Managing Technical Information in an Open Systems Environment: Facilitating Concurrent Engineering and Total Quality Control

Introduction Effectively managing your technical information does not just mean knowing where the documents are stored — it means effectively managing your products. It is fast becoming the key to managing time‐to‐market, quality, and costs as well. Managing the technical information about products has become known as Product Information Management (PIM). This article discusses the organisational, financial and technical implications involved in the successful management of product information, and the enabling of organisational and technical interoperability.