When PTC announced its FlexPLM platform’s extended capabilities, the company reported that retail partners were eager to upgrade the technology and take advantage of the newest iteration. Now, PTC has announced that in the last year, more than a dozen enterprise customers are using the newest version of FlexPLM, thanks to implementation support from ITC Infotech.
Upgrading an entire PLM system can sometimes be a long slog that takes plenty of time and money to modernize, discouraging many retailers from reviewing and renewing their technological capabilities. PTC said it worked with ITC and its Tier 1 retailers to test the upgrade timeline and procedures to ensure the necessary process was as fast and painless as possible. The company reports upgrading to FlexPLM Version 11 takes just a matter of weeks. Moreover, PTC has kept the cost low and provides additional professional services.
“We were impressed by the speed we were able to move to the latest generation of FlexPLM, as well as the low cost of upgrading from one milestone version to another,” said Bhavin Parikh, senior application manager for QVC, an established FlexPLM user.
“Over the past 12 months, we have helped loyal customers, many of them with thousands of PLM users in-house and throughout the extended supply chain, to keep everything they love about working in FlexPLM,” said Bill Brewster, senior vice president and general manager of PTC’s retail business unit. Additionally, Brewster said retail partners using the latest version of FlexPLM will be able to utilize a wide range of tools in PTC’s Retail Innovation Platform: AI, AR, the company’s proprietary material exchange system, and open-standards 3-D. The upgrade also offers transfer of the software from on-premise hosting to the cloud.
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Tests of FlexPLM have shown a marked improvement in various production outcomes. PTC reports the tool accelerates time to market by up to 45 percent. The tool has also demonstrated capability of improving margins by up to 10 percent and reducing sample costs by up to 35 percent.
Integral to the swift upgrades is the ThingWorx Retail Connector, which enables business systems and solutions to be quickly integrated to FlexPLM, eliminating customization work that can slow speed and heighten price. PTC hopes to maintain and even accelerate the pace of upgrades through the next year and beyond.
“The remarkable results of this upgrade program would not have been possible without our team’s extensive knowledge of FlexPLM and PTC’s constant pursuit of technical innovation,” said Yadvinder Changotra, global practice head of retail PLM and IoT solutions at ITC Infotech. “Working together, we have built a scalable model for low-cost, no-compromise upgrades that can be implemented by trusted consultants anywhere around the world.”