CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
18 June 2007
Product News
Centric Delivers Product Sourcing Application with Supplier Performance Management
Centric Software announced the immediate availability of Centric Product Sourcing, the most comprehensive application that allows retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers to manage all the aspects of new product sourcing - from concept to SKU, including supplier lifecycle management. Retailers, manufacturers and wholesalers can take advantage of low-cost country sourcing, while tightly managing global supplier performance, compliance and product delivery.
Most retailers today manage product sourcing and supplier performance with email, spreadsheets and general desktop productivity tools. But these tools cannot effectively manage the vast amounts of data required for product sourcing and often result in multiple versions of the truth and errors in execution. Centric Product Sourcing offers an easy-to-use interface for finding, comparing and selecting products and suppliers, managing samples and costs including landed costs, managing supplier performance, and tracking supplier compliance and delivery.
"No one wants to look at a huge spreadsheet," said Peter Dehio, vice president of global sourcing at United Stationers. "People need a quick snapshot of relevant information and indication of items needing attention. The innovative color-coded dashboards within the Centric Product Sourcing application provide graphical snapshots that offer immediate insight and drive action. Through improved tracking and insight, our on-time delivery rate has improved significantly, giving us the confidence to run a much leaner inventory, which in turn drives financial efficiencies."
Centric Product Sourcing allows retailers and manufacturers to identify and compare products and suppliers, collaborate globally through a secure web-based interface, track status through highly configurable interactive dashboards, and assess financial implications. The application delivers real-time Product Intelligence by automatically combining metrics entered directly into the system with live information collected from suppliers' and in-house repositories such as product databases, ERP systems, email and documents. Using Centric Product Sourcing:
• Executives can view summary reports of schedules, costs and sales. Users can drill down to assess key performance indicators for thousands of new sourced product items.
• Sourcing and procurement personnel can manage suppliers, factories, compliance and risk and sourced product quality.
• Sourcing managers can select optimal products based supplier qualifications, product costs, and landed cost calculations.
• Companies achieve revenue increases, improved margins and optimized inventory management from sourced programs.
"For competitive success in today's global economy, companies must take advantage of low-cost country sourcing (LCCS) opportunities," said Chris Groves, president and CEO at Centric Software. "But the dependence on LCCS introduces new risks. To be successful, organizations need tools to help them manage both supplier performance and supplier risk. Centric Product Sourcing provides at-a-glance visibility into 100% of the key metrics for measuring the performance and risks associated with sourcing products on a global basis."
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