A FRAMEWORK FOR ENGINEERING DATA MIGRATION AND PLM INTEGRATION IN GLOBAL MERGER & ACQUISITION (M&A) ENVIRONMENTS

Engineering data migration and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) integration are major challenges in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), particularly when organizations consolidate heterogeneous CAD systems, metadata, product structures, and engineering practices. This paper presents a scalable, validation-centered framework developed through a qualitative case study of a global CAD-to-PLM migration program. Its six phases cover data assessment, preparation, transformation, phased migration, multi-level validation, and deployment governance. Project artifacts and implementation observations indicate that the framework supported migration control, cross-functional coordination, lifecycle traceability, and deployment readiness. By treating migration as a governed engineering transformation rather than a one-time conversion, the framework offers a repeatable foundation for future integration programs and further validation through quantitative measures, automation, analytics, and AI-assisted controls.