Four Things you can Expect After Replacing your Old PLM with Centric PLM

The prospect of complicated change management and fears about user adoption rates are major concerns when switching PLM solutions. This is probably the #1 roadblock mentioned by all of the customers we talked to.

Volcom is one of the many fashion and apparel brands who have ditched their legacy PLM for Centric PLM and have experienced high user involvement and buy-in. “We knew from experience that managing change, even positive change, can be the biggest challenge of all,” explains Steve Chastain, Global Head of IT. “Our users were excited about the ease of use, simplicity and Excel-like features. When I originally announced the timeline, there were some worried faces on the Snow team, who would be the first to start working in the system. However, once we implemented Centric PLM, those worries melted away.”

Swarovski also recently migrated to Centric PLM and implementation was met with success and open arms by team members. Martin Buchbauer, Director Marketing Operations shares, “Our key users immediately embraced the intuitive and modern interface, which convinced us we were on the right path.”

Other customers have confirmed this too. One apparel brand said that it took users less time to learn how to use Centric than their previous PLM because the interface is so intuitive. Users were amazed.

Centric customers have been thrilled with the ease of implementation and quickly find value with the system. “It reduces time spent on data entry to allow our users to actually do their jobs and focus on what they do best,” shares Chastain. “Our designers now have end-to-end ownership of tech packs and BOMs.”

And for Volcom, they were able to enter styles seven times faster than with their legacy PLM! Entering styles in the system used to take the Snow team two weeks, and it now takes them a day and a half.

Marc Jacobs also made the switch to Centric PLM and Louise Neslin, Senior Manager of PLM and Analytics shares, “I really cannot stress enough how much more efficient everything we do has become since we moved to Centric PLM.” Other benefits Marc Jacobs has experienced are a dramatic reduction in user error and rework. Also, time to market improved because Centric PLM supported more accurate costing.

Swarovski replaced two PLM systems with Centric to streamline its fashion, jewelry, watches and accessories collection development. “We were working with one system for our technical side and another for our creative side, which proved to be complex and inefficient,” says Bauchbauer. They were able to take their collection development process to the next level with Centric PLM.

Both Volcom and Marc Jacobs have told us they were thrilled with the highly configurable out of the box solution as it supported their evolving business needs and processes. Chastain shares, “Because our business processes were still maturing, we over-customized the (legacy) PLM solution to respond to the requests from the business. Oftentimes we complicated things and customization meant that the changes were difficult to make as they needed to be hard-coded into the system.” This was a driver in Volcom ditching their legacy PLM for Centric PLM and they have not been disappointed!

For Marc Jacobs, Centric’s configurability supported very specific and a growing range of footwear business processes and that has been a game changer for them. “Using Centric for our costing has been a game changer in terms of helping footwear prepare for market,” says Neslin. “We can estimate and put together pricing strategies, but it’s not until we receive accurate costing updates from our product development team that we’re really able to evaluate our profitability and shape well-rounded collections. With PLM, when product development has an update, they publish it and it’s instantly visible to merchandising and everyone else who needs it. Rapid data entry and fast information sharing has had a real positive impact on our time to market – and it’s something we simply wouldn’t have had without Centric.”

Other customers have highlighted Centric PLM’s capabilities to adapt to any CAD and ERP – by the way Centric has been integrated with over 40 different ERP systems! You will be free to integrate, adapt and make the business decisions you need to stay ahead of the competition.

Centric PLM is 100% market-driven and that means understanding your industry challenges, needs and providing support is a top priority. And with at least two releases per year that are driven by customer feedback, Centric is constantly offering the best in class innovations with its range of mobile apps, integrated modules, AI, 3D and digital boards for touch-based devices to name a few. According to Buchbauer, “Centric offers great out-of-the-box functionality, and the Centric teams are very competent. They engage and challenge us on ways to improve our systems and processes. We’re also working on an innovation partnership with Centric on the next Centric PLM releases. It’s great to work with a partner who takes our needs to into account.”

Chastain adds that the project’s success is down to the hard work on teams on both sides of the partnership. “I couldn’t be more impressed by what we’ve seen so far. Every project has its challenges, but Centric sent extra resources when we needed them and they have hit every milestone.”

Marc Jacobs knew that Centric had a unique offering and was an ideal partner. “I believe that Centric Software® has a unique position in the leader in Fashion PLM,” says Chief Information Officer, Regis Litre. “When we restricted the market to pure PLM players and then looked only at those who had real fashion expertise, there emerged a very limited list of potential partners. And when we focused further on those with a clear roadmap, compelling luxury references and strong support, the choice of Centric was easy to make. They offer the best of two worlds: real knowledge of fashion, coupled with a high level of professionalism in terms of software and IT. You don’t often find that combination.”

Rest assured that after you migrate to Centric PLM, you can expect a smooth, supported integration, you will gain an industry-expert PLM partner, adoption will be a breeze and you will be able to quickly adapt the system to your rapidly changing needs.

You’ve heard it from major players Volcom, Marc Jacobs and Swarovski and Centric has migrated many more loyal customers from 20+ different PLM systems! There is a reason why 100+ companies have ditched their PLM’s for Centric and once they make the switch, they don’t go back!