PTC announced enhancements to its FlexPLM integration for Adobe Illustrator with its next generation FlexPLMDesign Module for Adobe Illustrator, the first of a set of apps in the FlexPLM Digital Design Suite. The Design Suite enables designers to rapidly bring concepts to life by improving workflow and information accessibility. The Design Module enables designers in the retail, fashion, footwear, apparel, and consumer goods industries to design and create products in PTC’s FlexPLM retail product lifecycle management software directly from within the Adobe Illustrator workspace. The FlexPLMDesign Module for Adobe was developed to address the growing need for innovation-driven design, development efficiency, and better communication across design and product development processes. Since users can easily create product sketches leveraging FlexPLM-managed data natively within Adobe Illustrator, the focus remains on creativity and product instead of on non-value and manual tasks. The FlexPLM Digital Design Suite also includes the Colorway Design Tool, Swatch Maker Tool, and Design Template Builder. With these tools, designers can: Create new products or product candidates in Adobe Illustrator and describe them with attributes and sketches; Find and view FlexPLM-managed colors, materials, and palettes and use them in Adobe Illustrator sketches; and Create a design card in Illustrator that combines a product sketch with the materials, colors, prints, and patterns used for that product. With easy sharing of sketches between Adobe Illustrator and FlexPLM using familiar functions such as drag-and-drop, this connectivity eliminates many adoption barriers that creative teams face when using typical PLM interfaces. Sketches can be checked into the FlexPLM system – even in the background – to maintain a single source of truth throughout the design process.