NEEDHAM, MA – September 12, 2013 – Brooks Sports, Inc., a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and a large manufacturer and marketer of running footwear and apparel, will implement PTC (Nasdaq: PMTC) Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) technology. The implementation will enable Brooks Sports to move a single system to streamline product development, materials management and sourcing requirements.
Brooks Sports Selects PTC PLM Footwear and Apparel Technology
1. Brooks Sports Selects PTC PLM Footwear and Apparel Technology
PTC Windchill® FlexPLM® to streamline product development, materials management and
sourcing requirements
NEEDHAM, MA – September 12, 2013 – Brooks Sports, Inc., a subsidiary of Berkshire
Hathaway Inc. and a large manufacturer and marketer of running footwear and apparel, will
implement PTC (Nasdaq: PMTC) Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) technology. The
implementation will enable Brooks Sports to move a single system to streamline product
development, materials management and sourcing requirements.
Brooks Sports is experiencing rapid growth across its product lines. To accommodate this
growth, Brooks Sports realized the need to redefine business processes and product development
initiatives to deliver product to market faster. PTC PLM technology will enable the company to
reduce cycle times through improved operational efficiency from initial concept to store
delivery, ultimately improving overall profitability.
According to the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Retail Product Life-Cycle Management (PLM)
Applications 2012 Vendor Assessment report, “PTC has the largest share of the retail PLM
market and generally makes the short list of large retailers looking specifically for apparel,
footwear, and hard line PLM solutions.” The report continues, “PTC Windchill FlexPLM offers
a broad set of out-of-the-box capabilities that cover merchandising and line planning, product
development, sourcing, costing, quality, compliance, and supply chain.”
“Brooks Sports wanted to standardize on a footwear and apparel-specific PLM technology
foundation to support our growth plans,” said David Bohan, president and chief operating
officer, Brooks Sports, Inc. “We chose PTC Windchill FlexPLM because it will give us
visibility early in the development cycles and will enable us to share design, materials and
costing information between ourselves and our suppliers to achieve our growth plans.”
In addition, Brooks Sports was particularly interested in the proven processes and practices
enabled by out-of-the-box capabilities of PTC Windchill FlexPLM. The PTC Windchill-based
enterprise solution for the Retail and Consumer industries is designed to address both industryspecific challenges, as well as everyday business pressures. It offers a high-performance platform
that provides line planning, specification management, merchandising, product development,
sourcing, costing, quality and compliance with full supply chain collaboration capabilities for
managing the complete product lifecycle.
“Within the fast-paced environment of today’s footwear and apparel industries, business leaders
are increasingly looking to collapse design, development and sourcing activities in order to
reduce cycle time, achieve cost objectives and improve the success rate of new products across
their various channels,” said Howard Heppelmann, general manager, SCM segment, PTC. “By
providing visibility across all functions and enabling greater supply chain collaboration,
2. customers can address initiatives in parallel and achieve the ultimate goal of delivering great
products on-trend, on-time and on-cost. We look forward to working with Brooks Sports.”
Additional Resources
PTC Footwear & Apparel (web site)
PTC CEO Vision for Retail & Consumer (YouTube)
Brooks Brothers Group Selects PTC to Speed Innovation and Improve Product
Development & Supply Chain Effectiveness (press release)
About Brooks Sports, Inc.
Brooks is committed to building great running gear with minimal impact on humanity and the
earth. We continually strive to make better choices regarding design, fabrics, technologies, and
processes that help protect our planet without diminishing performance. A subsidiary of
Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Brooks was founded in 1914 and is headquartered in Bothell, Wash.,
near Seattle. Brooks is a market-driven company with a specialty dealer channel strategy focused
entirely on meeting runners’ specific needs. Get information at www.brooksrunning.com.
About PTC
PTC (Nasdaq: PMTC) enables manufacturers to achieve sustained product and service
advantage. The company’s technology solutions help customers transform the way they create
and service products across the entire product lifecycle – from conception and design to sourcing
and service. Founded in 1985, PTC employs over 6,000 professionals serving more than 27,000
businesses in rapidly-evolving, globally distributed manufacturing industries worldwide. Get
more information at www.ptc.com.
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The announcement of a customer’s selection, implementation, deployment or adoption of PTC software is not
necessarily indicative of the timing or amount of revenue from such engagement or of the company’s overall
revenue for any particular period.
PTC, the PTC logo, Windchill, and FlexPLM are trademarks or registered trademarks of PTC Inc. or its subsidiaries
in the United States and other countries.
Contacts:
PTC Corporate Communications
Beth Ambaruch
952.435.5058
bambaruch@ptc.com
Weber Shandwick
Anand Savani
617.520.7290
asavani@webershandwick.com