As the world becomes increasingly digital, the fashion industry is expected to change faster than ever. In the next 5 years, the retail, apparel and footwear industry’s design, development and sourcing functions will evolve more than they have in the last few decades. As a result, one of the key issues facing the industry will be: speed-to-market. Manufacturers and retailers will need to re-examine their product development and manufacturing lifecycle processes to identify areas for improving efficiency. Supply chain digitization will enable stakeholders to adopt a flexible, interactive and prepared response to upcoming challenges as well as connect consumers, retailers and suppliers. It will, therefore, become a critical driver for business agility and overall performance. While a multi-pronged approach will be needed to address the issue of supply chain digitization, PLM systems will lead the supply chain digital transformation process.
The scope of PLM is rapidly evolving and moving beyond its traditional boundaries. Next-generation PLM technology is built on a cloud-based system with relevant mobile apps that enable access to multilingual information from any location. At the forefront of this trend is a unique company based in India, but operating globally: Ptex Solutions.
Ptex Solutions was founded in 2004. Over the past 15 years, Ptex Solutions has worked on more than 55 projects assorted size, scale and complexity across more than 15 countries around the world. The company’s clients range from large retail and manufacturing companies to innovative and upcoming companies in the retail, apparel and footwear industry.
Today, through establishing strategic partnerships with cutting-edge technology providers such as Infor, TXT Retail, Stratégies, and Visual Retailing BV, the company has evolved beyond its position as fashion PLM market leader to leading fashion technology solutions and business services provider.
The Entrepreneur: Road to Technological Innovation
Prasham Kamdar the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Ptex Solutions has over two decades of global experience across fashion, retail, manufacturing and IT industries. Over the years, he has witnessed the evolution of PDM from its nascent stage to extended PLM. Under his leadership, Ptex Solutions has grown into the leading PLM implementation services provider for the retail, apparel, and footwear (RFA) industry.
Prasham’s passion for PLM, technological innovation and the fashion industry continues to shape and pave the course for Ptex Solutions’ growth. His professional journey began in 1999 at Gerber Technology. He continued to build his expertise by working with Global Apparel Network to digitize the design process in the fashion industry. He then worked at the family’s garment manufacturing company prior to establishing his own business.
Prasham has a Bachelor’s in Clothing Engineering from the University of Manchester and a Master’s in Information Systems and Technology from the City University of London.
The Unique Approach: Customer-centric Implementation
Ptex Solutions is globally known for its customer-centric implementation approach. Rather than implementing a one-size-fits-all standard software, the company maps customer business requirements to implement a bespoke holistic solution. Prasham Kamdar divulges, “Over the years, we have woven the industry experience, technical expertise and implementation of good practices to develop our own methodology that ensure successful PLM implementation.” That said, the company also credits its well-balanced, dedicated team of experts as a key driver of implementation success.
Their WhichPLM gold-certified business consultants are domain experts that have either graduated from fashion institutes or worked in the industry. With more than 15 years of implementation experience, the consultants are expert solution providers who are able to anticipate common problems and proactively map typical business requirements. In complement, Ptex’s technical team is well-versed in key platforms for software development, customization and integration and well-experienced in translating customer business requirements into effective technology-driven solutions.
The Philosophy: Technology Redefined
Ptex Solutions began its journey as a pioneer of PLM in India. Since then, the company’s mission steadfastly remains the same: “to leverage technology to drive business innovation and growth”. The company believes in redefine how technology is delivered and not reinvent it.
Besides its deep experience and domain expertise, the company is renowned for being an ethical, transparent and responsible service-provider that adheres to its core values. Most important of which, is to become an invaluable partner. To that end, the company focuses on establishing strong partnerships — be it with customers, solution providers or employees.
Apart from being an invaluable partner, Ptex’s core values also include: integrity, commitment, quality, passion, professionalism, and persistence.
The Key Ingredient: Employee Engagement and Appreciation
The Key Ingredient: Employee Engagement and AppreciationCore values are what support the vision of the company and help shape its culture. As the company’s core values are vital to him, Prasham ensures that organizational activity is aligned with them. He believes that if he wants the values to be reflected in the corporate culture, he has to set an example. Explains Prasham, “Only if core values are reflected in, regularly communicated and reinforced by me, will the rest of the organization follow suit.”
For instance, how an employee is treated defines how customers are treated. If employees are happy, they go the extra mile to drive not just customer satisfaction but drive customer delight. As such, employee engagement is critical to building robust customer partnerships. Ptex Solutions practices several ongoing and ad-hoc initiatives that focus on employee engagement and appreciation.
Similarly, other core values are integrated into the company’s internal corporate culture via systems, policies, and initiatives to ensure they are replicated and reflected in all external organizational activity.
The Future: Beyond PLM
Going forward, Ptex Solutions plans to expand the focus beyond Product Lifecycle Management in the retail, fashion, and footwear industry to provide end-to-end solutions ranging from 3D product design, supply chain digitization and other solutions that are driven by artificial intelligence and machine learning for greater accuracy and velocity.
The central focus, however, remains to drive innovation by continuing to forge strategic partnerships with best-in-class technology companies.
