https://manufacturing.co/plm/blog/ Notes on product lifecycle management — configuration, the ERP seam, and AI in engineering data. en Fri, 21 Aug 2026 13:00:00 GMT https://manufacturing.co/plm/blog/bom-has-no-single-answer https://manufacturing.co/plm/blog/bom-has-no-single-answer A BOM is not a list. It is a question that returns different correct answers depending on the date, the configuration and the revision you asked about — and most integrations forget to ask. Fri, 21 Aug 2026 13:00:00 GMT Configuration management Samuel Edwards https://manufacturing.co/plm/blog/what-an-agent-should-not-do https://manufacturing.co/plm/blog/what-an-agent-should-not-do The interesting design question for AI in a PLM is not what the agents can do. It is what they are structurally prevented from doing, and why each limit is worth its cost. Fri, 14 Aug 2026 13:00:00 GMT AI in engineering Samuel Edwards https://manufacturing.co/plm/blog/the-duplicate-item-nobody-created https://manufacturing.co/plm/blog/the-duplicate-item-nobody-created Duplicate identity is the most expensive data condition a PLM can hold, and it is invisible by construction: both records are correct, nothing is malformed, and no validation fires. Thu, 06 Aug 2026 13:00:00 GMT Data quality Samuel Edwards https://manufacturing.co/plm/blog/who-owns-the-part-number https://manufacturing.co/plm/blog/who-owns-the-part-number Almost every failed PLM implementation fails at the same seam, and it is not a technical one. It is that nobody wrote down which system is the master before both started creating records. Wed, 29 Jul 2026 13:00:00 GMT PLM and ERP Samuel Edwards https://manufacturing.co/plm/blog/approved-is-not-effective https://manufacturing.co/plm/blog/approved-is-not-effective A change has three dates and most systems record one. The gap between approval and effectivity is where nine weeks of obsolete material gets ordered by people acting in good faith. Wed, 15 Jul 2026 13:00:00 GMT Configuration management Samuel Edwards