Woolworths Successfully Implements Centric PLM

CAMPBELL, Calif., 14 May, 2019 – Woolworths Proprietary Limited, a leading South African retail chain, has successfully implemented Centric Software’s Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution. Centric Software provides the most innovative enterprise solutions to fashion, retail, footwear, outdoor, luxury and consumer goods companies to achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals.

Woolworths South Africa, part of Woolworths Holdings Limited, is a leading retailer operating in South Africa and 11 sub-Saharan African countries. The retailer offers a unique blend of food, fashion, beauty, homeware and financial services.

Woolworths chose to implement Centric PLM to address challenges related to the company’s growth.

“Our previous product development process was inefficient and time consuming,” explains Shane Butlion, Head of Central Business Optimisation, Woolworths Fashion, Beauty and Home. “We lacked visibility across our product development lifecycle. Our business has evolved significantly, with expanded sourcing and trading regions, creating additional complexity in the management of these new channels.”

Woolworths selected Centric PLM to transform end-to-end product development and provide a platform for collaboration.

“Centric PLM is a modern and future-fit solution that can be accessed on the move,” says Butlion. “Centric’s Agile Deployment project approach and highly configurable system, as well as the culture fit between us, Centric and their local implementation partner, Cogworks, were critical to our decision. Centric is the PLM leader in our industry, and the fastest-growing PLM solution provider globally.”

Woolworths completed the initial implementation stage and is already enjoying the benefits of Centric PLM.

As Butlion says, “We approached this as a transformational project, not just a system implementation. With Centric’s guidance and best practice experience, we have introduced future-fit improvements to our ways of working. From our initial rollout we expect to see improved collaboration and teamwork in product development, costing efficiencies, better visibility, improved supplier collaboration, a single source of the truth for data, a full audit trail and improved milestone management.”

“It has been a pleasure working with the Centric team,” he concludes.

“We are delighted that Woolworths has successfully gone live on Centric PLM,” says Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software. “Woolworths has undergone a total digital transformation with this implementation, and we are proud to partner with them in their business evolution now and into the future.”

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Woolworths Holdings Limited (www.woolworthsholdings.co.za)

Woolworths Holdings Limited (WHL) is one of the top 40 companies listed on the JSE Limited Securities Exchange (JSE) with operations across the southern hemisphere and 34% of operating profit generated in Australia.

The Group consists of three major operating divisions:

• Woolworths South Africa (Woolworths or WSA) based in South Africa and operating across 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa;
• David Jones (David Jones or DJ) based and trading in Australia; and
• Country Road Group (Country Road Group or CRG) based in Australia and trading in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Woolworths Financial Services (WFS) is a joint venture between Woolworths and Barclays Africa Group, with Barclays Africa Group owning 50% + 1 share. The WFS board is constituted with directors from both WHL and Barclays Africa Group, with direction on credit policy, risk and funding aspects received from Barclays and direction on customer integration from Woolworths.

The Group employs more than 44,000 employees across 14 countries and trades in more than 1,400 store locations.

Woolworths SA (www.woolworthsholdings.co.za)

Woolworths offers a unique blend of food, fashion, beauty, homeware and financial services with the vision to be a leading fashion retailer in the Southern Hemisphere. We employ over 31,000 people in South Africa and over 44,000 people across the Group in South Africa, Africa and Australasia to transform this vision into reality.

Centric Software (centric-staging.com)

From its headquarters in Silicon Valley, Centric Software provides a Digital Transformation Platform for the most prestigious names in fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor and consumer goods. Centric’s flagship Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) platform, Centric 8, delivers enterprise-class merchandise planning, product development, sourcing, quality and collection management functionality tailored for fast-moving consumer industries. Centric SMB provides innovative PLM technology and key industry learnings for emerging brands. Centric Visual Innovation Platform (VIP) offers a fully visual, transformative experience via large touch-screens and mobile devices, revolutionizing group decision making and creative collaboration while dramatically condensing time to market and product innovation. Centric Software is majority-owned by Dassault Systèmes (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), the world leader in 3D design software, 3D Digital Mock Up and PLM solutions.

Centric Software has received multiple industry awards and recognition, including being named by Red Herring to its Top 100 Global list in 2013, 2015 and 2016.  Centric also received various excellence awards from Frost & Sullivan in 2012, 2016 and 2018.

Centric is a registered trademark of Centric Software. All other brands and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.