Buccellati has selected Centric Software to provide its Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution.
"Our target is to open 88 new Buccellati brand stores around the world in the next five years and to grow the company so that it will become ten times the size it is now," says Gianluca Brozzetti, Buccellati Group CEO, "Buccellati is very prestigious and successful with a proud tradition of craftsmanship, but it is relatively small compared to its closest competitors. We want to make Buccellati a global, jewelry luxury brand. A project like this cannot be managed without the right systems."
Buccellati has invested significantly in technology in recent years, including an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution and frontline retail software. As Mr. Brozzetti explains, PLM was the missing piece of the puzzle.
"The existing software we had in-house was not sufficient for our growth plans and we needed a PLM solution that could provide the highest standard of support throughout the lifecycle of the product," says Mr. Brozzetti. "Until recently, many of Buccellati's designs and product charts were handwritten on paper. These are beautiful documents but of course it is not possible to easily share this information. To move into the future, we need total digitalization."
Mr. Brozzetti notes that Centric PLM was recommended by Buccellati's consultants, and that IT professionals in-house were in complete agreement that Centric will provide the best solution.
"When we looked at the features of Centric PLM, we knew it was right," says Silvia Rovati, IT Director Buccellati Group. "It easily communicates with our other software systems and we could see that Centric PLM has been adopted by companies that make jewelry. One of the characteristics of our business is that we measure products in several measurement units: grams of gold, carats of diamonds, hours of labor. Not every PLM is able to manage these parameters. It was quite an obvious decision with an immediate consensus."
Ms. Rovati continues, "PLM will track everything from the beginning of the creation of each product with in-depth product descriptions and costing. It will be possible to instantly generate monthly reports to analyze our profit margins. We are excited about linking the retail side to product development, including the use of PLM-connected digital catalogs on tablets for retailers and individual clients. We also want to connect stores, so we immediately know if a product has been sold in any store and can automatically begin to replenish that product."
"Working with the Centric team will help us to replace old habits with best practices," concludes Ms. Rovati. "We're looking forward to having a unique, reliable view of every product and assortment, digitizing our manual processes and doing business more efficiently."
"We are delighted to partner with Buccellati," says Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software. "Creating handcrafted jewelry, watches and silverware is skillful work that requires high levels of precision and detail. We're looking forward to seeing our PLM solution as the foundation for the unique characteristics of Buccellati's operations and the platform for their expansion in the coming years."