CAMPBELL, Calif., May 15, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Centric Software announces that DESCENTE LTD. (DESCENTE), the Japanese sportswear company and owner of a portfolio of 15 brands including DESCENTE, Umbro and Le Coq Sportif, has selected Centric Software to provide its 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.

Established in 1935, a Japanese menswear company called TSURUYA started making baseball clothing in the 1950s to capitalize on the growing baseball trend. The company then made a revolutionary move into skiwear in 1954 and has been at the forefront of innovation in skiwear ever since. The name 'DESCENTE', French for "downhill skiing", was adopted in 1961. Today, DESCENTE is a worldwide manufacturer and seller of sporting items. DESCENTE owns 15 brands across sports as diverse as swimming, golf and football, including Arena, Munsingwear and Le Coq Sportif besides the house brand DESCENTE.

As Terumitsu Watanabe, Manager, Product Engineering Division 1, explains, the company began looking for a PLM solution to boost product development and standardization.

"Errors and mistakes during the product design phase could potentially cause defects and this is something we wanted to improve," says Mr. Watanabe. "We also found that it was taking too much time to organize and communicate information effectively during product planning and development."

"We decided to invest in a PLM solution to ensure product quality and speed up the product development process," Mr. Watanabe continues. "We knew it would also help us to review our way of working and standardize operations across our brands."

"We found that Centric could meet our needs," notes Mr. Watanabe. "It's a cloud-based solution, which makes it ideal for global use. The simplicity of deployment is a very attractive feature, as it is configured rather than customized. Because of this, we will be able to deploy the solution in a very short period of time."

Centric PLM is already in use at two DESCENTE owned brands and now will be rolled out to the remaining brands.

"We're looking forward to improving operational efficiency and increasing productivity," says Mr. Watanabe. "It's going to completely transform our way of working and will help us to create standard operations across a great variety of brands."

As Mr. Watanabe concludes, "We have a good level of communication with Centric's team in Japan, and we are building a long-term partnership. We look forward to seeing the new features that Centric upgrades will bring in the future and we know PLM will help us to streamline the way we operate."

"We would like to welcome DESCENTE, our latest partner in Japan," says Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software. "DESCENTE is a very successful sportswear company with an impressive portfolio of brands and we are thrilled to embark on a long-term partnership together."

DESCENTE, LTD. ( http://www.descente.co.jp)
DESCENTE has launched a new Group structure, with DESCENTE Ltd. as our global headquarters. As we continue to develop global brands that offers high added value and enhance the everyday lives of people around the world, we remain faithful to our founding spirit of Creation, Challenge, Integrity and Harmony. Together as a Group, we are taking on the challenge of becoming a truly global sports company.

DESCENTE LTD.'s 15 brands, including the corporate brand "DESCENTE", offer high-performance sporting goods for a range of sports including baseball, football, swimming, and golf for everyone from top athletes to recreational and leisure enthusiasts.

Centric Software ( http://www.centricsoftware.com)
From its headquarters in Silicon Valley and offices in trend capitals around the world, Centric Software provides a Digital Transformation Platform for the most prestigious names in fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor and consumer goods. Centric Visual Innovation Platform (VIP) is a visual, fully digital collection of boards for touch-based devices like iPad, iPhone and large-scale, touch-screen televisions. Centric VIP transforms decision making and automates execution to truly collapse time to market and distance to trend. Centric's 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 SMB 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 in 2016 and Frost & Sullivan's Global Retail, Fashion, and Apparel PLM Product Differentiation Excellence Award in 2012. Red Herring named Centric to its Top 100 Global list in 2013, 2015, and 2016.

Centric is a registered trademark of Centric Software. All other brands and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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Media Contacts:
Centric Software
Americas: Jennifer Forsythe, jforsythe(at)centricsoftware(dot)com
Europe: Kristen Salaun Batby, ksalaun-batby(at)centricsoftware(dot)com
Asia: Lily Dong, lily.dong(at)centricsoftware(dot)com

SOURCE Centric Software