MAXRIENY Drives Multi-Brand & Multi-Business Strategy with Centric PLM

An Ambitious Strategy

“Our multi-brand and multi-business model corporate development strategy would have created an enormous workload if we continued to operate with disparate systems and offline data,” says Kevin Wong, Founder and CEO of CC Universe. “The company’s priority is establishing a sharing platform that allows us to store all product creatives and data.”

CC Universe, parent company of MAXRIENY, approached Centric Software® to provide a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution which was suited to their unique business model. Centric quickly got to work creating a Fashion PLM system that would cover the full spectrum of product planning, production and sales.

With Centric PLM in place, CC Universe’s business process and defining roles are streamlined in one central place. Product development is transparent and visual. The multi-brand and multi- business model corporate development strategy is supported with a design and R&D brand knowledge repository.

How did CC Universe achieve its ambitious brand development strategy with Centric PLM?

A Technology-Driven Womenswear Brand

MAXRIENY is a CC Universe brand, and was co-founded by Kevin Wong and his wife, Sara Wong. The brand had specific target segments in mind right from the start—fans of European medieval castle themes and fantasy elements. In just five years, sales surpassed 0.7 billion RMB in China’s already saturated ladies apparel market.

Over a two-year period, CC Universe created digital platforms and tools for collaborative work, member management, store management, warehouse management and online business, which shaped MAXRIENY’s quick rise to success.

Building on its line of design-conscious everyday attire, MAXRIENY branched out into the high end MAXRIENY Wedding, MAXRIENY Event and MAXRIENY By Sara Wong lines, befitting special occasions. The business enhanced its order-based production with quick response and e-commerce capabilities.

Design and R&D Sharing Platforms Supporting Multiple Brands and Business Models

Although CC Universe was already on a path to digitalization, processes were managed in separate systems and offline data. As Mr. Wong explains, “The company’s priority is establishing an information sharing platform, and precipitate valuable data to help incubate brands in the future.”

“Each brand has its own design requirements and way of working. Centric PLM is just the right fit for CC Universe’s diversified communication and management needs. Centric PLM provides a more straightforward way for them to obtain consistent data. Team members can track product development by brand and business model, which improves the management capacity of our Product Center.”

All-Round Brand Knowledge Management

CC Universe used to spend large amounts of time searching for product information, such as product specification, development process, material cost, etc., as it was stored across various locations and standardized data maintenance procedures were lacking. With Centric PLM, CC Universe is now able to structure the management of its technical processes. A number of brand knowledge bases have been created in Centric PLM, including color, translation procedures and patterns and material libraries, as well as supplier information and cost databases.

“Brand knowledge management will raise the accuracy of our product R&D and provide a knowledge framework that can be swiftly assimilated by newly onboarded talent,” explained Sara, chief designer of MAXRIENY. “We have also further improved our workflows and specifications in the course rolling out Centric PLM, which has reduced downstream inefficiencies.”

System Integration and Report Generation Aid Decision-Making

As a result of the project, Centric streamlined the existing report formats, which were found in multiple systems. Valuable data such as quarterly sample timelines, risk management and tracking and cost analysis can now be gathered for BI reports, providing a basis for better decision-making. Adrian Lian, who heads CC Universe’s IT Department, stated,

A Digital Workout for a Robust Organization

Centric PLM enhances the workflows and day-to-day work habits of teams at CC Universe. Although at first management was a little apprehensive about the project, they were glad to see such a high degree of cooperation, dedication and proactiveness from teams on both sides and commended the effort put in by those involved.

Using exercise as an analogy, Kevin explains, “We must work with the system to derive value from Centric PLM. We may experience some aches and pains during this corporate digital workout but overcoming these challenges will definitely contribute to the greater success of the company. We are moving forward to a more robust CC Universe.”