LiveWorx 2016

This past June, PTC hosted LiveWorx 2016 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in Boston, MA, USA. LiveWorx 2016, surpassed expectations with over 4,500 live attendees, 4,000+ livestream attendees, 200+ of those attendees being technology analysts, investors and journalists from around the world. The event had much to offer with 200 breakout sessions, 79 exhibit booths and 18 keynote presentations highlighting and demonstrating the latest in various technologies. New this year was the Design District, a dedicated track for retailers and brand owners, that unveiled the Retail Transformation Journey.

Tony DiBona, EVP of Renewal Sales, opened the Retail Journey with the keynote entitled, “The Retail Transformation Journey”. Over 200 guest were in attendance including current customers, prospective customers and RFA industry influencers. Eric Symon, General Manager of the Retail Business Unit, presented the 4 Key Pathways in the Retail Transformation Journey:

• Planning products
• Creating/Designing Products
• Sourcing Products
• Selling Products

The four pathways are the framework for each of the transformation phases: Understand, Advance and Outperform (illustrated above), of the Retail Transformation Journey.
Victoria Brown, an IDC Senior Research Analyst, presented IDC’s viewpoint of the direction Retail is heading with the adoption of Internet of Things (IoT), Augmented Reality (AR) and other technology solutions, such as PTC’s FlexPLM. IDC’s roadmap is comprised of three platforms:

• Data & Analytics
• Connecting with Ecosystems
• Digital Transformation

Brown concluded her presentation explaining the ecosystem of connected assets, products and people to empower themselves to move forward.

Quach Hai, Director of Product Management for FlexPLM concluded the keynote with a demo demonstrating Augmented Reality (AR) sampling. Quach highlighted how leveraging AR along with Internet of Things (IoT) can enhance the sampling process by taking the design data, which is managed in a Product Lifecycle Management solution, and overlaying it over a physical sample.

5th Avenue in the Design District

The Design District was live with exhibits and customer success stories such as: The Home Depot, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Hallmark and Levi Strauss & Co. 5th Avenue Retail was brought to life through the Retail Transformation Journey and consisted of interactive demos illustrating how customers can: Plan, Create/Develop, Source and Sell their products.

With over 100 retail attendees, representing more than 45 retail companies, there was a lot of traffic in the store front. Be sure to mark your calendar for next year’s LiveWorx: May 22-25, 2017. We hope to see you on 5th Avenue!