CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive

31 March 2009

Implementation Investments

DEMDACO Implements Centric Software PLM, Sourcing System

DEMDACO, developer and marketer of gifts and home accents, has completed the first stage of implementation of the Centric 8 product lifecycle management (PLM) system from Centric Software, Inc. - and is seeing quick results with significant financial benefits and productivity improvements.

DEMDACO selected Centric, which provides PLM and sourcing solutions for companies in the fast-moving consumer goods and fashion industries, to help improve global collaboration and product quality, minimize errors and costs, assure compliance and improve margins, according to Pete Malone, vice president of product development for DEMDACO.

In the first phase of Centric 8 implementation, DEMDACO is working with the Centric Product Specification, Centric Product Sourcing and Centric Calendar Management modules. The company is already experiencing results, says Malone, in improved communication, access to updated information and more efficient management of the company's product development process.

Now that all departments and partners - from down the hall to across the world - can access the same information in real time, "Everybody's literally working off the same page," says Malone. He estimates that the resulting efficiencies will allow his staff to spend 25 percent more time in critical, productive conceptual and strategic thought and analysis. "The Centric system will pay for itself with these improvements in efficiency," he concludes, "and will produce additional benefits through the increased performance of our products realized by staff allocating more time to strategic product development processes."

"Centric 8 lets my group spend more time thinking about how to make the product great versus trying to get the product through 'the system,'" says Malone. Like many companies in the fast-moving consumer goods industry, DEMDACO previously managed product development with multiple spreadsheets, communicating across multiple departments and continents, on multiple computer systems. In DEMDACO's case, Centric was able to replace 42 different spreadsheets with one easy-to-use, real-time product lifecycle management system. "My staff and I now can spend significantly more time on value-added activities," Malone says.

DEMDACO already is benefiting from more effective communication with its office in Hong Kong and suppliers throughout Asia, says Malone, adding that he believes Centric 8 will help streamline catalogue production and the sample development and quality improvement processes. "When a company brings more than 2,000 SKUs to market each year, as Demdaco does," he says, "access to 'one point of truth' for information makes all the difference in speeding products to market."

"Companies such as Demdaco that operate in the competitive consumer goods industry need the rapid financial results Centric delivers," explains Chris Groves, president and CEO of Centric. "The early benefits Demdaco is experiencing will only continue to grow, resulting in greater accuracy, a more effective product development process and savings that directly impact the bottom line - critical in today's economy."

DEMDACO develops and markets gifts and home accents. Based in Leawood, Kan., the design-driven company works with artists and designers to create products that tell a story. Products include gifts, home décor, and Silvestri seasonal and holiday items.

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