In the healthcare and medical device sectors, PLM stands for Product Lifecycle Management. It refers to the strategic software system and structured corporate process used to manage a medical product's entire journey from initial conceptualization, R&D, and clinical trials through regulatory compliance submissions, manufacturing, market distribution, and eventual retirement. Because healthcare items like pacemakers, surgical tools, and pharmaceuticals face stringent oversight from bodies like the FDA, PLM ensures complete data transparency, traceability, and rigorous version control across multidisciplinary engineering and compliance teams.