting and analytics. Each module integrates seamlessly, ensuring a continuous digital thread from concept to release. Specialized templates and frameworks, such as ISO 26262 (automotive), IEC 62304 (medical), and DO-178C (aerospace), are built-in to streamline compliance. Together, these modules create a unified environment for managing all aspects of complex product development.

How does Codebeamer help manage complex product development and software delivery?

Codebeamer connects multiple disciplines – hardware, software, and systems engineering – into a single collaborative environment. It synchronizes development tasks, tests, and requirements to ensure teams stay aligned even in fast-paced, iterative projects. By automating traceability and approval workflows, it reduces errors and accelerates decision-making. The platform’s scalability and integrations make it ideal for managing highly complex, regulated, or geographically distributed development efforts.

What makes Codebeamer unique compared to other ALM tools?

Codebeamer stands out for its deep compliance support, end-to-end traceability, and configurable process templates designed for regulated industries. It’s one of the few ALM platforms that seamlessly connects with PTC’s ecosystem – including Windchill and ThingWorx – enabling a true digital thread across engineering and software domains. Its no-code workflow engine allows teams to tailor processes without development overhead. In short, Codebeamer offers the flexibility of an agile tool with the rigor of enterprise-grade compliance management.

Does Codebeamer support traceability across development, testing, and release?

Yes, traceability is one of Codebeamer’s strongest features. Every artifact – from requirements and risks to tests and releases -is linked, allowing teams to visualize dependencies and verify full coverage. Its Traceability Browser lets users drill down into upstream and downstream relationships to assess change impacts instantly. This level of visibility ensures nothing is missed and that regulatory documentation is always audit-ready.

How does Codebeamer help with audits and regulatory compliance (e.g., ISO, FDA, automotive)?

Codebeamer simplifies compliance by automating documentation and aligning workflows with key industry standards. It includes templates for ISO 26262 (automotive), IEC 62304 (medical), and FDA 21 CFR Part 11 (life sciences), among others. Teams can generate pre-configured audit trails and traceability reports on demand, saving time and reducing risk. Its built-in e-signatures, permissions, and validation workflows make it ideal for highly regulated environments.

How does Codebeamer support agile, DevOps, and hybrid development methodologies?

Codebeamer’s flexible architecture supports agile, waterfall, and hybrid methodologies, allowing teams to customize workflows to their preferred approach. It integrates seamlessly with DevOps tools such as Jenkins, GitLab, and Jira, creating continuous integration and delivery pipelines. Backlogs, sprints, and user stories can be managed alongside compliance and risk processes in one platform. This hybrid adaptability helps organizations modernize without abandoning established practices.

What reporting and analytics capabilities does Codebeamer provide?

Codebeamer offers configurable dashboards, KPIs, and reports to track progress, quality, and compliance metrics across projects. Real-time analytics visualize dependencies, bottlenecks, and change impacts, helping teams make data-driven decisions. Reports can be exported or shared automatically for audits, management reviews, or performance tracking. These insights improve transparency and promote continuous improvement across development teams.

Does Codebeamer support risk management and mitigation workflows?

Yes, Codebeamer includes built-in risk management modules that help identify, assess, and mitigate risks throughout the development lifecycle. Risks can be linked to requirements, tests, and controls, maintaining full traceability for compliance documentation. Configurable risk matrices and failure mode analyses (FMEA) ensure proactive decision-making. This structured approach reduces the chance of costly errors and strengthens product safety and reliability.

Is Codebeamer Right for You?

If your organization develops complex products, especially in regulated industries, PTC Codebeamer is an ALM platform worth considering. It delivers speed, compliance, and collaboration in a single solution, making it easier to innovate with confidence.

Want to see how Codebeamer can transform your development process? Register for our webinar, Codebeamer (ALM): Streamline Complex Product Development on August 20th.

