Effect of product lifecycle management on new product development performances: Evidence from the food industry

Food industry is becoming more and more crucial for all kind of economies worldwide. Though, despite the higher attention this sector is gaining, there is still uncertainty on how to properly manage food New Product Development (NPD) process. In particular, it is not clear whether IT solutions and methods successfully applicable to traditional manufacturing industries – in particular Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution- would have the same positive impact in the food industry. In this context, the present study starts from the belief that even in the food industry the NPD process can benefit from the implementation of a PLM solution. We introduce and test three propositions: (i) the implementation of a PLM solution is positively related to firm's process management capability, thus improves NPD performances; (2) the implementation of a PLM solution is positively related to firm's coordination capability, thus improves NPD performances; and (3) the usefulness of PLM functionalities differs for each NPD stage. The study is based on a multiple case study approach, with data gathered from several multinational food companies. Our results confirm the propositions were correct and specifically the implementation of PLM solutions in food companies positively affect process management and coordination capabilities, resulting in the improvement of overall NPD performance. Moreover, this paper discusses which food NPD stages are affected by PLM solutions and how.