Design Freeze
A quality gate milestone at which the product design is locked — no further design changes are permitted without a formal engineering change order — so manufacturing engineering and tooling can proceed with confidence.
Why it matters
Design freeze is critical for program cost control. Every design change after freeze requires rework in manufacturing planning, tooling, and procurement. PLM systems manage design freeze through lifecycle state transitions that restrict modification rights.
External References
This term appears in
Cite this definition
Finocchiaro, Michael. “Design Freeze.” DemystifyingPLM PLM Glossary, 2026, https://www.demystifyingplm.com/glossary/design-freeze