We are so excited about being featured in a premier manufacturing publication! This article focuses on the multitude of ways that EAC helps companies take advantage of manufacturing and engineering data and turn it into growth for the company. We cover all things Digital Thread – from data management and Additive Manufacturing to Augmented Reality and AI in manufacturing.

The majority of businesses aspire to achieve sustainability but often lack clarity on where to begin. Many perceive adopting sustainable practices as a daunting task, believing it necessitates a complete overhaul of their production processes to make a significant impact. However, let me assure you that this is not the case.

So, where should you start your journey towards creating more sustainable product design and manufacturing processes?

To genuinely embrace sustainability, focus on making design decisions at the outset. Designing for repair, reducing material usage, refurbishment, remanufacturing, recovery, reuse, and recycling is crucial. It requires a holistic approach that considers a product’s environmental impact throughout its lifecycle.

Over 80% of a product’s environmental impact stems from design decisions made early on.

Here are three ways design changes can drive sustainability:

Sustainability in Design for Dematerialization

Dematerialization, or material usage reduction, emerges as a crucial strategy for sustainability, aiming to reduce material consumption and weight without sacrificing strength and durability. Leveraging cutting-edge technologies like Generative Design, engineers can optimize designs to use only the necessary amount of material, tailored to specific loads and constraints of each application.

Creo Simulation Live offers a seamless platform for quickly assessing how different materials or reduced material usage affect design performance, enabling adjustments earlier in the design process.

Moreover, with solutions like Creo AMX, designers leverage additive manufacturing capabilities to build structures in the most efficient direction, generating automated supports, and showcasing the potential of lattice structures.

These innovations not only allow for a material reduction but pave the way for lighter, more sustainable products that maintain the required level of performance. As we continue to prioritize dematerialization in manufacturing, we edge closer to a future where sustainability and efficiency are seamlessly integrated into every aspect of product development.

Sustainability in Design for Waste Reduction

Designing for manufacturability and minimizing material waste, such as through minimal stock allowance, ensures efficient use of resources from the outset. By leveraging die casting for near-net shape production throughout the manufacturing process, material waste is significantly reduced to maximize material utilization and minimize scrap generation.

Additionally, utilizing numerically controlled (NC) strategies optimized for fast machining and lower energy consumption, such as high-speed machining (HSM) roughing and finishing, contributes to waste reduction and energy efficiency.

Moreover, designing for ease of service and assembly extends product lifespan and reduces the demand for new products. While some parts of a product may wear faster than others, creating products for easy disassembly eliminates waste because you do not have to throw away the entire product to extend the lifespan.

Accurate documentation of assembly and disassembly instructions empowers users to maintain and repair products, minimizing waste and promoting a more sustainable approach to product lifecycle management.

Sustainability in Design for Energy Efficiency

Engineers globally actively address questions such as, “Can we reduce noise and unneeded energy consumption in design?” and “Can we make our design more thermally efficient?” to pave the way for eco-friendly innovation.

Their goal is to pinpoint areas where energy is wasted, but don’t have the most efficient tools to accomplish that task. Modal analysis and thermal analysis enable more streamlined and environmentally conscious designs. Additionally, tools like Creo Flow Analysis optimizes flow efficiency to ensure that products operate with maximum efficiency, minimizing energy requirements without sacrificing performance.

Furthermore, selecting materials that demand less energy to manufacture and recycle adds another layer of sustainability to the design process and reduces the overall environmental impact from production to end-of-life disposal. Through these proactive measures, energy-efficient product design becomes a tangible pathway towards a more sustainable future.

Sustainable Design Solutions

Our suite of Creo design tools supports sustainable practices:

Designing for sustainability benefits both the environment and businesses. Companies can significantly reduce their environmental footprint by considering dematerialization, disassembly, and behavioral modeling.

By partnering with EAC for solution identification and utilizing PTC’s comprehensive Creo design tools, companies can pave the way for a sustainable future while improving their bottom line. Let’s talk about how EAC can help you identify solutions to help your company embrace sustainable design practices today!