July 20th, 2017

Grupo Cortefiel Transforms Sourcing with Centric Software

CAMPBELL, Calif., July 20, 2017 – Grupo Cortefiel, one of Europe’s leading fashion retailers, has experienced a revolution in its sourcing process using Centric Software’s Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution. Centric Software is the leading PLM solution for fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor and consumer goods companies.

Grupo Cortefiel, headquartered in Madrid, Spain, is one of Europe’s largest fashion retailers in the specialized chain segment, with over 2,000 points of sale in 90 countries. The group encompasses four own brands (Cortefiel, Springfield, women’ secret and Pedro del Hierro), as well as an outlet chain, Fifty Factory. Grupo Cortefiel has been a Centric Software customer since 2013.

“We initially went live with the Springfield brand and the project included aspects such as collection management, prototype creation, technical specification development, sample reviews and materials management. We connected PLM to our ERP solution, while taking the different needs of each brand into account. The project went quite smoothly and we met our initial project goals.”

“Once Centric PLM was rolled out across the company, we began our plans to extend PLM to sourcing. Sourcing is a crucial part of the PLM puzzle for us, as buyers and designers struggled to stay up to date. We wanted Centric PLM to handle product information as well as communication with vendors, factory management and quality assurance. Working with Centric, we kicked off our sourcing project in October 2016.”

As Manel Jimenez, the Supply Chain General Manager from Grupo Cortefiel says, the company decided to use Centric’s Product Sourcing module because of its ability to improve visibility, make it easier to collaborate with suppliers, manage vendor and factory information, and create clear order timelines.

“We needed Centric’s Product Sourcing module to handle a large volume of different types of data, such as vendor contact details, social and technical factory audits, sourcing manuals for vendors, quality assurance inspection reports and design files for vendors to review. We also wanted to make it possible to create clear critical paths and timelines for order inspections, with defined milestones. It’s important for us to integrate all of our suppliers with the PLM system, and as part of the PISA project, we aimed to get at least 50 percent of them on board.”

“We are happy to report that our PISA project has been successful,” concludes Manel Jimenez. “This is a very important step for us, as it moves us from a design-focused system to one that allows us to globally manage a product as well as its delivery. Centric’s Product Sourcing module helps us keep our product sourcing teams in sync and up to date, and visibility has been improved for our buyers and designers.”

“We are able to track products through every phase of development using clear milestones and we believe our communication with suppliers will improve greatly. This will be a revolution in terms of our sourcing processes and data control, and we are quite sure to continue finding efficiencies as we extend the system to more departments and suppliers.”

“Grupo Cortefiel have been a close partner since 2013, and we are very pleased that they have successfully implemented Centric’s Product Sourcing module in the latest phase of their PLM project,” says Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software. “This is the latest evolution of an excellent working relationship that we are proud to carry into the future.”

Grupo Cortefiel (www.grupocortefiel.com)

Grupo Cortefiel is one of Europe’s leading fashion retailers operating in the specialized chain segment. It is made up of four own brands: Cortefiel, Springfield, Women’secret, and Pedro del Hierro and an outlet chain: Fifty Factory. The Group is present in 90 countries with over 2.000 points of sale.

The turnover for 2016 was 1.128 million euro and the number of Group employees stood at 10.000. Each brand has its own design team and sales and management structure. They share the administration, finance, technology, expansion and sourcing and human resource divisions, as well as other corporate functions, based at the central offices.

The Group has a network of international buying offices in Spain, Hong Kong and India. Distribution is centralized at the Madrid logistics platform, backed up by an additional centre in Hong Kong, supplying both the Group’s own stores and franchises. The multibrand growth strategy has been further reinforced through international expansion and the development of the online channel.

Centric Software (www.centricsoftware.com)

From its headquarters in Silicon Valley and offices in trend capitals around the world, Centric Software provides a Digital Transformation Platform for the most prestigious names in fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor and consumer goods. Centric Visual Innovation Platform (VIP) is a visual, fully digital collection of boards for touch-based devices like iPad, iPhone and large-scale, touch-screen televisions. Centric VIP transforms decision making and automates execution to truly collapse time to market and distance to trend. Centric’s flagship product lifecycle management (PLM) platform, Centric 8, delivers enterprise-class merchandise planning, product development, sourcing, business planning, quality, and collection management functionality tailored for fast-moving consumer industries. Centric SMB packages extended PLM including innovative technology and key industry learnings tailored for small businesses.

Centric Software has received multiple industry awards, including the Frost & Sullivan Global Product Differentiation Excellence Award in Retail, Fashion, and Apparel PLM in 2016 and Frost & Sullivan’s Global Retail, Fashion, and Apparel PLM Product Differentiation Excellence Award in 2012. Red Herring named Centric to its Top 100 Global list in 2013, 2015, and 2016.

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