EFI Optitex software is a 2D CAD and 3D Digital Product technology for the textile industry, and PTC is a leading provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions, along with the ThingWorx Internet of Things (IoT) technology platform.

The integrated Optitex and PTC offering will allow brands and retailers to leverage 3D to review and validate their collections within a few weeks of design, rather than several months later, companies report. It will also allow them to collaborate at a much faster rate within their organizations, as well as with their customers and supply chain partners, to enable more time for design changes, make better decisions and make better products.

End-to-end integration

With the increasing adoption of 3D digital sampling in the fashion and apparel industry, the integration of a 3D platform with a product lifecycle management (PLM) system is said to allow for all content to be managed at an enterprise PLM level, both internally and externally, providing organizations with an end-end solution to plan, create, develop, source, and cost throughout their whole product lifecycle.

The integrated offering is scheduled to launch this year, with the first version expected to provide full document control and management, library synchronization of fabrics, artworks and colourways, and bill of materials extraction directly from EFI Optitex software.

Competitive advantage

"3D digital products are becoming a competitive advantage in the fashion industry, enabling an order of magnitude faster development and collection review, with market validation, sell-in and merchandising happening earlier than ever before," said Asaf Landau, EFI Optitex general manager.

"We see PLM integration as a critical step in enabling our customers to leverage their 3D Visual Platform throughout the product lifecycle, and are very excited to be partnering with PTC as our first integration. Brands and retailers using this leading PLM will now be able to make better decisions, earlier. That will lead them to go to market with better apparel products."

New opportunity

"We are excited about this opportunity to provide our customers with this key integration between our FlexPLM solution and the EFI Optitex 3D Visual Platform," commented Eric Symon, general manager, Retail Business Unit, PTC.

"Our vision of providing transformative solutions that enable our customers to evolve to a season-less planning paradigm, generating richly personalisable products, requires a high degree of transparency with supply chain partners. This integration will shift the operating model of apparel design and delivery in that direction and it is something that our customers are equally excited to see come to market."

EFI

EFI is a leading technology company, based in Silicon Valley, and is committed to contributing to the transformation from analogue to digital imaging. The company is engaged in developing breakthrough technologies for the manufacturing of signage, packaging, textiles, ceramic tiles, and personalized documents, with a wide range of printers, inks, digital front ends, and a comprehensive business and production workflow suite that transforms and streamlines the entire production process.

www.efi.com