French lingerie retailer teams for Centric for PLM

Los Gatos, Calif. -- French manufacturer, distributor and retailer of high-end women’s lingerie and ready-to-wear apparel Aubade has selected Centric Software as its product lifecycle management (PLM) software provider.



The company will implement the Calendar Management, Cost Scenario, Materials Management, Product Specification and Product Sourcing modules of the Centric 8 PLM software for retail, apparel, footwear, luxury and consumer goods companies. Users will include product managers, designers, and members of product development, industrialization, quality control, research and development, and technical development staff around the world.



Until recently, Aubade handled all product design, development and manufacturing, while selling only through channels. Now, the business is expanding rapidly into the retail sector, according to Annie Bureau, Aubade’s operations director, and already operates more than 55 stores. This expansion created a need to accelerate product development, and that led the company to select Centric 8 PLM, said Bureau.



To date, Aubade has relied on spreadsheets to manage product development. “As Aubade continues to open new retail outlets and increase the number of collections each year, it is more important than ever to implement a system to help assure reliability and accuracy,” said Bureau.



Aubade will use the Centric PLM suite to accommodate two separate operational models. For its lingerie products, Aubade directly handles product design, development and manufacturing. For day and night ready-to-wear apparel lines, Aubade outsources the manufacturing.



By working with “one version of the truth” about each product, Bureau explained, staff can better track development progress, improve data reliability and increase productivity across all product lines, all departments and all locations.



Aubade also will use the PLM software to improve collaboration with remote suppliers through better progress monitoring and visibility into the product development process that takes place at different sites. “By clearly defining and tracking all product development actions, Aubade will be able to more precisely calculate lead times and costs, and control margins throughout the process,” said Bureau.