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Why Centric PLM Improves Product Development: CamelBak Case Study
CamelBak was founded in 1989 and is a company with a rich history. A global leader in hydration systems, the California-based operation was very aware of the need to make good products better by working smarter. The pitfalls and travails so often associated with bringing products to market in a timely and cost effective manner were clear for Paul Rattay when he joined CamelBak as PLM Manager. Paul understood that a PLM solution would compliment the company’s need to work faster, better and together. Having completed an extensive and rigorous PLM search, the Camelbak team chose to implement Centric PLM™.
With Centric Software®’s V6 release, added higher degrees of functionality and a stunning new look and feel to an already stellar PLM system, using the CamelBak example, we look at three core reasons why Centric PLM can improve your company’s product development process.
Collaboration
Collaboration was a particularly big driver for CamelBak and is an important cog in the product development process of any apparel or consumer goods company. As new products are introduced, there is a beehive of activity effect and a greatneed for interconnectedness and efficiency to avoid errors, duplication of work and costly mistakes.
With Centric PLM, CamelBak finally had an online centralized database and a single source of truth that allowed for better collaboration and no conflicting information. They could avoid tsunami-like work being passed from function to function offline, streamline how they communicated internally and were able to share with global sites and manufacturing partners. Work, effort and result are now visible to everyone involved in the product development process at CamelBak, something that wasn’t the case in the offline space. A win-win for everyone involved!
Regulation and Compliance Requirements
In what is an ever-changing fashion industry, regulation and compliance requirements are extremely difficult to keep up with, however this is also true of other industries, whether it be retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor or consumer goods! CamelBak must deal with and keep abreast of strict requirements because of their product segment. As with any global company, these compliance requirements are unique and challenging. They extend beyond domestic guidelines and include different trade policies in different countries.
An intricate hierarchy of documentation must also created for each product. Material and product testing needs to be undertaken; CamelBak stores these online with Centric Software PLM as CamelBak is audited regularly to ensure that they have completed the requisite safety testing. Simply storing this type of documentation on network drives is virtually impossible for any company and a PLM solution is essential! Does your company struggle with keeping up with fast-moving compliance and regularity requirements? If so, Centric Software PLM is the solution for you.
Time to Market
Every single brand and company grapples with reducing time to market and still delivering high quality and differentiated products, but this has not been an issue for CamelBak since implementing Centric PLM.
With consumer spending changing, there has never been a greater need to produce distinguished products in as timely a fashion as possible to drive business growth. Reduced complexity and the enforcement of quality and standardized processes all result from the implementation of a PLM solution. Is yours an ambitious company with a desire to streamline processes to enable growth?
Before Centric PLM, CamelBak’s product development processes were too labor intensive, with no one unique of information and too much room for human error. Centric PLM has enabled CamelBak to improve collaboration and meet constantly changing compliance requirements while reducing time to market. This flexible, configurable and out-of-the-box solution can do likewise for your company and much more. So what are you waiting for? Start your Centric Software PLM journey today!