Can ERP Speak PLM?
Part Two: Examples and Recommendations
Jim Brown - August 2, 2003

Are ERP and PLM Speaking the Same Language?

Costs are an excellent example of semantic confusion. Accountants know that ''cost'' is a not a single characteristic of an item but a category of characteristics. Without answering a series of questions about the cost, the meaning of it is vague. Is the cost the procurement cost from the supplier? Does it include shipping? Does it include tax and duty? Does it include internal overhead, or is it just direct costs? If it is an assembled item, does the cost include only material costs of the components or does it include labor or processing costs? Does the cost assume a particular volume of purchase?..