Ernsting’s family selected Centric Software’s Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software solution. Kurt Ernsting, the founder of Ernsting’s family, had the goal of offering high-quality but inexpensive clothing for families when opening his first shop in Westphalia in 1968. Just a few years later, the company evolved into a multi-store retailer with a rapidly growing number of locations. Today, Ernsting’s family has over 1,800 branches with sales of more than €1 billion. The company offers a wide selection of clothing, underwear, accessories, home and lifestyle products as well as toys and fashion for the whole family.
Markus Kramer, Head of Assortment Process and Project Management at Ernsting’s family, explains that the growth of the company was the most important factor when looking for a PLM system.
“In view of our steady growth, we must continually optimize our internal and external processes,” explains Kramer. “We have a large and tight-knit purchasing team and suppliers around the world. Improving communication and collaboration between all stakeholders is therefore essential. We realized that we needed a PLM system for this.”
“The first meeting of Ernsting’s family with Centric Software took place in 2013 at an event organized by Centric. The companies stayed in contact. When Ernsting’s family started the careful selection process a year ago, Centric was among the candidates.”
“After the long and intensive selection process, we became convinced that Centric Software could best meet both our specialist and technical requirements,” explains Kramer. “In addition, Centric specializes in the fashion sector and we knew, that with Centric Software, we would have a partner by our side who is well versed in the specifics of the fashion business. Centric Software shows itself to be a very flexible and technically competent partner. The high level of understanding of our processes and the willingness to meet special program requirements ultimately contributed to our decision.”
Ernsting’s family will use Centric PLM in all departments and product groups. The company expects multi-layered results from the implementation of the software.
“We expect our collection development process to become even more transparent and efficient with the help of the Centric 8. The increased process quality, the improved system-supported networking between the departments involved and the avoidance of redundant data maintenance will help us to focus even more intensively on what is important to us-our lovingly designed and perfectly combinable collections”, concludes Kramer.
“We are delighted to welcome Ernsting’s family as our newest German customer,” says Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software. “The cross-channel provider has grown significantly in recent years and we are proud of the confidence that the company places in us. Centric will accompany and support Ernsting’s family in the next phase of growth. We look forward to a closely collaborating with them as their business moves into the future.”
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