Managing the Lifecycle

While "speed-to-market" is hardly a new concept in the consumer goods industry, investment in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) applications is. In 2003, companies spent $824 million worldwide on PLM applications and related services, with growth trends pushing the total market more than $1 billion in 2005, according to AMR Research. Since PLM is capable of enabling speed-to-market while reducing costs associated with product development, these types of figures are a strong indication that the industry is on the path to once again driving top-line growth.

The Greatest Beneficiary

Certainly, all consumer goods verticals can greatly benefit from a PLM strategy, however, the footwear and apparel sector is hands-down one of its greatest beneficiaries. Jones Apparel Group implemented the core capabilities of an enterprise PLM application to manage all data and processes from design concept development into production. Jones' PLM application is based on UGS' Teamcenter suite of applications. "We believe that PLM will help us transform the way we do business, to compete more effectively as a company and to continue to deliver superior product to our customers," says Peter Boneparth, president and chief executive officer, Jones Apparel Group.

VF Europe, the European division of apparel giant VF Corporation, relies on PLM software from Geac's RunTime division to help improve its ability to keep up with new fashion trends and quickly respond to changing consumer demand. "We've been running Geac software throughout our rapidly growing organization for many years," says Lucien Smet, CIO of VF Europe. "We have made significant investments in software over the years to improve our business and competitiveness."

FILA Joins the Fold

FILA is the most recent footwear and apparel company to jump into the PLM fray. The company recently announced a major investment in a retail, footwear and apparel solution from PTC to enable a company-wide PLM standard. The scalable, web-based enterprise PLM solution will enhance the company's global product development, which is growing more complex.

FILA is a subsidiary of Sport Brands International (SBI), which creates, develops, produces and distributes athletic brands including Fila, Ciesse and Cloudveil. The FILA brand has its most vital market penetration in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Over the years the FILA brand has drawn attention from the elite likes of Reinhold Messner, Alberto Tomba and current U.S. Open Champion Kim Clijsters.

Managing Global Expectations

One of the most significant challenges in the global product development process is managing and controlling access to product data and imagery throughout the supply chain. PTC will help FILA enhance global product development by optimizing its supply chain to develop and deliver compelling, trend-right products in an increasingly competitive business environment. This process becomes especially important during the internal and external design process. PTC will stretch across U.S., Italian, Hong Kong and Guangdong operations in the footwear and apparel categories. The company's initial focus will be line planning, materials, technical packs, calendar and workflow management.

Leveraging the Solution

The PTC solution leverages Windchill, PTC's web-based product data management and collaboration software solution. FILA will use the solution to reduce time-to-market and product costs while improving product quality and information exchange.

"Consolidation throughout the footwear and apparel supply chains has created an environment of more choice for the consumer and more competition among fewer manufacturers," says Kristin Kohler, vice president of global product/general manager at FILA. "As the industry matures, consumer expectations increase in terms of brand and product, as well as the creation of a clear point of difference in the marketplace. FILA's goal in re-positioning the brand in this environment is to align various processes in the organization to successfully deliver against this challenge. The PTC Retail, Footwear and Apparel solution will help us achieve our goals by providing more transparency and collaboration to the product development process, a higher level of product analysis, and a better focus on delivering the right FILA product to the consumer."