Stadium Taps PTC FlexPLM For Product Development

● Using FlexPLM will allow Stadium to “optimize product development processes across several product categories,” the company said today.

European sports brand Stadium teamed with PTC to deploy the tech company’s FlexPLM solution to upgrade the retailer’s product development processes while also driving its sustainability efforts.

PTC said the rollout of FlexPLM will enable Stadium “to optimize product development processes across several product categories including footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories by centralizing product data and providing a single version of the truth, to ensure its global teams can effectively collaborate throughout every step of the product life cycle.”

Over the past two years, the global supply chain has been disrupted by trade wars, thereby forcing brands to rethink sourcing and product development. This year, COVID19 caused further disruptions, which was also complicated by explosive e-commerce growth. As a result, brands and retailers have accelerated investments in digitalization across the entire value chain, which include upgrading PLM solutions.

Stadium project manager Peter

Johansson said the retailer wanted to partner with “a PLM provider who had a proven track record of working with multicategory retailers, and whose software and services could scale to manage the volume and variety that we produce.”

“It was also essential that we found a vendor that was forward-thinking and whose reach extended beyond just PLM, with innovations such as 3-D capabilities and artificial intelligence,” Johansson added. “We chose FlexPLM so that we could implement a streamlined best practice approach to planning, product design and development, sourcing and supplier collaboration, with simple storing and sharing of data across our business, as well as enabling our employees to work seamlessly from home during COVID-19.”

Stadium has more than 170 stores in Sweden, Finland and Germany as well as an e-commerce site. The company said it “prides itself on offering modern, functional sportswear and equipment at the best price, as well as inspiring its customers to lead an active lifestyle.”

Bill Brewster, senior vice president and general manager of PTC’s retail business unit, praised the partnership with Stadium and said PTC was looking forward “to supporting their sustainability initiatives and helping them to optimize their product development.”

In separate news, PTC said it recently donated $1 million worth of FlexPLM software to Washington State University, “who will integrate FlexPLM into their curriculum,” a spokesman said, adding that this “means that their students will be able to produce a portfolio of work…that they can show to prospective employers.”