What is FitPLM Service Pro?

When Boris Djordjevic mentioned he had something interesting he was working on at Frontech Inc. and thought I may want to look into it, I admittedly had no idea what was coming.

The concept:

Boris has been successful in helping big businesses like Quiksilver, Sole Shoes, and Converse manage their product lifecycles for many years. Within these massive corporations, there’s hugely complex logistical issues that needed delicate care and attention so that proper information sharing can take place. These companies need to know things like:

Where are all the designs for this next season?

What styles worked last year?

Where are we sourcing our materials from?

When can we realistically deliver these products?

Essentially, Frontech was charged with creating the real-time lifeline for all management decisions. Now, he wanted to do the same type of thing for smaller businesses here in Alberta.

The goal:

Capture the business process of our customers on our platform so that every key stakeholder has vital business information in real-time. The platform we are utilizing was eventually named FitPLM Service Pro.

Taking the job:

Being in the heart of oil and gas country, I took on a role researching the market and talking to various business owners and managers of small and medium sized service and supply companies. I learned a lot and saw many similarities across the businesses. For many, it was hard to track what was coming through the business in real-time and ensure everyone was on the same page, clients included.

The hook:

I have to credit Boris with having the foresight to try and tackle this problem in the Alberta market. It was the most evident to me when chatting with a few businesses who mentioned big staff cuts that happened with their customers in “big oil”. Most times they had already developed a strong relationship with someone, and now that person was let go from the company. In many cases, that was extremely troubling.

The energy industry was (is) changing, and the need for timely and accurate decision-making tools to reduce costs was apparent across the board. It seemed like an opportune time for companies to not only reduce overhead, but also show clients that they’re ready to take on more work — regardless of who they are reporting to. Hence, FitPLM Service Pro was born.

Takeoff:

We’ve now finished our hours of brainstorming, strategizing, planning, and developing marketing materials. Finally, it’s go time and I’m really looking forward to seeing how our platform will help other businesses that we team up with.

If you’re interested in trying FitPLM Service Pro free of charge for two months, shoot me an email to stefan@frontech.ca and I’ll help get you setup.