Live PLM event for BA Fashion and Textiles Buying Management
Wed, 25 Mar 2015 09:53:00 GMT
The BA Fashion and Textiles Buying Management academic team led by Senior Lecturer Jo Conlon organised a week-long event in collaboration with PTC, ITC Infotech, WhichPLM and George at Asda in March 2015. In 2014 PTC and the University of Huddersfield formed an educational partnership that aimed to facilitate undergraduate access to PTC’s FlexPLM solution and has attracted interest and support from the industry. The ‘live’ PLM event was setup to create an opportunity for undergraduates of the course to work in mixed-year business teams to fulfil an industry brief using PTC’s industry-standard Retail PLM solution.
The Industry event week started with keynote speeches from Mark Lyness, UK Regional Manager, PTC and Mark Harrop, the Founder and Managing Director of WhichPLM to undergraduates and staff.
Mark Harrop, WhichPLM Managing Director, said:
“Over the last several months, the WhichPLM and WhichPLM Academy team has worked together with Jo Conlon, Senior Fashion Lecturer from the University of Huddersfield, to support the fashion students with the most up-to-date, cutting edge PLM technologies and best-practice methodologies that are only found in the most advanced and fashion savvy businesses. It's been a truly rewarding experience to work alongside the fashion leaders (students) of the future, on what is an exciting technological journey and I was pleased to see their enthusiasm for the subject blossom on every visit. I wish each of the students every possible success in the future."
Mark Lyness gave a fascinating talk aptly titled ‘The Art of the Possible’ covering both an introduction to PTC and FlexPLM, the emerging opportunities of extended-PLM that integrate consumer feedback to inform buying decisions, virtual sampling in 2D and 3D in partnership with Optitex to reduce lead-times and waste, and the opportunity for connecting applications and using big data in partnership with ThingWorx to reduce the risk of innovative products. The talk was illustrated with examples from the extensive list of retail brands that have already partnered with PTC for FlexPLM demonstrating their position as market leader in the fashion, retail and consumer industry sector. Mark Harrop then gave two captivating talks focusing on global innovation and the potential for efficiency within PLM implementation and how these can be managed and secondly, how the extended functionality of PLM and other business software solutions are now being integrated to inform strategic decisions.
BA Fashion and Textiles Buying Management students worked in product category development teams to create a product range for George at Asda using FlexPLM to source, collate and manage information on inspiration, trends, materials, sourcing, sizing and proposed line plan budgets.
Each business group presented their final proposals to a guest industry panel;
Nicola Tarratt, Business Change Manager - George Clothing, Mark Lyness PTC and Mark Harrop, Which PLM.
Nicola said after the event,
‘Thank you and congratulations for the great presentations, I have thoroughly enjoyed the day and the standard of the work that I saw was much higher than my expectations’.
Mark Lyness of PTC added,
“The quality of the presentations and commitment from the students was amazing and of a very high standard. They are already getting a good understanding of how to use FlexPLM and the value it is able to bring to retailers” said Mark Lyness of PTC.
The winning team, Hayley Doherty, Zoe Robinson, Sara Louise Bowring, Ashleigh King and Jaime Sandelands were offered 2 weeks internship/work experience at George’s head office in Leicestershire. Zoe Robinson observed,
“The event week was insightful on many levels. Working with other years on the project was very enjoyable and a fantastic opportunity to network with industry leaders. Having minimal knowledge of PLM systems to begin with, we now have a good insight to how the system is integrated into the industry and it has opened new doors for us in research and career prospects. A great week to be a part of!”
The event was closed with the presentation of certificates. Everyone who participated in the event was presented with a certificate from PTC. Additionally second year students have had the opportunity to take an online qualification via WhichPLM Academy. This provided access to the four modules in the bronze tier:
- Introduction to PLM for Apparel
- Why PLM?
- Key Benefits
- PLM integration
Successful completion of all four modules resulted in the presentation of the WhichPLM Academy bronze award. Four students - Stella Robson, Kelly Brown, Jaime Sandelands and Lois Elliot were additionally congratulated at having achieved 100% each in at least two modules.
