Making sense of plm

Information technology-based solutions can help Chinese companies boost product quality, efficiency, innovation and counter challenges like rising labor costs, experts said.

Wang Yue, senior research manager for the manufacturing insight unit of International Data Corporation, a global market intelligence provider, thinks China will not lose its standing as the world's factory, even though some of its companies are moving manufacturing to countries with cheaper labor costs.

"Though China may lose some jobs in low-end, labor-intensive industries, it still has lots of advantages in mid-to-high-end manufacturing," Wang said in a recent interview. China has been transforming and upgrading its industries with clear goals in the ongoing 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15). Using IT solutions, such as product lifecycle management, will help the country achieve the goal quickly, he said.