IDC Manufacturing Insights today hosted a Webinar, IDC Manufacturing Insights Predictions 2013: Product Lifecycle Strategies, highlighting the top 10 predictions for the year ahead. Featuring analysts Joe Barkai, Sheila Brennan, and Leslie Hand, the session provided organizations with insight and perspective on long-term industry trends along with new themes that may be on the horizon. The Predictions Webinar series is designed to help company leaders capitalize on emerging market opportunities and plan for future growth. An audio replay of today's webinar will be available within 48 hours. To access the replay, please visit http://bit.ly/MI_Predictions2013_ProductLifecycleStrategies.

The Top 10 Predictions for 2013 are:

• Prediction 1 - Companies Recalibrate the Product Lifecycle Process
• Prediction 2 - IT Delivers a "Digital Thread" for the Product Lifecycle Management Process
• Prediction 3 - Visual Decision Making Leverages Pervasive Technology
• Prediction 4 - Companies Mature from Quality Management to Enterprise Quality Intelligence
• Prediction 5 - Designers Will Hone DFx Methods
• Prediction 6 - Systems Engineering Will Continue to Burden Designers
• Prediction 7 - Role of Third Parties in Product Development Will Increase
• Prediction 8 - Additive Manufacturing Evolves Rapidly; More is Needed to Become Mainstream
• Prediction 9 - Engineering Applications Will Move to the Cloud (Slowly)
• Prediction 10 - The End of "Best in Breed" Software as We Know It?

"In 2013 and beyond, we will see product development leadership reevaluating their product lifecycle practices and identify the necessary investments to achieve higher fidelity decisions throughout the product lifecycle," said Joe Barkai, research vice president, IDC Manufacturing Insights. "A key process change and investment area will be the creation of a 'digital process thread' that connects all product lifecycle phases. Product companies will also exploit advanced visualization technologies to level the playing field for all decision makers and enable higher fidelity product related decisions. These initiatives will demand that corporate IT and line of business leadership work collaboratively to create secure, scalable, and cost-effective solutions."

For additional information about these predictions or to arrange a one-on-one briefing, please contact Sarah Murray at 781-378-2674 or sarah@attunecommunications.com. Reports are available to qualified members of the media. For information on purchasing reports, contact insights@idc.com; reporters should email sarah@attunecommunications.com.

About IDC Predictions

A hallmark of IDC's offering for three decades, the annual Top 10 Predictions reports provide IDC's outlook on the IT market, across industries, for the coming year. During the next 60 days, IDC will publish dozens of Top 10 Predictions documents for 2013. Please visit www.idc.com/predictions2013 for a complete listing.

About IDC Manufacturing Insights

IDC Manufacturing Insights assists manufacturing businesses and IT leaders, as well as the suppliers who serve them in making more effective technology decisions by providing accurate, timely, and insightful fact-based research and consulting services. Staffed by senior analysts with decades of industry experience, our global research analyzes and advises on business and technology issues facing asset intensive, brand oriented, technology oriented, and engineering oriented manufacturing industries. International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology market. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world’s leading technology, media, research, and events company. For more information, please visit www.idc-mi.com, email info@idc-mi.com, or call 508-988-7900. Visit the IDC Manufacturing Insights Community at http://idc-insights-community.com/manufacturing.