Intro to PLM for Apparel
In this beginner’s class, our lecturers provide an introduction to the world of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) for apparel, informed by their own experience of shortlisting, selecting, implementing and working with PLM.
They begin by defining what PLM is, looking at its status as both a software solution and a new way of thinking and working at a global level in the modern world. Explaining our belief that PLM today is the backbone of the entire apparel enterprise – unifying processes, products and people right across the extended supply chain – this class then go on to look at how it came to be such a vital component of the business of fashion.
Ending with a sneak peek into the future of PLM and extended PLM, this beginner’s class provides the foundations and the context for everything that follows.
In 2014 there are more than 60 vendors of core PLM software who claim to cater to the needs of the fashion industry, but this wasn’t always the case. And this module looks at the history of PLM: where it came from, how it got to where it is today, and how the dramatic rise in internet adoption and global connectivity transformed the way fashion companies worked with software.
Having explained the history of PLM, our first class then leads into a look at the core capabilities of modern PLM, why retailers, brands and manufacturers want it, and how the driving forces behind obtaining it have changed over the past decade.