FurHaven, the pet products company, has selected Centric Software®’s Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution for emerging enterprises, Centric SMB. Centric Software provides the most innovative enterprise solutions to plan, design, develop, source and sell products such as apparel, footwear, sporting goods, furniture, home décor, cosmetics, food & beverage and luxury to achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals.
Headquartered in Bellingham, Washington and founded in 2004, FurHaven designs and produces over 2,000 pet-related SKUs offering a wide range of affordable solutions for pet parents. From their cozy flagship line of pet beds to stylish travel and home accessories, FurHaven ensures that their customers can find the right fit, style and solution at an affordable price point. Their products are sold throughout North America, Europe and other countries across the globe and can be found at various e-commerce sites and multi-category retailers like Wal-Mart, Overstock, Amazon, Groupon and of course, FurHaven’s own website.
Jaynie Gablehouse, Director of Product Development says, “I’ve been with FurHaven since the beginning. We have enjoyed substantial growth each year and 2020 was no exception. With so many people working from home, dog and cat adoptions were up and so was demand for our products.” Indeed, the entire pet segment has been growing steadily and accelerated this past year when many people added a furry new colleague to their home offices.
FurHaven faces challenges due to their wide variety of products. In addition to dog and cat beds, they also produce a line of cat trees and playgrounds, corrugated scratchers, furniture covers, carriers and are looking to add both apparel and toys. Says Gablehouse, “Each year, we grow our product lines by 10 to 15% through both new development and product expansions. With so many SKUs across multiple categories, managing those products through email and Excel sheets is no longer an efficient system. We need a global solution that allows clear, concise communication about products with team members in multiple departments and across multiple time zones.”
FurHaven looked at a few PLM solutions but ended up selecting Centric for many reasons. “Centric SMB is our first-time using PLM software. The interface is user friendly and straightforward. The fact that it could integrate with our ERP system if we choose, is another advantage,” says Gablehouse. “That the software is updated regularly, and we don’t have to worry about upgrade charges is also a bonus.” The Adobe connector sealed the deal. FurHaven designers’ number one wish was being able to design in Illustrator and not have to leave the Adobe environment to work within PLM.
FurHaven was able to speak to another Centric customer with a similarly wide range of products. “They gave us the assurance that the benefits we anticipated, were true,” she adds. “And I love the people that I am working with from Centric. Throughout the training process, we have felt like they are true partners with us and vested in ensuring that we understand the system and that it works well for us. The level of customer service we have experienced so far is truly exceptional.”
Gablehouse looks forward to having Centric PLM up and running. “Centric PLM is a tremendous tool for keeping all our product details, facts and feature information easily accessible for key teams – not just production and development but marketing, customer service and sales departments as well,” she says. “We’re very ambitious and want to do the best that we can, so having an additional tool to keep ourselves on track and improve product time to market is incredibly valuable to our team.”
Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software says, “We are happy that FurHaven has chosen Centric as a partner in their digital transformation journey. Their company is growing rapidly and we are proud to be a part of an industry that is providing comfort to so many people and their animal companions.”
