Monos, the travel lifestyle company, has selected Centric Software®’s Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution. 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.
Founded in 2018 and based in Vancouver, Canada, Monos targeted an underserved section of the travel market in terms of high quality, well-designed luggage that stands the test of time, all at an affordable price point. The DTC brand’s philosophy is mindful travel.
Hubert Chan, Chief Creative Officer and co-founder says, “We started by creating the suitcase we always wanted, but couldn’t find. Since those early days, we’ve expanded our product lineup beyond luggage, branching out into other product categories including bags and apparel. We consider ourselves to be not just a luggage brand, but a travel lifestyle brand. For us, travel is an all-encompassing experience and we want to offer a diverse range of products that reflects that.”
The timing of the company’s inception unfortunately intersected with the COVID-19 outbreak. Chan acknowledges, “Not long after we launched Monos, and we were starting to see some traction and momentum, the global pandemic essentially shut down worldwide travel. It was a scary time for us as a company.”
But in an innovative move, Monos changed gears and came up with a tool that matched the global situation. Chan says, “We knew we had a great team, so rather than dwelling on the situation, we pivoted and shifted our resources into creating the CleanPod UVC Sterilizer, a portable travel wand that uses ultraviolet-C light to disinfect surfaces. With all of our efforts focused on that, we were able to bring it to market in about six weeks. It found an immediate market fit at the height of the pandemic, and generated a lot of PR coverage. That really helped us stay afloat during this time when no one was thinking about travel. From there, we were able to parlay that success into marketing at a time when other travel brands had essentially stopped—through that, we were able to capture market share, and we saw luggage sales pick up again. We also accelerated our product roadmap, launching the Metro collection of bags—the Metro Backpack, Duffel, Folio Kit and Sling—as well as the Kiyo, a travel water bottle that uses UVC technology to purify drinking water. So we were able to not only survive the pandemic, but thrive. And now we’re coming out stronger than ever with a lot of exciting new products in the works.”
Kathleen Westerhout, Director of Product says, “I recently joined Monos and saw right away that we could use a tool like PLM to help centralize everything in one place. I have 10 years of product design and development experience and have worked at large companies with PLM systems. So I understand how foundational PLM is for a company to be able to grow and scale.
One area that Monos wants to improve is vendor communication. Westerhout says, “Our vendors need to be able to see what we’re seeing—the exact same format, exact same information because at the moment, we’re using a lot of different tools that don’t connect with each other and don’t synchronize, so there’s a lot of information in different places. It’s challenging to stay organized and be on the same page with our vendors.”
She describes the PLM selection. “It really came down to a couple of things. First was Centric’s option for emerging brands. It fits the stage we’re at as a smaller company. Second, is customer experience. From the very beginning, the communication with Centric has been super clear and very professional. They answered all our questions; we feel like a valued customer. What also made the difference, besides choosing the right platform for us, was that we felt like we’d have the support to actually see this project through and be able to build the tool the way that we want. I already have trust in the [Centric] team that they’re going to support us for the whole journey.”
Chan outlines the expectations for Centric PLM. “To have one source of truth for everything. We’ll have all of our materials, trims, everything centralized. We’ll get our vendors on board. Even product information on our online site—if something gets updated, we won’t have to think of everywhere that it lives on the website to make the changes since we’ll have that single source of truth,” says Chan.
President and CEO of Centric Software, Chris Groves, says, “We are delighted that Monos, our 20th customer in Canada, has chosen to partner with Centric. They’ve already proven how innovative and agile they are and we can’t wait to see their continued success in the future.”
