CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
7 February 2007
Implementation Investments
Centric Software's Product Intelligence Solution Deployed At Global Online Wholesale Distributor
Centric Software announced that one of North America's largest broad line wholesale distributors has successfully deployed Centric's Product Intelligence solution in the U.S. and Hong Kong. This solution allows transparency and effective management of the products throughout their lifecycle - from concept to in-house.
The wholesaler turned to Centric Software to develop a reliable system to track global sourcing and development of its private label products, enabling both greater management visibility into operations and improved collaboration across the supply chain.
"Implementing enterprise software typically requires lengthy trials and deployments. Centric had a demo up and was running the solution with live data within a week, and within a few months, we had a full deployment," said the distributor's senior vice president of merchandising. "The architecture of this Product Intelligence solution supports a rapid development methodology that goes beyond the traditional waterfall approach, allowing Centric to quickly prototype data views and screens without expensive, time-consuming code changes. Besides the speed of deployment, Centric is also an ease of use delight. Our managers can quickly navigate through products and suppliers and easily get the cost and schedule information they need."
Using Centric's solution assists this global wholesaler in the development and accelerated rollout of the company's expanded private label product lines, from concept to catalog. Key to success for the distributor is the ability to link product information with new product rollout schedules across multiple suppliers, enabling on-time deliveries, optimized private label margins, a balanced revenue mix between private label and branded products, and better overall revenue growth.
The solution automatically tracks and presents accurate, unparalleled visibility into sources, schedules, costs, margins, and other key performance indicators, removing opportunities for human error and wasted time and effort. Multiple global users view "live" information on configurable, interactive dashboards for better decisions, continued parallel execution of tasks, and analysis of the overall status of the private label program against the business objectives. The wholesaler will use the solution to manage domestic sourcing processes as well as other supplier-related activities.
"As global distributors respond to market pressures and prepare for business growth, our Product Intelligence solution can manage their demand for more current information from a growing number of global suppliers," said Chris Groves, chief executive officer of Centric Software. "With Product Intelligence from Centric , global wholesalers and retailers can immediately begin to capture live product information for better management of financial growth through private label programs."
"We evaluated a number of enterprise solutions, and selected Centric's because of its ease-of-use and its ability to support our strong financial growth strategy," said the vice president of sourcing at the company. "Their fast implementation ultimately means more rapid time-to-market for our private label products, and therefore a more rapid path to success with our business initiatives."
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