BOGNER, leading German skiwear and outerwear company, has successfully gone live with Centric Software’s Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution.
BOGNER was founded in 1932 by champion skier Willy Bogner Sr. and his wife Maria. The Munich-based ski apparel company was successful from its early days, outfitting the German ski team in the 1936 Winter Olympics. Bogner’s son, Willy Bogner Jr., followed in his father’s footsteps as a competitive skier and took over at BOGNER in 1977. Today, BOGNER is renowned for its high-tech skiwear for professional and leisure skiers as well as luxury winter apparel lines.
As Stephanie Eibich, Brand Intelligence at BOGNER explains, BOGNER’s growth and expansion into new product categories over the years generated unmanageable amounts of data, and it became difficult to get a clear picture of what was happening with products in development.
“We didn’t have a PLM or PDM system before, so our processes lacked transparency,” she says. “Product information was scattered between our ERP system, emails and Word or Excel documents. It wasn’t efficient or user-friendly, because people didn’t know where to find information and the product development team couldn’t collaborate effectively.”
BOGNER assessed several PLM vendors with the help of an external consultant before choosing Centric Software.
As Eibich says, “We finally decided on Centric PLM because it has out-of-the-box functionality and can connect and standardize our operations across a variety of areas, including design, merchandising, materials management, sourcing and sales. It’s a modern, web-based system. As our designers use Adobe Illustrator, the Adobe Connect function in Centric is very important.”
A large number of BOGNER’s employees in Germany now use Centric PLM in their day-to-day work. Just four weeks after the implementation, the company was seeing results.
“We’ve had very enthusiastic feedback and everyone is saying work is so much easier with Centric,” says Eibich. “People across the development teams from designers to pattern-makers are comfortable working with the system and tell us how much it suits them. It’s so much more transparent and efficient and it’s also bringing people closer together in the company as they collaborate within the system.”
“Our first goal was to have more time for the product. Since we are a luxury and outdoor company making high-end products, we need to ensure that they are good quality. We are regaining time that people spent looking for information. We’re communicating faster and connecting the whole development of a style worldwide.”
As Eibich concludes, “We had a big team from Centric working with us on this project, as we decided to deploy all modules at once and we have a great relationship. They are always available to answer questions. There’s a vision in BOGNER of how we want to build the company and the team from Centric has worked with us to configure a PLM solution that supports our future.”
“We are delighted that BOGNER’s Centric PLM project is already reporting significant benefits,” says Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software. “BOGNER is a legendary German skiwear and luxury brand, renowned for its quality and heritage. It is a pleasure to work with the BOGNER team and partner with them on their digital transformation.”
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