Finn Flare Launches Centric PLM with Astonishing Go-live Results

Centric Software^® continues expanding into Russia with popular retail clothing chain, helping reduce development time by 25% and production costs by 10%

CAMPBELL, Calif., December 9, 2021 – Popular Russian clothing company Finn Flare recently went live with Centric PLM and have enjoyed significant gains in both time savings during product development, and reduced sourcing costs. Centric Software provides the most innovative enterprise solutions to plan, design, develop, source and sell products such as apparel, footwear, sporting goods, furniture, home décor, cosmetics, food & beverage and luxury to achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals.

Finn Flare was started in 1960 in the small Finnish town of Salo, and over the next 10 years exported clothing to Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and the USA. After entering the Russian market, the company opened concept stores specially adapted to the tastes and preferences of Russian buyers. Finn Flare specializes in middlewear, outerwear, casual and accessories collections, and today operates more than 110 stores in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus, as well as appearing in popular European stores like Zalando, and selling direct to consumers via their online store.

Before undertaking their transformative digital journey with Centric PLM, the company recognized a need to shorten the development and production time of their collections. This meant finding effective production areas in different countries, as well as system-wide management of costing issues based on a comprehensive analysis of materials, work and delivery costs. When Covid-19 hit, they also faced business restrictions and logistics problems in different countries, especially an increase in delivery time of goods due to the pandemic.

“Due to different processes and the specific work of our brand, data from different departments are often isolated, not presented completely or rendered stagnant, which can hinder the efficient management of the product lifecycle,” says Valentina Khilmanovich, Head of Design and Development at Finn Flare. “Centric PLM can easily integrate data from the entire lifetime of a product seamlessly. We can also conduct a comprehensive analysis of the product at all stages of the lifecycle, from the beginning of production to sales and financial results of the collection.”

Centric PLM stood out against other PLM solutions during Finn Flare’s selection process thanks to added value for productivity, cost management, accelerated time to market, data sharing with ERP systems and product development. The ability to set and control key dates and milestones for production schedules was essential, as well as management and analysis of consumption of materials, prices, orders, sales and margins from each style, collection, and overall season.

Khilmanovich continues, “Our main strategy was to shorten the production cycle as much as possible. We’ve already seen a 25% reduction in development time for each collection and we were able to achieve a 10% reduction in production costs thanks to updating the costing process with suppliers, which provided new sourcing possibilities. Now we’re working on the timing of production cutbacks.”

“In terms of a business strategy, Centric PLM lets us enter updates, develop, support and retire products throughout their lifecycles, depending on decisions we make along the way. Centric is highly flexible for meeting the needs of our clients.”

“We started to develop our e-commerce strategy many years ago,” explains Khilmanovich, “building our own online store and cooperating with companies in Russian and European markets such as Wildberries, Otto and Zalando. Now, with more consumers shopping from home, our goal is to improve the connection between their interests and our brand loyalty. Centric PLM will help us develop assortments for these new sales channels more easily to improve overall performance.”

Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software, commented, “As we expand into the Russian market, it’s deeply satisfying to see a company like Finn Flare achieving their growth strategy goals and accelerating by streamlining their supply chain using Centric PLM. We are delighted to be a part of the company’s ongoing digital evolution and to be a part of all their future success.”

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FiNN Flare (www.finn-flare.ru)

FiNN FLARE is a company with a long and successful history of formation. For more than 50 years, the brand has been pleasing its customers with consistently high-quality and practical clothing.

Like any successful company, FiNN FLARE has several qualities that help a brand to be recognized:

• Modern style
• European design
• High quality
• Comfortable fit
• Wide range of natural fabrics

The company’s designers always offer interesting style solutions, combining completely different directions. In line with current fashion trends, collections are created taking into account the brand’s philosophy. FiNN FLARE clothing is functional, yet fashionable, stylish and elegant, suitable for any occasion: going out, meeting with friends or a strict office dress code.

Centric Software (www.centricsoftware.com)

From its headquarters in Silicon Valley, Centric Software^® provides a Product Concept to Replenishment Digital Transformation Platform for fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor and consumer goods including cosmetics, beauty and food and beverage. Centric’s flagship Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) platform, Centric PLM^TM, delivers enterprise-class merchandise planning, product development, sourcing, quality and product portfolio optimization innovations specifically for fast-moving consumer industries. Centric SMB focuses on core tools and industry best practices for emerging brands. Centric Visual Innovation Platform (CVIP) offers highly visual digital board experiences for collaboration and decision-making. Centric Software pioneered mobility, introducing the first mobile apps for PLM, and is widely known for connectivity to dozens of other enterprise systems including ERP, DAM, PIM, e-com, planning and more as well as creative tools such as Adobe^® Illustrator and a host of 3D CAD connectors. Centric’s innovations are 100% market-driven with the highest user adoption rate and fastest time to value in the industry. All Centric innovations shorten time to market, boost product innovation and reduce costs.

Centric Software is majority-owned by Dassault Systèmes (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), the world leader in 3D design software, 3D digital mock-up and PLM solutions.

Centric Software has received multiple industry awards and recognition, including being named by Red Herring to its Top 100 Global list in 2013, 2015 and 2016. Centric also received various excellence awards from Frost & Sullivan in 2012, 2016, 2018 and 2021.

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