Washington State University (WSU) and ITC Infotech, a leading global technology services and solutions providers. They have announced their partnership to launch a retail & apparel technology industry-academia program.
In this program, WSU students will teach how to use the FlexPLM® retail product lifecycle management (PLM) offered by PTC amongst other products.
WSU is a leading research university with a wide range of 200+ fields, including apparel, merchandise, design, and textiles, among other academic programs.
With a unique learning experience, rooted in real-life simulations and strengthened through R&D and continuous innovation the experience of ITC Infotech of enabling retail & apparel clients to accelerate time-to-value from technology investments is said to provide WSU students.
The company says, “This will also help students comprehend the importance of the ‘Digital Thread’ better, and its application across the PLM cycle,”
Ting Chi, Professor-Department of Apparel, Merchandising, Design, and Textiles, WSU, commented, “The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the need for accelerating product design and development.”
At the same time, this course is well-timed and will help our students be industry-ready. ITC Infotech brings in deep expertise of Retail PLM, having worked with major retailers and fashion brands on their digital PLM journey. Students are bound to find tremendous value.
The curriculum will be scaled across all departments offering a course in fashion. In the future, the University will explore opportunities to extend its relationship with PTC and ITC Infotech, to add depth to the current curriculum through combining FlexPLM with industry-leading technologies like PTC’s Internet of Things (IoT) and Augmented Reality (AR) platforms, Ting added.
Along with that Arun Raghavapudi, President – Americas, ITC Infotech said, they are excited to partner with WSU and enable the next generation of fashion and retail professionals with best-in-class technical expertise.
Also, designing this course along with WSU on PTC’s market-leading Retail PLM solution has been a very interesting journey.
As part of the current initiative, ITC Infotech has implemented PTC’s FlexPLM solution at WSU along with its native integrations with design tool Adobe Illustrator and 3D tool Bronzeware.
The integrated solution includes industry-specific, ready-to-use data, to create a live environment for academic use.
Further, ITC Infotech has trained the WSU faculty on the best practices around using the integrated solution.
Speaking about the project, Bill Brewster, Senior Vice President and General Manager of PTC’s Retail Business Unit, asserted, “We often hear from people in the retail industry saying they wish they had access to our PLM software when they were in school.”
Besides, allowing students to use our software, makes them more ready to work for the industry, provides them with vital hands-on experience, and helps them to gain the digital skills needed for a successful career in fashion and retail.
