The integration of product lifecycle management (PLM) with logistics in SAP Transportation Management (TM) accelerates market entry of new consumer products by connecting product development and logistics processes, as per SAP official sources. This "integration with Logistics Integration (LE) allows for defining transport requirements for delivery documents and creating respective freight units, while also updating delivery documents with planning data from TM. This seamless connection ensures that logistics processes are aligned with the development stages, facilitating efficient transport planning and execution."
Additionally, the "embedded version of TM in SAP S/4HANA enables direct integration with components like SD (Sales), MM (Purchasing), and QM (Quality Management), allowing data to be shared on the same system through direct database selects and API calls, further enhancing the speed and efficiency of bringing new products to market." It "connects product development with enterprise and supply chain processes, linking product lifecycle data seamlessly," ensuring packaging, transportation, and distribution are considered early in design.
This connection reduces time-to-market by synchronizing timelines, unlike aligning financial planning, automating procurement, or increasing production efficiency alone. (Extracts from: https://community.sap.com/t5/supply-chain-management-blog-posts-by-sap/integration-scenarios-with-sap-s-4hana-transportation-management/ba-p/13579154; https://learning.sap.com/courses/discovering-sap-supply-chain-management-solutions/emphasizing-business-value-drivers-and-benefits-of-supply-chain-management).
