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June 5th, 2018

Blue Sky Soars with Centric PLM

CAMPBELL, Calif., 5 June, 2018– Blue Sky, creator of fashionable and functional planners and notebooks sold through major retailers, has successfully gone live with Centric Software’s 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.

California-based Blue Sky produces stylish, high quality paper products to help people plan their day and organize their time. Blue Sky products are sold in thousands of locations across the US, including Target, Staples, Walgreens, Amazon, FedEx Office, Walmart and Office Depot. Blue Sky offers hundreds of products and continues to grow rapidly.

To help manage the increased complexity that comes with growth, Blue Sky chose Centric SMB, Centric’s cloud-based, SaaS PLM solution for small and medium sized brands, because they knew it would not only suit their current needs but that the solution can be evolved as the company continues to grow.

“When I arrived at Blue Sky two years ago, one of my first tasks was to create a master data Excel sheet of all our products, past and present,” explains Jennifer Vanderburg, Planning and Merchandising Manager at Blue Sky. “This would have been a mammoth task and the Excel sheet would have to be constantly updated by different users. After some discussion, we decided that it would be better to implement a PLM system rather than rely on a spreadsheet to effectively manage and update our product database.”

Blue Sky began their search for a PLM solution and chose Centric because their level of support and customer service stood out against other suppliers.

Echoing the experience of other Centric Software customers, Vanderburg explains, “An important part of the selection process was the attention to detail that the Centric team brought to the table. Centric was consistently available to answer our questions, listen to suggestions, make recommendations and field our ideas.”

Second to Centric’s commitment to customer service, scalability topped the list of attributes that Blue Sky needed.

As Vanderburg says, “Centric PLM helps us adhere to our mission, which is to deliver high quality merchandise on time and with style, by improving the product development process, increasing our speed to market and making information crystal clear to everyone who touches each product, while eliminating unnecessary meetings and emails. This speed gives us an edge in a competitive market. We’re growing fast, and it’s important that we’ll be able to scale up when the time is right.”

As Vanderburg concludes, it was clear from the beginning that Centric offered a long-term partnership, rather than a quick sale.

“Centric has been a partner every step of the way, making sure their product is tailored to our organization and supports the way we work. We’re very excited about the project and the partnership,” she says.

“We’re delighted Blue Sky chose Centric SMB and we are proud to partner with them,” says Chris Groves,President and CEO of Centric Software. “Blue Sky witnessing streamlined product development, even faster time to market and also improved productivity are a testimony to Centric’s capabilities and the strength of our partnership. We look forward to continuing to partner with them as they continue to grow.”

 

Blue Sky (www.bluesky.com)

#1 Dated Products brand*, Blue Sky, represents more than just a pretty planner. Recognized for its extensive array of dated planners, calendars, notebooks, and more, Blue Sky products help the millions who dream of achieving organization reach their goals, and in style. After the launch of its personalized planner line earlier this year, Blue Sky has solidified its role as a force in the lifestyle category, giving customers the ability to design their perfectly personal planner or notebook to their heart’s desire. Plus, top brands like Dabney Lee, Nicole Miller, TRINA TURK and Ashley G have trusted Blue Sky with bringing their unique visions to life through partnerships. And the world has taken notice. Blue Sky products have been featured by media including Refinery29, Business Insider, Hollywood Reporter, Southern Living, The Everygirl and Brit+Co. Find the full line online at www.bluesky.com.

 *Source: The NPD Group, Inc. / Retail Tracking Service, U.S. Sales, 26 weeks ending September 9, 2017

Centric Software (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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