PLM has (have) its roots in the design and engineering function. The 1970s saw (see) the introduction of systems to help manage the vast amount of CAD data that was created (create) to define products. Developments focused (focus) on file management and version control, shown by the interchangeable use of terms such as engineering data management (EDM) and product data management (PDM) for these systems. Wider acceptance of PDM tools was held (hold) back in the 1980s by the reluctance of many engineers to get to grips with unfriendly tools.

Many PLM industry leaders say (say) that PLM grew (grow) out of the Computer Integrated Manufacture movement of the 1980s. At that time, computers -had begun- (begin) to permeate the functional silos of manufacturing organizations and forward-thinkers found (find) a way to facilitate information flow throughout an enterprise and beyond.

By the early 1990s, PDM -had- (have) a strong foothold within the engineering function but other parts of the business now woke (wake) up to the benefits of having access to the product data management solutions that were (be) available. This broader community again demanded (demand) improvements, such as better user interfaces, support for different platforms and the introduction of visualization software.

By the late 1990s and into the current decade, PDM -has linked- (link) with multiple ERP systems. Vendors paid (pay) more attention to collaboration with partners and to e-business. More recently, vendors have moved (move) from selling packaged, stand-alone applications to offering systems integration services to pull together a number of complementary solutions. PDM has become (become) PLM, providing decision support at an enterprise level as well as continuing to handle traditional PDM functions. PLM vendors now consider (consider) whether, with many different kinds of users and with greater cross-company collaboration, everyone should have (have) the same PDM system and how they can exploit (exploit) the power of the Internet and the browser web interface.