Building a Business Case for PLM Starts Here

The pace of change in the apparel and retail industry is accelerating, driven by faster design cycles. Sustainability mandates, global volatility and consumer expectations have made speed and resilience the new standard. Operational agility is no longer a competitive edge, it’s a baseline requirement.

Many teams are still relying on outdated tools and siloed workflows like communicating in spreadsheets and email that make it nearly impossible to stay ahead. For brands to stay relevant and protect margins, the need to streamline operations, enable real-time collaboration and reduce risk, is a must. Accelerate growth with a modern Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) like Centric PLM™.

Before building a business case for PLM, the first step is recognizing specific challenges that slow down teams and impede growth.

Below is a role-based challenge checklist. If these scenarios sound familiar, it may be time to evaluate how modern PLM future-proofs operations.

• Are tech packs scattered across drives and spreadsheets rather than accessible within a centralized platform?
• Do design revisions get lost in email chains, leading to costly sampling errors?
• Are design teams wasting hours searching for the latest product data?
• Is duplicate work common when updating Bills of Materials (BOMs), specs or size charts?
• Does sustainability tracking feel manual, fragmented and difficult to track, instead of automated and embedded?

Brands using Centric PLM report 50% faster BOM creation and a 93% reduction in spreadsheet reliance. These efficiency gains allow teams to focus more on designing market-winning products and spend less time firefighting errors and tracking down the latest data. the latest data.

Operational leaders carry the weight of execution, tasked with balancing cost control, compliance and efficiency. In the fast-changing landscape of digital tools, legacy systems struggle to keep pace.

Consider the following:

• Is reliance on spreadsheets leading to errors, delays and missed handoffs?
• Do vendors access outdated attachments instead of real-time data?
• Are integration barriers between PLM, ERP and other tools slowing decisions?
• Do compliance and sustainability audits require scrambling to collect documentation from multiple systems?
• Is scaling global SKUs stretching current infrastructure beyond its limits?

More than 35% of Centric PLM projects involve replacing legacy systems. Modern PLM creates a single actionable source of truth, enabling fast and smart workflows across supply chains and operations.

Challenges at the executive level often revolve around balancing growth with margin protection. Limited visibility makes strategic decision-making difficult.

Consider the following:

• Are manual workflows driving higher operating costs and eroding margins?
• Does limited access to reliable product data restrict scaling across Direct-To-Consumer (DTC), wholesale or international markets?
• Are product launches delayed because teams work in silos?
• Is innovation constrained because IT resources are tied up maintaining outdated systems?
• Are competitors outpacing the company with more agile, scalable tech stacks?

Centric PLM customers have reported a 174% increase in styles launched with the same headcount and annual savings of $1M.in styles launched with the same headcount and annual savings of $1M.

Volatility isn’t easing. Supply disruptions, margin pressure and shifting consumer expectations will continue to test even the most established brands. Outdated tools magnify the uncertainty by slowing reaction time and draining profitability.

Modern PLMs are the foundation for speed and resilient operations. Companies that embrace a modern PLM now are setting themselves up to lead the next wave of  innovation.

This is why leading brands and retailers fuel growth with Centric PLM to bring their products to market. With the right digital foundation, companies streamline execution, embed sustainability and remain competitive in crowded markets.