Centric Software - News & Events

CAMPBELL, Calif.—May 12, 2009 Consumer goods and fashion companies seeking detailed product cost and gross margin information early in the product development process – before products launch – will gain this added visibility for the first time with the introduction of the Centric Product Profitability Planning module from Centric Software, Inc.

The new module, part of the Centric 8, Release 3* product lifecycle management (PLM) and sourcing suite, calculates complete product cost and gross margin information – including operating expenses, channel costs, royalties, shipping costs and GMROI – early in the product development process.

"The Product Profitability Planning module provides unprecedented insight into the potential financial success of new products," says Chris Groves, CEO of Centric. "Companies can save up to millions of dollars by eliminating products with poor margins early in the development cycle, and concentrate their time and resources on those products most likely to provide the highest margins."

The Centric Product Profitability Planning module also provides financial information down to any level of the bill of materials (BOM) as well as across all SKUs, channels and regions of business. Users across multiple departments can provide input and gain instant visibility to any changes in financial metrics.

Calculating and managing the fully loaded cost of a new product is difficult, explains Groves, since costs like royalties, cost of goods sold, marketing costs, freight costs and channel costs usually are captured by different departments in different systems and spreadsheets. As each new product potentially has multiple SKU variants and channels, the challenge becomes complex. Consequently, companies often fail to determine the true ROI before launching new products – and end up with unanticipated lower margins and product failures.

"With this level of information available during early-stage development, marketing, sales and finance executives responsible for new-product profit-and-loss can cut losses, invest in winning products and channels, and focus on improving profitability," concludes Groves.

*See related: Centric 8 Version 3 (May 12, 2009)

About Dorel Industries, Inc. (www.dorel.com)
Dorel Industries (TSX: DII.B, DII.A) is a world-class juvenile products and bicycle company with brands including Safety 1st, Quinny, Cosco, Maxi-Cosi and Bébé Confort (juvenile products), and Cannondale, Schwinn, GT, Mongoose and SUGOI (recreational/leisure products). Dorel’s Home Furnishings segment markets furniture products. The Montreal-based company, established in 1962, employs 4,700 and maintains operations in 18 countries.

About Centric Software, Inc. (www.centricsoftware.com)
Centric Software is a leading provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions for makers of hard-lines, soft-lines, or both in the fashion and consumer goods industries. Centric 8 delivers easy-to-use functionality to manage critical, inseparable business processes - product development, sourcing, and line planning and profitability management - all through a modularized system that implements and delivers value rapidly. With Centric 8, companies cut costs and inefficiency, speed new products to market, drive margin improvement, and improve global collaboration and compliance. Global enterprises including INTERSPORT France, The Coleman Companies, KlimUSA, BassPro Shops, Bravo Sports, and United Stationers use Centric solutions to achieve revenue growth, reduce costs, and deliver trend-right products to their customers.

Centric is a registered trademark of Centric Software . All other brands and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.