Fashion Design Students to Leverage PTC’s Retail Product Lifecycle Management Solution in Coursework Offered by Ivy League University

Hands-on Experience with PTC’s Industry Leading PLM Solution to Give Students an Edge in Competitive Job Market

NEEDHAM, Mass. – November 7, 2017 – PTC (NASDAQ: PTC) today announced that beginning in Spring 2018, students in fashion design management will be able to leverage PTC’s leading FlexPLM® retail product lifecycle management (PLM) solution as part of research and coursework offered by the Department of Fiber Science & Apparel Design at Cornell University.

FlexPLM will be introduced to students in fashion design management courses in a unique collaboration that offers an experiential component to their course of study through the hands-on use of a popular industry tool. The solution, implemented by ITC Infotech, will help students better understand PLM technology and enable students to increase their marketable skills as they go on to become product developers, merchandisers, and buyers.

“The apparel industry is becoming more competitive, innovative and particularly sensitive to timelines,” said Tasha Lewis, assistant professor of Fiber Science & Apparel Design, College of Human Ecology at Cornell University. “Our students need to be equipped with the knowledge and tools to be successful in this environment.”

“A retail PLM solution enables a new level of teaching and research that allows for simulation of data organization used by apparel brands and product visibility to streamline processes in support of innovative product development,” Lewis continued. “Knowing how to use one of the industry’s prominent PLM software platforms will provide students with a set of unique skills required to be competitive in today’s increasingly digital and data driven apparel industry.”

The Department of Fiber Science & Apparel Design (FSAD) provides students with an opportunity to study and research fibers, fabrics, apparel, and the apparel industry from design, management, historical, and scientific perspectives. The department faculty serves approximately 130 undergraduate and 25 graduate students.

FlexPLM offers robust retail PLM capabilities, including line planning, specification management, merchandising, and other essential PLM capabilities for managing a retailer’s complete assortment of products. Designed for retail-specific needs, FlexPLM enables retailers to achieve faster time-to-value and develop more innovative and profitable products. Over two-thirds of leading retail and consumer-product companies have selected FlexPLM, enabling them to create and collaborate more easily, streamline supply chains, and deliver more inspired and on-trend products to market.

“There is tremendous value in educating future employees in state-of-the-art technology that is being used by leading companies. It not only benefits the student to be able to bring that experience and understanding into their new careers, but also helps companies by enabling them to hire individuals that can become productive more quickly as a result of that early exposure,” said Eric Symon, general manager, retail, PTC. “In retail especially, we are seeing a digital transformation, and the role of PLM and other technologies is expected to grow in importance. We are excited to work with the FSAD at Cornell University to transform retail education.”

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About PTC (NASDAQ: PTC)

PTC has the most robust Internet of Things technology in the world. In 1986 we revolutionized digital 3D design, and in 1998 were first to market with Internet-based PLM. Now our leading IoT and AR platform and field-proven solutions bring together the physical and digital worlds to reinvent the way you create, operate, and service products. With PTC, global manufacturers and an ecosystem of partners and developers can capitalize on the promise of the IoT today and drive the future of innovation.

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