Starpro Empowers R&D Management with Centric PLM

After implementing Centric PLM, the biggest benefit is the significant reduction in our project cycle time, meaning a notable improvement in R&D efficiency. Through two phases of system implementation and steady operations, our R&D efficiency has increased by more than 20%.”

Li Chenhong, Director of R&D at Starpro, summarizes the benefits of implementing Centric PLM™.

As Starpro rapidly grows, he explains, it faces five major challenges, “many projects, many product categories, many clients, many factories and many personnel.”

Starpro decided to introduce an advanced PLM solution in 2022 to improve R&D efficiency, ensure product quality and meet customers’ needs for rapid response while advancing towards smart R&D. After more than two years of collaboration with Centric, Starpro’s R&D system has undergone a significant transformation.

Leading Food Starch Manufacturer

A subsidiary of the PMI Group, Hangzhou Starpro Starch Co., Ltd. (Starpro) was founded in 2006 and is a comprehensive enterprise that integrates the R&D, production and sales of modified starch. Starpro’s broad market application covers eight major industries with over 1,800 customers. The company offers more than 1,000 application solutions and over 500 products and has a widespread manufacturing network with nine factories and 12 production lines.

Headquartered in Asia, with a strong focus on the Chinese market, Starpro’s production facilities are located in Hangzhou, Tianjin and Thailand. Its clients span China, Japan and Russia, including companies such as Master Kong, PepsiCo, Dicos, General Mills, Kraft and Sinian.

Digitalization to Achieve Intelligent R&D

From a group strategy perspective, the R&D management system is a critical part of PMI Group’s digital transformation. The rapidly growing R&D team and vast number of projects could no longer rely on manual management, and it became clear that digitalization is fundamental to achieving intelligent R&D in the future. With this in mind, Starpro began to prepare for a PLM project in August 2021.

Li notes, “We spent eight months evaluating and selecting an R&D system provider through a detailed 9-step process, scoring the options, organizing and analyzing over a hundred requirements from decision-makers to end users, and conducting multiple demonstrations of hypothetical scenarios. In the end, we chose Centric PLM. For Starpro, the process of ‘focusing more on selection than implementation’ was crucial.”

Wang Xiaofen, Head of Starpro’s Product Research Department, adds, “Two things impressed me during the selection process, making me confident in Centric’s professionalism and dedication. First, during the needs assessment phase, Centric asked a few simple questions that gave us a clearer understanding of PLM and its applications. Second, in the final product demonstration, Centric’s pragmatic and forward-thinking approach resonated with Starpro’s ethos. They proactively communicated with us early on and conducted multiple discussions and workshops on-site.”

Integrating R&D Management Ideas into PLM

Product lifecycle management in the food industry involves the entire process from demand, project initiation and development, through pilot testing, trial production, mass production, market launch and eventual product retirement or end of life. Prior to adopting a PLM, Starpro’s R&D primarily concentrated on product development along with testing and production phases but faced challenges in the earlier stages of demand and project management, as well as in the later phases of product launch and retirement. When implementing Centric PLM, Starpro also restructured its business processes, integrating R&D management reforms into the system to meet future business expansion and digital management needs.

Starpro identified four key reform ideas for R&D management: “product lifecycle collaboration, project management integration, product data governance and system-enabled decision-making.”

They also divided their PLM implementation into two phases based on business maturity and priority. The first phase focused on building the basic platform and streamlining product data, while the second phase aimed to create a data loop and comprehensive business collaboration.

Product Master Data Management

In the early stages of the project, Starpro identified several pain points related to basic data, such as data loss due to staff turnover, inconsistent material master data hindering cross-departmental operations and low data reuse rates.

Li explains, “We have been in business for over thirty years, and our ERP system has been in use for over twenty years. We consistently enter product master data into the system, but we never organized it. Different systems had different material codes and data dimensions, making it very difficult to connect data across systems Without standardized data, data-driven decision-making is impossible..”

In the first phase, Starpro prioritized product master data governance. After the PLM system went live, more than 5,000 historical master data entries were organized, and data standards were unified between the teams in China and Thailand. They also established a product and SKU management model. In the second phase, with a standardized data foundation, Starpro successfully integrated PLM with ERP, CRM, LIMS and OA systems, achieving data connectivity and data-enabled decision-making.

User-Friendly and Configurable System

Centric PLM’s user interface is very similar to Excel, providing a user-friendly experience for Starpro’s R&D team.

Li adds, “One word we heard frequently from Centric’s consultants during communication was ‘configuration.’ Many PLM functions are configured to meet our business needs, similar to building with LEGO blocks, assembling piece by piece.”

A “Best-in-Class” Example of Professionalism and Dedication

Starpro highly praised the Centric team, with Li using the words “professional” and “dedicated” to describe them.

She remarks, “We share many of the same values, learning from each other’s work methods. The collaboration has been both enjoyable and effective.”

Continuous Optimization and Unlocking Potential

Eight months after Centric PLM went live, Starpro’s R&D management became more systematic  and efficient. Starpro has not only achieved a closed-loop data management system, improved R&D efficiency, and increased product success rates but also achieved two-way traceability of raw materials and products. More importantly, by responding accurately and with agile R&D, customer satisfaction has significantly improved.

Looking ahead, Starpro looks forward to working closely with Centric to further unlock the potential of the PLM system.

Key Takeaways for Project Success

Li shares three key lessons from the successful PLM project:

• Involve decision-makers in the project. Although Starpro calls their project an R&D management system, it’s not just for the R&D department. The system should be built with the company’s leadership in mind.
• Fully respect user input. The system is ultimately for R&D personnel, so their opinions must be considered during system selection, business review and blueprint design.
• Approach the project in stages. We developed a phased plan based on business maturity and priority, continuously optimizing and adjusting throughout the implementation.