Popular PLM software for retail and how brands use it
As we pointed out in our previous post about Product Lifecycle Management, PLM software is an indispensable tool for retailers to ensure better collaboration, decrease time-to-market, prevent unexpected costs, and switch to more sustainable production. Now let’s take a look at the popular PLM systems available on the market today, and explore how particular fashion brands use them to improve their product offerings and scale their business.
PTC’s PLM software
Many well-known fashion manufacturers are effectively using PTC’s FlexPLM system to drive their digital transformation journey. For example, Deckers Brands, a global leader in designing and distributing innovative footwear, apparel and accessories, uses FlexPLM as a unified solution for all the planning, design, development, and sourcing of their products across five different fashion and footwear brands, including UGG, Koolaburra, Sanuk, Teva, and HOKA ONE ONE. According to PTC, integration of PLM and 3D has helped the retailer reduce the time, cost, and material consumption of its processes, allowing Deckers to move closer to the market and factor customer insights into its design and development cycle.
Sweaty Betty, a British retailer specializing in women’s activewear, has also implemented FlexPLM in order to provide users across merchandising, design, and buying, as well as global suppliers, with access to a single version of the truth in relation to product data and key development processes. By integrating the PLM system, Sweaty Betty allowed product teams to standardize business processes and data sharing both internally and externally; and enabled teams to automate, control and organize all change requests, plans and actual changes to the product in real-time.
L.L. Bean, an American retail company specializing in clothing and outdoor recreation equipment, uses FlexPLM as a record source for product specification information, with 100% of products managed in the system. Downstream partners rely on this information to populate other business systems, like those housing customer-facing data. After implementing the PLM system, the brand managed to cut down the manual work of downstream users trying to track down information from the development teams.
Centric Software
Centric Software builds technologies for companies specializing in fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor, and consumer goods. Its flagship PLM platform, Centric 8, delivers enterprise-class merchandise planning, product development, sourcing, business planning, quality, and collection management functionality that’s tailored for fast-moving consumer industries. For example, the company provides its PLM solution to support Louis Vuitton’s global activity by improving time to market.
YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP (YNAP), an Italian online fashion retailer, uses Centric Software PLM to manage the entire lifecycle of products from prototype to production; to check the gap between the initial budget they have for each brand and the real cost of goods ordered; to track the cost of samples; and to communicate with suppliers using one standard format and platform. According to Centric Software Inc, for YNAP, implementing the PLM system has resulted in a faster and more efficient product development process.
WFX PLM
WFX PLM allows brands to centralize all product information from planning to production and connect designers, developers, buyers, and vendors on one cloud platform. With the PLM system, women’s clothing brand Forever New managed to reduce the time from conceptualization to production by 40%. This relieved pressure from all departments and reduced employees’ manual and re-work. The company’s transparency also increased throughout the supply chain system.
Kubix Link
Kubix Link enables retailers to gather and standardize product information coming from all teams involved in the design-to-production process, so that they can collaborate by working with the same data in real-time. Among the solution’s users is Pomellato, the first global luxury Italian fashion fine jeweler to join the Kering Group in 2013. Using the PLM system, Pomellato managed to build an extensive bill of material (BOM) library containing all information on their gemstone collection, making it easier for designers to choose the right ones during the creative process. Thanks to Kubix Link, the brand’s team members can now create more efficient workflows and keep track of development progress.
BlueCherry Next PLM
BlueCherry Next PLM helps fashion, apparel, and footwear brands manage everything from design, product, and raw materials development to purchasing, sample approval, and workflow tracking. Marie Claire, a Montreal-based fashion brand and retailer, implemented the solution to streamline workflows, reduce costs, and improve profitability. With PLM, the brand could manage their design and sourcing process throughout their Canadian operations as well as overseas suppliers.
As you see, PLM software is a powerful tool that empowers retailers to seamlessly link vital areas of the fashion value chain to their business processes and track each item from its conception to retirement. Cappasity’s 3DShot app allows anybody to create and embed interactive 3D visualizations of products using only a smartphone. It can be used at all stages of production, from designing a product to shooting a finished piece. If a fashion brand uses the 3DShot app to create high quality digital twins of products, it can make Product Lifecycle Management even more efficient.
For instance, a designer can easily create a digital twin of a product and share the link with customers and partners or embed it into PLM software. Colleagues can then examine the piece from different angles, zoom in, and see all tiny details. They can also record video feedback while interacting with a digital twin of the piece. Creating digital twins with 3DShot doesn’t require special training, any employee can create a digital twin in 5 minutes — all they need is a smartphone. Please watch this video to learn more:
Download the app to create a digital twin: https://3dshot.io/
On October 5, 2022, at 9:00 AM CDT, the Cappasity team will conduct a webinar on digital twin creation technology for the products manufacturing process. At the webinar, you’ll learn how immersive content improves team collaboration during the product development process; how to share digital twins in chats, through corporate sites and PM/PLM software; how to create a digital twin using a smartphone, and more.
To register for the webinar, follow the event page: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8-jyLXgbSp2AQmnvaDMxgw
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