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Product life cycle stands as the keystone of the marketing structure. From the life cycle flows all of marketing.
The product life cycle is represented as a simple bell graph that plots product sales over time in a way that provides guidance to a product or marketing manager as she allocates company resources and determines... more »
Effective product life cycle extension strategies increase the profitable period of a product. Most products pass through a cycle that includes development, introduction, growth, maturity and decline. Once you have expended the time and energy to develop a product, any extension of product life is weighted more toward profit than... more »
The goal of inventory control is to maintain a level of inputs and finished products at the lowest cost possible. Inventory refers to both the raw inputs used to produce goods and the finished products. While most inventory control methods relate to physical goods, many of the concepts are applicable to service-oriented businesses as... more »
Product life cycle planning has four stages traditionally. Models and examples are typically found in marketing text books and resources. This cycle is used to help marketers and/or any managers to understand how long any product will be successful. more »
All products and services go through what is called a product life cycle. The life cycle of a product is the straightforward. There is an initial introduction phase, followed by the growth and the maturity stages. The final stage of the cycle is the decline stage. However, the decline stage does not necessarily mark the end of the... more »
Product management is vital to the success of most companies. It can make the difference between...
Product management is a complex field that demands creativity, communication skills and coordination. It requires a background in sales or... more »
Product management is a corporate function that provides organizational controls and support. Product management is a career that focuses inwardly... more »
Innovation is invention that generates a positive cash flow. Many products are good inventions. Very few products are innovations. Reaping the... more »
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Product life cycle management is the succession of strategies used by management as a product goes through its product life cycle. The conditions in which a product is sold changes over time and must be managed as it moves through its succession of stages.
Product life cycle
The product life cycle goes through many phases, involves many professional disciplines, and requires many skills, tools and processes. Product life cycle (PLC) has to do with the life of a product in the market with respect to business/commercial costs and sales measures; whereas product life cycle management (PLM) has more to do with managing descriptions and properties of a product through its development and useful life, mainly from a business/engineering point of view. To say that a product has a life cycle is to assert four things:
* that products have a limited life,
* product sales pass through distinct stages, each posing different challenges, opportunities, and problems to the seller,
* profits rise and fall at different stages of product life cycle, and
* products require different marketing, financial, manufacturing, purchasing, and human resource strategies in each life cycle stage.
The different stages in a product life cycle are:
{| class"wikitable"
! Stage !! Characteristics
|-
| 1. Market introduction stage
||
# costs are high
# slow sales volumes to start
# little or no competition - competitive manufacturers watch for acceptance/segment growth losses
# demand has to be created
# customers have to be prompted to try the product
# makes no money at this stage
|-
| 2. Growth stage
||
# costs reduced due to economies of scale
# sales volume increases significantly
# profitability begins to rise
# public awareness increases
# competition begins to increase with a few new players in establishing market
# increased competition leads to price decreases
|-
| 3. Mature read more at » http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product+life+cycle+management
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