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PTC today announced today announced the launch of Material Exchange, an advanced filtering and material visualization platform, developed in collaboration with industry manufacturers, brands, Material Exchange Ventures AB, and the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA), the footwear industry’s business and trade association.
Traditionally, brands and manufacturers sifted through dozens of physical material swatch books to find the appropriate material for their design and development projects. Leveraging digitalization, Material Exchange is an online database of materials that can be searched, filtered, and downloaded, enabling users to reduce time and manual data entry. This platform enables companies to pull material specs and pictures into 3D design programs allowing them to change materials and colorways instantly and continuously throughout the design process. It also enables development teams to gain line-of-sight into material costs, availability, quality, and compliance issues.
“Together with PTC and many top brands, we’ve developed a platform that has the potential to forever change the way companies design and develop shoes. For brands, using the platform will enable them to reduce development risks allowing designers and developers to test designs and improve compliance before production, as well as reducing man hours,” said Andy Polk, senior vice president, FDRA. “Further, Material Exchange will not only enable users to lower costs, but will also enable them to increase sales as the catalyst for the next generation of stylish shoes, clothes, and accessories.”
Built by Material Exchange Ventures AB leveraging PTC’s leading FlexPLM® retail solution, Material Exchange offers a centralized repository of up-to-the-minute data and images, enabling users to reduce the unnecessary production of physical material samples and swatches. Digital material visualization during the design process can aid decision-making regarding colorways, design, and material. These decisions can be made before producing physical or virtual prototypes, further increasing efficiency.
“PTC has provided a cloud-based solution running on FlexPLM, which allows for scalability and security to meet the needs of Material Exchange,” said Chris Hillyer, director of innovation, Deckers Brands. “We can gain tremendous insight with digital visualization capabilities, enabling us to save both time and resources.”
“The industry has an incredible opportunity to take advantage of today’s advanced technologies and apply it to the material selection process,” said Eric Symon, vice president and general manager, PTC Retail Business Unit. “We are excited to be a part of Material Exchange because it streamlines an antiquated process and allows retailers to have greater control and collaboration throughout the design process.”
About Deckers Brands
Deckers Brands (deckers.com) is a global leader in designing, marketing and distributing innovative footwear, apparel and accessories developed for both everyday casual lifestyle use and high performance activities. The Company’s portfolio of brands includes UGG®, Koolaburra®, HOKA ONE ONE®, Teva® and Sanuk®. Deckers Brands products are sold in more than 50 countries and territories through select department and specialty stores, Company-owned and operated retail stores, and select online stores, including Company-owned websites. Deckers Brands has a 40-year history of building niche footwear brands into lifestyle market leaders attracting millions of loyal consumers globally.
About FDRA
Founded in 1944, FDRA (fdra.org) is governed and directed by footwear executives and is the only trade organization focused solely on the footwear industry. It serves the full footwear supply chain and boosts the bottom lines of its members through innovative products, training and consulting on footwear design and development, sourcing and compliance, trade and customs, advocacy, and consumer and sales trend analysis for retailers selling shoes around the world. FDRA also runs the footwear industry’s weekly podcast Shoe-In Show featuring leading footwear executives and experts discussing key business trends.
About Material Exchange Ventures AB
Material Exchange Ventures AB of Sweden was founded in 2017 with the primary intent of delivering the Material Exchange to the Retail Footwear and Apparel industry in joint collaboration with PTC, the FDRA, and other industry leaders.
About PTC
PTC (ptc.com) 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.
PTC, FlexPLM, and the PTC logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of PTC Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.
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