Advancing Sustainability for Brands & Retailers with PLM Software
What changes when a fashion brand switches a fabric? Cost and appearance are only the start. The decision affects sourcing, durability, compliance and recycling options.
Fashion sustainability is the practice of reducing the environmental impacts of clothing, footwear and accessories while improving conditions for the people who make them. It spans the product lifecycle, from raw material sourcing and manufacturing to use, reuse and end of life.
In The State of Fashion 2026, The Business of Fashion and McKinsey identify “Tariff Turbulence” as a defining theme as brands rethink sourcing, adjust prices and pursue efficiency.
Meanwhile, growing transparency demands require brands to demonstrate progress with reliable evidence. Scattered spreadsheets, supplier emails and disconnected specifications make that difficult.
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software centralizes product, material, supplier and compliance data. Teams assess tradeoffs, verify claims and incorporate sustainability criteria into decisions from design through commercialization.
How PLM software advances sustainability
PLM provides a technology foundation for integrating sustainability into daily product development. It connects five activities:
Sustainable sourcing:
Evaluate suppliers and components against sustainability requirements
Material selection and management:
Compare composition, certifications, performance and environmental data
Supplier transparency and collaboration:
Share requirements, collect documentation and coordinate reviews
Regulatory compliance:
Link requirements and evidence to materials, products and approval workflows
Product and material traceability:
Connect finished products to components, origins and supplier records
A centralized view makes the relationships among these activities visible. When teams substitute a fabric, they can assess the effects on sourcing, quality, compliance and sustainability claims before approval.
Centric PLM™ connects development, sourcing, sampling, quality and compliance workflows through shared product records, material libraries and bills of materials. Teams carry sustainability criteria from material selection through commercialization.
Expand sourcing and supplier management
What goes into a product? Where does it come from? What evidence backs supplier claims? Responsible sourcing starts with clear answers to these questions.
PLM centralizes supplier, material and component records. Teams track sourcing locations, set supplier sustainability requirements, review certifications and identify missing documentation before finalizing specifications. For a recycled-content target, teams compare alternative materials against certification evidence, cost, availability and performance. They can identify potentially lower-impact options early and assess them against defined criteria.
Centric PLM connects product, material and supplier sustainability and compliance information. Certificate management and expiry tracking enable teams to monitor evidence, verify its relevance to a facility or material and resolve gaps before approval.
Improve product traceability and sustainability data management
Material changes affect composition, labeling and sustainability claims. PLM links product and material sustainability data with components, suppliers and documentation so teams can track those effects throughout development.
When a jacket’s lining changes, teams check fiber composition, recalculate recycled content and review labeling. Connected records strengthen traceability, improve reporting accuracy and inform decisions. Outdoor brand STIO uses Centric PLM to connect materials, environmental impact and compliance information. Sustainability Profiles and automated composition roll-ups streamline data preparation for labeling and reporting.
Centralized records establish a foundation for product transparency and supply chain visibility. Reliable traceability still requires supplier participation, complete data and verification.
Strengthen regulatory compliance through PLM innovation
As sustainability regulations evolve, fashion brands need to track requirements across markets and connect them to product decisions. PLM brings requirements, material records and approval workflows together so teams can assign responsibilities, track updates and flag compliance gaps during development.
Connected supplier certificates, material declarations, test reports and product specifications put evidence within reach. Teams can identify missing documentation, review material and product compliance and maintain the data needed for traceability and transparency.
By integrating documentation and compliance checks into development, PLM enables teams to address gaps earlier and make more informed product decisions.
Designing sustainable products with PLM
Design teams shape environmental impacts when they choose materials and construction methods. Those choices affect sourcing, production, durability, compliance and end-of-life options.
With PLM, teams compare materials against sustainability criteria alongside cost, quality and performance. They record composition targets, certification requirements, durability tests and repairability criteria in product specifications.
For a jacket, designers can specify replaceable fasteners and assess how coatings or blended fibers affect recyclability. Recycled materials must also meet the product’s durability and quality requirements. For example, retail brand Rothy’s tracks bio-based components through PLM, connecting material information to finished products.
Recording requirements early keeps sustainability criteria visible as teams move from design into sourcing, production and compliance reviews.
Streamline operations while advancing sustainability
Reducing unnecessary samples, errors and rework cut costs and material waste while improving product quality and speed to market. The “Efficiency Unlocked” theme in The State of Fashion 2026 highlights how technology improves productivity and free resources for growth.
PLM puts these opportunities into practice. Teams share current specifications with suppliers, resolve issues before production and evaluate approved materials in centralized libraries.
Centric PLM connects design and 3D tools with approvals and communication. Digital reviews reduce physical sampling and development rounds, saving materials and accelerating time to market. By tracking sample rounds, rework and waste alongside cost, quality and development time, brands measure operational gains and sustainability progress together.
Transforming Sustainable Retail Practices with Centric PLM
As sustainability becomes a greater priority, fashion brands and retailers need accurate, connected information to make more informed decisions. Centric PLM centralizes product, material, supplier and compliance data, giving teams greater visibility across the product lifecycle while embedding sustainability criteria into everyday workflows.
With a connected source of product data, teams can make more responsible sourcing decisions, improve supply chain transparency, identify opportunities to reduce waste and keep compliance documentation organized. This shared foundation makes it easier to evaluate the environmental impact of products and materials while balancing sustainability goals with cost, quality and time-to-market requirements.
By connecting sustainability objectives with product development and lifecycle management, brands and retailers can turn sustainability from a strategic goal into measurable action. Centric PLM provides the data and collaboration needed to make better product decisions, strengthen compliance and build more sustainable products without compromising business growth.
Gain greater visibility and control across product development, sourcing and supplier collaboration with Centric PLM
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