Centric Software is proud to announce that the latest release of its flagship Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution, Centric 8 PLM version 7.0, is now available. Centric Software provides the most innovative enterprise solutions to fashion, retail, footwear, outdoor, luxury and consumer goods companies to achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals.
Centric software has rich PLM cases in the fashion and retail industry. More than 330 companies creating products for over 1,000 iconic brands trust Centric Software including LVMH, Superdry, Under Armour, Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs, Nina Ricci, Crocs, Birkenstock, Swarovski, Jimmy Choo, Ackermans, Fast Retailing, Mango, Bestseller, Belle, Varner, Triumph, Tesco, Big Lots, Auchan, Woolworths, Siplec and many others.
Developed with Centric Software’s customer partners and Customer Advisory Board, Centric 8 v7.0 offers a variety of powerful innovations designed to bring brands, retailers and manufacturers closer to consumers by accelerating digital transformation, speeding time to market and increasing agility. Centric PLM users now can source a product from multiple suppliers with only a few clicks, orchestrate sophisticated workflows to speed time to market, leverage 3D assets directly from within Centric, respond to more complex sizing requirements from consumers and more. Centric also recently announced 3D integration with Browzwear, CLO and EFI Optitex making Centric PLM a hub for end-to-end 3D product development.
As is Centric Software’s long-standing practice, all innovations are market-verified by Centric customers from around the world.
Centric 8 v7.0 empowers brands in the fashion, retail and consumer goods industries to rapidly respond to an evolving marketplace enabling faster product innovation, closing gaps between product inception and time to market while creating more unique, high-quality and personalized products to get closer to consumers than ever before.
Retailers and brands often source the same product from multiple suppliers for a variety of reasons such as proximity, capacity, costs, convenience and compliance. Global companies can now easily source the same product from multiple suppliers to speed time to market, reduce their environmental footprint, lower shipping costs, enable the production of additional products last minute and more.
“With Centric v7.0, teams source a product from multiple suppliers with a few simple clicks; product specifications are created once and then tailored to different vendors and specific supplier requests issued,” explains Ron Watson, VP Product at Centric Software. “This facilitates detailed collaboration with each vendor while creating a massive time saving for sourcing teams.”
Other innovations in sourcing save time and streamline vendor communications with the ability to duplicate or update an existing supplier request when evaluating proposals and samples.
“We work with multiple suppliers and products at the same time which means managing an incredible amount of information. Being able to easily update our original supplier request seamlessly as concepts evolve will save us of a lot of time, reduce errors and improve collaboration with our external vendors,” says Ryan Shuster, VP of Global Sourcing at Big Lots.
Centric 8 v7.0 improves team agility and market responsiveness allowing users to seamlessly integrate workflows in PLM with the addition of a powerful workflow and decision automation platform, compliant with the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) 2.0 standard. Improved workflow means that teams are more efficient with consistent execution, reduced errors, improved collaboration and easier achievement of product development milestones to get products to market faster.
Building on the recent development of several 3D-enabled features in Centric PLM, Centric 8 v7.0 offers new 3D visualization enhancements that can be used with or without a connection to a 3D CAD solution, even for users not specifically trained in the art of 3D development.
“With Centric’s 3D viewer, it’s now possible to visualize the texture and drape of a material and also adjust its physical properties to see how it will look and move in real life,” says Watson. “The addition of other realistic elements, such as adding trims and changing colors, further reduces dependence on physical samples and fit reviews. Photorealistic 3D models can be shared with suppliers before production; especially useful when creating personalized products. This cuts the cost and time associated with sampling and ultimately speeds time to market for improved market responsiveness.”
Centric 8 v7.0 also supports the creation of high-quality and better fitting products consumers demand. Companies with complex sizing requirements will benefit from the addition of a 2-dimensional sizing matrix on Bills of Material (BOMs), showing a visual 2-dimensional correlation (or pattern) between product sizes and the material/component sizes used in the product.
“Our lingerie customers and others who offer a large range of sizes, collections and fabrics to meet the needs of their customers will benefit from the new visual sizing matrix. Complex sizing can present challenges when creating product specifications for suppliers. The ability in Centric PLM to see how similar components will fit in different sizes will save time, maintain quality standards and make material sourcing more accurate and cost-effective,” says Watson.
“The latest release of Centric 8 PLM delivers new innovations based on market feedback that creates an even more powerful digital platform for shortened time to market and increased responsiveness,” says Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software. “Centric 8 v7.0 enables greater focus, agility and improved product innovation capabilities so brands, retailers and manufacturers can get closer to consumers.”
