Product lifecycle management

Small and medium-sized enterprises play an important role in innovation processes in different countries due to their flexibility and ability to easily introduce new processes and products. In EU countries, the USA and China, the share of small and medium-sized enterprises in terms gross domestic product is above 50%.  In modern dynamic markets, the need for innovations in the sphere of a product and its lifecycle management is evident. This need for innovation is not only limited to the development of new products but also includes the rationalization of marketing activity in this area and the development of a control system that will take into consideration the characteristics of the manufacturers as well as the consumers and their interactions.

According to the data, from the beginning of 2013 [141], the share of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Russian GDP was only about 20%. It is expected that this number will reach the level of the developed countries by 2020. The Strategy for Innovative Development of the Russian Federation until 2020[166] aims at a transition to a socially oriented innovation economy development model. At the present stage, the lack of scientific efforts summarizing this new experience is evident. For small enterprises with limited financial and human resources, it is important to develop new computer-based systems, which will assist them in using modern methods of marketing and management.

The objective of this research was, therefore, to increase the effectiveness of product lifecycle management. The scientific problem was to develop a theoretical basis for an intellectualized product management methodology.

The research questions were formulated in order to determine an understanding of client-oriented lifecycle management and its various stages. This understanding included the following factors:  the role of client- orientated lifecycle management  in a company’s management and the effectiveness factors for its usage; revealing the specifics and problems of product lifecycle management; summarizing the existing methods of overcoming these problems; revealing areas that have been insufficiently studied; systematizing models and methods of decision making in lifecycle management in order to develop a system for their selection and use in real situations; developing an evaluation a system for the applicability of different methods for product lifecycle management and formulating the task of choosing a method for decision making and allowing its implementation; developing an experimental version of an intellectualized system for checking the correctness of the results obtained;  testing this version on real examples, and, finally, developing recommendations for implementing the results in practice.

The following results were obtained.

• A method of decision making was suggested based on situational parameters and including a stage in which the solution to the problem was selected. This is a multi-stage matrix with a fuzzy calculation in the form of an expert system. This system allows factoring in a fuzzy or incomplete knowledge of the situation and subjective preferences of the decision maker. The process chooses the most preferable method for a given situation.
• The method developed was based on a suggested set of fuzzy variable types that described a set of typified situations, which are important for choosing a method of problem solving.
• A complex of methods and models was complemented by a set of newly developed and improved methods to cover a full range of typified tasks.
• A complex of equations for transformation and quality evaluations was developed, as well as adaptation mechanisms to comply with the decision maker’s preferences.
• The experimental version of the developed system was tested thoroughly, both in simulated conditions and real life situations, and demonstrated the functionality expected.

The theoretical importance of the research includes the following:

• developing a methodology for creating an expert decision support system for product lifecycle management that helps formalize the representation of management processes;
• suggesting an enhanced system of models and methods that covers all typical product lifecycle management tasks and complements the instrumentality of the situation analysis and  the development of optimal solutions;
• suggesting principles for the interactive transformation of fuzzy   and incomplete knowledge about problematic situations; these are based on fuzzy data processing and self-adaptation to real applications that develop methods and facilities for knowledge accumulation.

The practical importance of the research can be summarized as follows:

• the development of a fuzzy matrix, an expert decision support system for product lifecycle management that increases solution feasibility and effectiveness;
• the provision of practical recommendations for implementing such systems in small industrial enterprises;
• the implementation of complex of models, methods, and techniques in the curriculum of the courses “Marketing Research”, “Methods of Decision Making”,  and “Product Management”.