CASE STUDY: USE OF IOT BY RALPH LAUREN

ABOUT RALPH LAUREN CORPORATION

Ralph Lauren Corporation is a global leader in the design, marketing and distribution of
premium lifestyle products in four categories: apparel, home, accessories and fragrances. For
more than 48 years, Ralph Lauren’s reputation and distinctive image have been consistently
developed across an expanding number of products, brands and international markets. The
Company’s brand names—which include Polo Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Ralph
Lauren Collection, Ralph Lauren Black Label, Lauren Ralph Lauren, RRL, RLX, Polo Sport, Polo
Ralph Lauren Children’s, Denim & Supply Ralph Lauren, Chaps and Club Monaco—are among
the most widely recognized consumer brands worldwide.
ABOUT OMSIGNAL
OMsignal is a world leader in biometric technology and smart apparel, developing products
and applications that help people live fitter, healthier lives. Weaving technology into life, the
OM smart clothing platform provides a seamless connection between body, textile and
technology, empowering the world’s leading fashion and sport brands to incorporate the very
latest biometric technology into their clothing and stay one step ahead of the game. Founded
in 2011 by Stephane Marceau and Frederic Chanay, OMsignal is home to an array of
multinational interdisciplinary professionals who work together to advance and evolve
wearable technology.
PoloTech Smart Shirt

Ralph Lauren continues to lead the fashion industry in wearable technology with the launch
of this groundbreaking fitness shirt and the simultaneous introduction of a game-changing,
adaptive workout app that uses detailed data to tailor individualized training for maximum
results. The PoloTech shirt points the way to the next generation of activewear. Going beyond
the digital-only experience of today’s fitness platforms, it is the first product to bring
advanced apparel technology and digital fitness technology together, into one smart,
connected apparel product.
The introduction of the PoloTech shirt coincides with the inaugural collection of an athletic-
focused, broader Polo Sport brand. As its halo product, PoloTech intersects the forefronts of
performance technology and lifestyle fashion.
“The Ralph Lauren PoloTech shirt will change the way you look at fashion and apparel. It will
give you knowledge you can use to lead a better life,” said David Lauren, Executive Vice
President of Global Advertising, Marketing and Corporate Communications. “This is a bridge
between technology, fitness and style that approaches wellness and well-being in
comprehensive and complementary ways. It will touch many parts of your life.”
 IMPLEMENTATION OF IOT

The smartshirt incorporates its sensory receivers with a dynamic fitness application into a
fashion-forward design emblematic of Polo Sport. Silver fibers woven directly into the fabric
to give the most accurate readings track a range of stats, including heart rate and variability,
breathing depth and recovery, intensity of movement, energy output and stress levels, steps
taken and calories burned.
The “black box” that collects and processes the information uses five connectors and contains
a 3D accelerometer that captures intensity of movement based on three g-force
measurements.
PoloTech has a unique ‘second-skin’ fabric composition, and the sensors in the fabric stream
information directly to an iPhone®, iWatch® or iPod Touch®. The app reacts based on that
immediate data. The app is compatible with the Apple iPod Touch® 5th Generation and above,
or iPhone® with iOS 8 and up.
The unique bio- and psychometrics inform a series of adaptive video workouts, during which
your performance in one exercise determines the intensity of the next, resulting in more than
10,000 possible combinations—the ultimate customized workout. The app also offers live
fitness monitoring, reporting and a unique “push rate,” rating exertion, power and effort.
There are three categories of workouts, customized for users in real time:

 CARDIO: works core, burns fat and amps power

 STRENGTH: puts focus on chest, back, legs, shoulders, triceps and biceps
 AGILITY: designed to maximize quickness, precision and speed
The technology was put to the test at the 2014 US Open, where Ralph Lauren is the Official
Outfitter. The top-ranked college player making his debut at the premier tennis event as well
as an elite squad of official ball persons were measured for relative fitness, measuring heart
rate, recovery, time spent in aerobic and anaerobic zones, calories and distance.

The smartshirt was developed in partnership with proprietary technology from Canadian-
based OMSignal, whose team includes experts in neuroscience, sports medicine and
engineering. The PoloTech app workout routines were devised by Galvanized, the health and
fitness media company founded by David Zinczenko.
“The PoloTech shirt points the way to the next generation of activewear. Going beyond the
digital-only experience of today’s fitness platforms, it is the first product to bring advanced
apparel technology and digital fitness technology together, into one smart, connected apparel
product,” said Stéphane Marceau, CEO of OMsignal. “OMsignal’s partnership with Ralph
Lauren is representative of the synergy that exists between the two brands, from their
marquee leadership in fashion, to our customizable smart apparel platform.”
Ralph Lauren is known as a leader in digital innovation. In addition to the groundbreaking
PoloTech shirt, the company has created directional high-tech initiatives as an early pioneer
in e-commerce, creation of holographic runway shows, development of interactive and
shoppable retail windows, and introduction of the RL Children’s Virtual Storybook. Recently,
the company extended its authority in technology to the luxury world, with its iconic
handcrafted Ricky Bag with Light.
The PoloTech smartshirt will be available at RalphLauren.com, Polo Ralph Lauren’s global
flagship in New York City and at its US Open store on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King
National Tennis Center, where there will be daily demonstrations.
Ralph Lauren Product Authentication

