In short
Software program tools assume the work is in the ticket tracker and can be re-prioritised tonight. Hardware programs are not like that. A chip waits eleven weeks for the fab; a tool program waits on a long-lead part; a qualification waits on a lot in the oven. Hardware program management software has to hold commitments that live outside the tracker, in supplier email, in the ERP and on the test floor, and act on them before the physical date is lost.
What is different about hardware
Three things. The critical path runs through other companies: a foundry, an IP vendor, a board house, a customer's lab. The work is irreversible at known points: tape-out, a build, a submission. And the evidence of progress is in instruments and results, not in whether a ticket was closed. A tool that only sees tickets sees a healthy program right up to the week it is not.
What the software must do
Read the places the commitments actually live: source control, EDA regression and coverage, PLM change orders, ERP purchase orders, the test floor and the supplier mail. Hold each commitment against the date and its evidence. Work out the fix the hour one moves, before the next dependent team starts work on a date that is already wrong. And leave a record of every action.
Which tools do which part
Jira and the planning tools hold tasks and the intended schedule. PLM such as Teamcenter or Windchill holds the product definition and its changes. ERP holds parts and orders. Portfolio platforms such as Planisware and Planview hold the plan across programs. Each is good at its own data. Tymeline is the always-on layer above them that holds the date: it reads all of them, acts on the gap, and runs the program to the date it was given.