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 industry-specific 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, 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.

Julie Blake
Manager, Corporate Communications

T 781.370.5435   C 617.510.3692
E jublake@PTC.com