Centric Offers New Take on PLM
Developers at San Jose, Calif.–based Centric Software hope to take online product development to the next level with a new set of sourcing, specs and line planning applications, which they called the industry’s first Web-based offering combining all three functions.
With most mid-sized to large companies sourcing offshore, product managers have had to adapt to a new operational infrastructure which includes adjusting their information-technology programs.
That’s because product components are coming from around the globe and are being manufactured offshore, sometimes in multiple locations thousands of miles away from a core of operations typically in the United States. Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software has been one way to keep tabs on all the data and activity.
Centric’s suite includes PLM but was built without the need to migrate or consolidate data from other sources. It also integrates into sourcing and spec-pack systems.
“We’re taking a unique approach by providing a system that has the ability to collect information from multiple systems [such as ERP, sales and design],” explained Betsy Burgess, senior director of marketing and communications for the company.
“There’s this race to market with new collections,” she said. “You need to have product on the shelves quicker than ever. There’s been nothing to tie everything together.”
The suite can be installed in three months. It gives product managers and trading partners real-time views of product specifications, sourced products, suppliers, costs, forecasts, orders and calendars. It manages technical product specifications, supplier performance and sourced-product management, and calendar and line planning. All applications combine metrics entered directly into the system with live information from suppliers and in-house repositories such as spreadsheets, product databases, ERP systems, e-mail and other documents.
In the sourcing application, retailers and manufacturers can identify and compare products, costs and suppliers and collaborate globally as well as track status through configurable interactive “dashboards.” Cost estimating considers all components of landed and distributed costs. The application also manages samples, factories and suppliers and measures the performance of suppliers.
The line-planning system charts costs, quantities and margins for lines and items combined with calendars from development, sourcing and sales to inform users that collections meet business objectives. Calendars are deployed to streamline handoffs between departments and track completion of development tasks. As a result, executives gain immediate visibility into the overall success of a line and each item within it, said Burgess.
“We’re not taking aircraft PLM and reworking it for the apparel industry,” said Burgess. “The apparel industry has rigid requirements.”
Among the early customers signing on is Le Coq Sportif, which will use the system to manage the design, development and introduction of its footwear and apparel collections.
“Centric’s [application] will enable us to manage more lines and gain better visibility into the entire collection process, so we can successfully introduce more collections per year and obtain our aggressive growth objectives.” said Nicolas Mennrath, vice president of operations at Le Coq Sportif.