The Ralph Lauren Corporation (RLC) designs, markets and distributes premium lifestyle
products in five categories: apparel, footwear and accessories, home, fragrances and
hospitality. RLC manufactures apparel around the world with an annual volume of just under
200 million product items. RLC is working with EVRYTHNG, a consumer product IoT platform,
to create a unique digital identity for its products. This new digital platform ensures the
authenticity of its products from manufacture through to purchase. The solution provides
innovation and efficiency opportunities for its third-party manufacturing partners, RLC
corporate functions and retail stores, and the end consumers.
RLC has a necessarily diverse supply chain, with hundreds of trusted manufacturing
contributors, systems and processes. However, in its complex supply chain, the company did
not have precise visibility into the status of each unique item created by its factory partners.
The company wanted to develop a way to provide real-time visibility into hundreds of third-
party manufacturing providers to track production of each item – to support its brand
integrity, operational efficiency and consumer engagement.
A solution platform has been built to provide data that delivers intelligence and perspective on each
product’s journey. The benefits include visibility into the supply chain and manufacturing process to
drive operational efficiency, the ability to uniquely authenticate each product and the opportunity to
enhance the overall product and brand experience with end consumers.

At its core, RLC’s solution involved mass-scale product digitization – led by EVRYTHNG with supply-
chain partner Avery Dennison. The solution involves each product item:

– Being assigned a unique Active Digital Identity™ (ADI) in the cloud to manage the data from and
about that item through the supply chain from manufacturing to purchase – Having a label and QR
code unique to that item, linking the item to its ADI in the cloud

– Being produced in a third-party manufacturing facility with its unique label scanned and
authenticated with its digital identity in the cloud, providing the company with real-time visibility and
capturing critical manufacturing data. RLC can aggregate additional orders, supply and retail data and
transactions associated with each item’s unique digital identity in the cloud, thereby assembling the
data on the item’s full supply-chain journey.

End consumers can interact with the QR code on the item label, accessing dynamic digital applications
linked to that specific item and generating consensual data for RLC after the point of purchase. From
an RLC perspective, the company uses the EVRYTHNG platform to manage each item’s ADI to provide
visibility and apply data intelligence as each item moves between different organizations in the supply
chain (manufacturing, enterprise, retail) and ultimately into the hands of the end consumer. The
platform provides the collaboration mechanism to deliver:

– Real-time visibility for RLC into third-party factory production and intelligence to detect and respond
to issues as they arise, with the ability to provide product item status and authentication

– Tracking of each individual product’s journey, from the point of manufacture in a factory through
the supply chain – An ability for the end consumer to engage directly with products using their
smartphone.

An investigation into the technology

The technology behind RLC’s advanced manufacturing solution is underpinned by:

– Digitally serialized labels provided by Avery Dennison’s Janela solution in each third-party factory,
with itemlevel Active Digital Identities™ in the cloud capturing data through each item’s life cycle,
enabling real-time authentication and trackability

– Enterprise integration with RLC planning systems that connect product items and order information
via the EVRYTHNG platform

– Dynamic experiences for end consumers enabled through unique QR codes on the product label
and software rules in the cloud

– Analytics dashboards and workflow tools provided by the EVRYTHNG platform for real-time factory
visibility, item traceability, alerts and notifications, and the control and configuration of dynamic end-
consumer digital experiences.

The Outcome:
The digitalization of the production process, item and product labelling within a highly fragmented
thirdparty producer-distributor network provides a common collaborative platform that supports
operational efficiency, brand integrity and consumer engagement. Specifically, the collaboration
provides:

– The company with real-time visibility into factory/vendor performance, enabling it to adjust as
needed to support on-time deliveries

– Consumers with the ability to authenticate the products they purchase, providing assurance and
clarity and thus protecting brand integrity, as well as the ability to connect directly to RLC to receive
product information and related recommendations. RLC in turn can offer experiential product stories
and related style information

– RLC with the ability to track each item from point of manufacture to ensure product integrity,
enabling it to monitor and control parallel trade, back-door and counterfeit activity
Consumer engagement and product authentication through digital platforms at Ralph
Lauren Corporation (RLC)