PTC launches FlexPLM V12 to spur digital transformation

This major milestone release of the retail industry’s most widely-used PLM platform premieres a new and transformative user interface redesign, providing users with faster navigation, optimised layouts and an intuitive approach to product development. 

 

“FlexPLM provides a world-class collaborative platform, and the new user interface will dramatically improve the usability of the system for our global PLM users,” spokesperson at C&A, one of the world’s largest and most innovative fashion retailers, said in a press release.

 

The V12 release also introduces the Visual Line Collaboration app (VLC), the first in a series of powerful apps built on PTC’s award-winning ThingWorx digital transformation platform, designed to help brands and retailers overcome worldwide disruption and support remote working and digital collaboration through accessible, intuitive digitisation of their critical processes.

 

Analysts agree that market pressures and heightened competition are compressing design, development, and commercialization cycles from years to weeks. At the same time, digital-native consumers are demanding multi-channel excellence, and leading brands and retailers are rushing to redesign their supply chains to reduce risk and increase speed and agility.

 

“The pace of change and digital transformation has accelerated dramatically due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This, combined with the continual compression of fashion cycles is giving brands and retailers no choice other than to double down on technology in order to drive speed through their organization and bring more profitable products to market, faster,” Bill Brewster, senior vice president and general manager of PTC’s Retail Business Unit, said. 

 

“To keep pace and to remain competitive, retail businesses need to work@digitalspeed. To achieve this, they need a retail digital transformation platform that includes a highly secure, enterprise-grade retail PLM-focused solution they can rely on day to day, and one that helps them prepare for future disruptions. This means integrated 3D design and development process workflows, embedded artificial intelligence, as well as scalability to fuel connectivity, visibility and collaboration internally and across the extended supply chain,” Brewster said in the release.

 

Prior to the launch of FlexPLM V12, PTC’s leadership position was independently verified. In addition to having a clear lead in the market, with 3X more active retail PLM users than any other provider, several retail technology analysts reaffirmed PTC’s place as a dominant market force. This included confirmation of FlexPLM’s status as the most functionally complete and feature rich PLM platform available to retail companies in 2021. 

 

“PTC is differentiated by the industry’s most mature full set of PLM for AFR offerings integrated with strong workflow capabilities from ideation and storyboarding, through R&D, and into the handoff to production,” IDC’s latest Worldwide PLM MarketScape, said.

 

The centerpiece of the V12 release is a completely new user experience, with a highly modernised design that makes FlexPLM’s unmatched feature set more accessible than ever. Visibility and speed have been drastically improved throughout, with all-new layouts and at-a-glance access to critical information, and navigation streamlined by the addition of universal tabs and action icons. Product images and other visual elements including 3D objects and assets are prioritised in the new design language, and a fully responsive interface maximises screen real estate, eliminates scrolling, and allows content to reflow to fit different devices including desktops, smartphones and tablets.

 

“The UX design is second to none,” senior manager of product operations for the global leader in athleisure wear, a long-time PTC customer, said in the release. “That’s going to revolutionise the lives of our product developers.”

 

“Over 80 per cent of our customers spend two or more weeks preparing for each seasonal line review,” Brewster said. “The VLC virtually eliminates this prep time, saving thousands of hours a year. In addition to significantly reducing the number of hours it takes to prepare and execute line reviews, the VLC provides brands and retailers with a viable alternative to flying dozens of regional planners from all over the world for onsite line reviews, enabling them to work remotely and collaborate virtually.”

 

Using VLC, product management and merchandising teams will be able to make faster, better-informed decisions and improve forecasting accuracy. VLC also supports 3D assets, and every change made in review can be pushed back into FlexPLM to shape design and development decisions.

 

“We are incredibly proud to announce the latest release of FlexPLM V12, as well as our Visual Line Collaboration app and other transformative innovations that address our customers’ specific requirements in today’s digital and rapidly evolving marketplace,” Brewster said. “Our revolutionary user experience in FlexPLM V12 sets a new benchmark in the world of retail PLM, and we look forward to welcoming even more new customers to the growing PTC FlexPLM family.”