Research indicates that more than 50% of all product introductions fail because they do not meet customer requirements. Outlining requirements is a crucial phase in any product lifecycle management (PLM) initiative.

Requirements-gathering activities are one of the strongest discriminators in determining marketplace success. To turn an idea into profitable reality, you must align functional requirements with customer and market needs, balancing requirements such as regulations, quality, cost, capacity, etc. To determine the correct set of requirements, you must consider them in the context of the whole integrated system (e.g., environmental, mechanical, electrical, software and manufacturing, etc.