Helsport selects Centric Cloud Product Lifecycle Management

LOS GATOS, Calif., Feb. 3, 2016  – Scandinavia’s leading tent and sleeping bag manufacturer, Helsport, has decided to adopt Centric Cloud, a new cloud-based, SaaS PLM solution specifically tailored with small businesses in mind. With an ultra-fast implementation, Centric Cloud is based on innovative technology and key industry learnings inspired by more than 125 PLM project implementations with leading fashion, consumer and sporting goods companies.

Helsport is a Norwegian family owned and run company, founded in 1951. From the very first sleeping bags developed in 1954, to the world’s first tunnel tent in 1970 and the lightest tents in the world in 2014, Helsport is synonymous with innovation in the outdoor market. The Scandinavian manufacturer first produced sleeping bags and tents for alpinism, expeditions and hiking before diversifying their product portfolio to include additional ranges of their core products and branching out into other outdoor gear. Helsport has demonstrated a strong commitment to ethical trade over the years.

As they continued to grow their business and expand their activities, Helsport looked for a solution that would enable them to increase the volume of their products and enhance communication with their suppliers without sacrificing quality.

“As we expand our activities, we couldn’t use excel spread sheets anymore. We decided to look for a solution that would enable us to improve efficiency, enhance visibility and control over our supply chain to reduce lead times and improve product margins. We chose Centric Cloud PLM because of its simplicity and flexibility. It is a comprehensive PLM solution which can adapt to our needs as our business grows,” explains Stein Helliksen, CEO at Helsport.

Centric Cloud PLM is tailored for small businesses and designed to give them access to same innovations and benefits as accessible to larger companies, thus helping to level the competitive playing field. It will help Helsport speed product development, improve costs and increase market responsiveness.

Helsport also wanted to facilitate communication between product development, marketing, production and sales teams to improve data quality and reduce the number of errors across the value chain.

“We will use Centric Cloud across all product types throughout the supply chain from assortment planning to product development processes. We hope to enhance our tech packs, quality, sourcing and costing capabilities too,” continues Bjørn Sætnan, Product Developer Tents.

“We are excited to be part of Helsport’s growth plans as we share their passion for innovation and excellence,” says Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software. “We are happy to have innovated an inclusive PLM solution that will enable Helsport, as well as other small companies in Europe, to elevate their businesses, be more competitive on a global scale and dream big.”

Helsport (https://www.helsport.no/om-oss)

We are proud to introduce ourselves as Scandinavia’s leading tent and sleeping bag manufacturer!

Helsport was established in 1951 and through the past 60 years, we have learned what it takes to make some of the best tent and sleeping bags in the world.

We developed our first sleeping bags in 1954 and launched our first tent in 1957. Since then, there have been many great innovations in design details, fabrics and other materials. We created the world’s first tunnel tent in 1970, and have since set several international standards in development. It is with pride that we can say that we received our first design award in 1968 and, our most recent one, in 2013.

Centric Software, Inc. (centric-staging.com)

From its headquarters in Silicon Valley and offices in trend capitals around the world, Centric Software builds technologies for the most prestigious names in fashion, retail, footwear, luxury and consumer goods. Its flagship product lifecycle management (PLM) platform, Centric 8, delivers enterprise-class merchandise planning, product development, sourcing, business planning, quality and collection management functionality tailored for fast-moving consumer industries. Centric Cloud packages extended PLM including innovative technology and key industry learnings tailored for small businesses.

Centric Software has received multiple industry awards, including the Frost & Sullivan Global Product Differentiation Excellence Award in Retail, Fashion and Apparel PLM. Red Herring named Centric to its Top 100 Global list in 2013 and 2015.

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