4 December, 2023

ALFA to Transform End to End Product Development with Centric PLM

Norwegian footwear brand partners with Centric Software to drive international growth and achieve sustainability goals

CAMPBELL, Calif., December 5, 2023 – Centric Software^®, the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) market leader, proudly announces its partnership with Alfa, a premium Norwegian ski and trekking footwear brand. Centric Software provides the most innovative enterprise solutions to plan, design, develop, source, price and sell products such as apparel, footwear, sporting goods, furniture, home décor, consumer electronics, cosmetics, food & beverage and luxury to achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals.

Alfa, the renowned Norwegian brand established in 1931, has manufactured ski and trekking boots for quality conscious outdoor enthusiasts for over 90 years, as well as supplying professional footwear for the Norwegian Police and Defense Forces. Norway and Sweden are Alfa’s key markets, along with a growing presence across Europe and the US.

Their growth plans, sustainability goals and the limitations of managing product development processes through spreadsheets, led Alfa down the path of acquiring a modern PLM solution. Moreover, the necessity to comply with stringent digital product passport requirements, recording a product’s sustainability and environmental attributes throughout its lifecycle, has increased the need for transparency across the supply chain.

“To meet these goals, the only right way to do it is to have a PLM system in place,” says Camilla Raugland, Product Development Manager at Alfa. “Centric PLM™ was recommended to me by previous colleagues as the best solution.”

Alfa was seeking one solution to manage every aspect of the product development process and capture all product related information into one central repository to drive efficiencies and support international growth goals. After carefully assessing potential PLM partners, they selected Centric Software for its customer references, deep expertise with footwear brands and for Centric PLM’s scalability.

“We were looking into another PLM solution, but they were underdeveloped when it came to footwear,” explains Raugland. “Centric is working with so many shoe brands, and we have very specific requirements. That was a huge tipping point in our selection process.”

Alfa expects Centric PLM will streamline the product development process and enhance quick decision-making with data stored in one single source of truth and available in real time across departments. They also plan to harness the power of Centric PLM to achieve sustainability goals, specifically through the Worldly™ (formerly known as Higg) integration capabilities.

“I have great expectations for improved efficiencies and the availability of information for the entire organization that PLM provides,” says Raugland. “We expect Centric PLM will benefit the product development department, and the company as a whole, and we also plan to integrate our vendors into PLM at a later date. We see a collaboration with Centric Software far down the road.”

“We are thrilled that Alfa has selected Centric Software as a long-term partner to support international growth and sustainability goals,” says Fabrice Canonge, President of Centric Software. “With Centric PLM as their foundation for the entire product development process, we look forward to seeing how Alfa will optimize the already exceptional quality of their products for outdoor enthusiasts worldwide.”

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ALFA (www.alfaoutdoor.com) Alfa is a renowned, Norwegian brand established in 1931. For over 90 years, we have proudly manufactured ski and trekking boots for quality conscious outdoor enthusiasts. In addition, we have provided footwear to professional users, such as the Norwegian Police, the Norwegian Defense Forces and other occupational groups with non-negotiable standards for function, comfort and quality. The Alfa head office is located in Jaren, 70km north of Oslo. The staff at the head office handles product design and development, sales, marketing and administration. In spring 2017 we established ourselves in Sweden with two three employees in the subsidiary Alfa Sko AB. The production then takes place at selected quality manufacturers in Europe and Asia, according to our strict guidelines and quality requirements and under close monitoring from our sourcing department.