Microsoft and Siemens streamline the product lifecycle for consumer packaged goods and retail industries

July 17, 2025

The longstanding partnership between Microsoft and Siemens—a German tech conglomerate that focuses on industrial automation—helps solve a crucial challenge facing consumer packaged goods (CPG) and retail companies: fragmented processes across production.

The CPG and retail industries—both essential to everyday life and major players on the global stage—experience multiple unique pain points. Consumers have rapidly shifting preferences; labeling and packaging regulations are more stringent than in past decades; and both product ingredients and waste reduction efforts must reflect sustainability goals—not to mention the complexity of global supply chains. In addition to all this, siloed teams and disconnected operations can take a serious toll, slowing down product launches, driving up compliance costs, and making it harder to keep up with market trends.

Siemens' Integrated Lifecycle Management (ILM) is specifically tailored to address the complex needs of the CPG and retail industries. A single, reliable source of truth helps organizations manage industry complexity, minimize errors, and accelerate decision-making. By seamlessly connecting product development, program management, and brand management using AI and cloud innovation, Siemens' ILM helps these sectors remain agile and competitive in a fast-paced market.

Connecting people and processes through AI

This solution addresses the human side of manufacturing operations—a common CPG pain point. Factory-floor workers can easily report product design or quality issues via mobile devices, speaking naturally in their preferred language. The feedback is automatically translated into the official company language, accelerating communication, collaboration, and issue resolution across global teams.

Jill Powers, VP of Sales for Consumer Products and Retail at Siemens Digital Industries Software, emphasizes how crucial it is for CPG companies to adopt unified solutions connecting product lifecycle and program management. “Teamcenter X on Microsoft Azure transforms the pace of innovation in the CPG industry—harnessing AI-powered insights and secure cloud scalability to empower faster, smarter decisions from concept to shelf," she said.

Real-world transformation in action

These benefits aren’t just theoretical. One leading global food and beverage manufacturer is putting this approach into action—advancing a digital-first research and development (R&D) strategy using Teamcenter X and Microsoft technologies. The company's data analytics group is applying cutting-edge AI technologies—such as natural language processing, machine vision, and predictive analytics—to drive innovation across their operations.

This implementation represents a powerful three-way partnership between the manufacturer, Siemens, and Microsoft to advance AI innovation in the consumer products space. By integrating these technologies, the manufacturer has successfully transformed its R&D processes, making its product development smarter, faster, and more efficient—key advantages in the competitive and rapidly evolving food and beverage industry.

For CPG manufacturers like this company, Teamcenter X on Azure delivers clear business benefits across the full product lifecycle, including:

• Natural language chat: Quickly find critical information—like product specifications, compliance documents, and regulatory data—through intuitive, AI-powered conversation.
• Grounded and traceable responses: Clearly trace all insights to specific user data sources, supporting regulatory compliance and transparent decision-making.
• Enhanced supply chain visibility: Promptly identify and address disruptions or regulatory changes within complex global supply chains.
• Rapid market responsiveness: Quickly adjust products, packaging, and labeling to stay aligned with evolving consumer expectations and regulatory requirements.
• Streamlined product development: Accelerate collaboration across global teams, shortening time-to-market and improving product quality.
• Proactive issue identification: Swiftly address potential quality, compliance, or manufacturing issues, protecting brand reputation and consumer trust.

Improving operations from factory floors to retail shelves

Effectively addressing the PLM needs of CPG and retail companies drives clear, tangible benefits—from accelerating innovation and profitability to enhancing the daily experiences of employees and consumers alike. Says Sue McMahon, Director of Worldwide Retail and Consumer Goods Partner Strategy at Microsoft, “The enduring partnership between Microsoft and Siemens, built on more than 35 years of shared innovation, continues to deliver practical solutions that address the unique challenges of the consumer-packaged goods (CPG) industry. Together, our combined expertise helps CPG companies streamline every stage of the product lifecycle—from factory floor to retail shelf—enabling them to navigate industry pressures and deliver products that consumers trust and value.”