[Rochus]

Don't forget that Product Lifecycle Management (PLM, of which PDM is a primary area) is a discipline by itself, even covered by a couple of big standards (e.g. the famous ISO 10303 series for product data representation and exchange). PLM usually has it's own information systems (not identical with the ERP systems) which manage all product-related data including CAD/CAM files. PLM systems are used in the product development process whereas ERP systems are used in the production and order delivery process.

[sixdimensional]

I couldn't forget it if I'm honest, I have to use an Oracle PLM product daily! :)

The overlap between PLM and MDM and PIM seems to be an area of complexity.

Do you think there is a clear direction here? Seems there is some overlap, but both are still needed as well as integration between these systems - since PLM usually doesn't master parties, financial data, etc. but rather engineering/manufacturing design item data.

[Rochus]

Apparently the terminology has evolved since I studied the subject; I'm not familiar with current trends; some of the terms seem rather to be vendor specific marketing jargon for a subset or cross-section of PLM, ERP and CRM functions, or to mix up methodologies and supporting software.

[OpenPIM]

Thanks for the good explanation. And PIM systems are used in conjunction with ERP systems to manage product-related data and then exchange that data across different sales channels.